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My plant made 3 buds, which are good sized on a 14" plant but have barely opened for a month. They are definitely red with lots of petals but won't fully open. It may be because the plant was rooted from a cutting just this Feb. and its roots are immature being only 6 months old. Thanks to my garden trading pal, Nancy, for sharing cuttings of several double beauties she has in her yard.

Our all-time favorite eggplant! I bought and planted seeds in last summer's garden. They made sturdy 4 1/2 ft. plants that produced fruit similar to Black Beauty but not as large. The dark, shiny fruit were 6 to 7 inches long and 3 1/2 " across. I grew 3 bushes that each made a dozen or so fruits, which kept us with plenty of eggplant to eat fresh and cook to freeze for winter dishes. I saved seeds and planted 3 bushes again this year and they are performing equally impressively here in south Louisiana.

I grew these this summer from seeds I received in the Nov. 2017 Seed Swap. As described, the plants stayed about 2 to 3 ft. and are producing 5" x 3" fruit as in pictures. We just cut the first 2 ripe ones to cook and there are 2 or 3 more on each of the 3 plants in our garden. I will plant these again.

I bought a 12-inch plant last fall 2017 from Almost Eden plants. It's Sept. a year later and it's grown to 4 ft. with side branching to about 2 ft.wide. It started flowering Aug. 18th, a month ago, and is now full of similarly fragrant, but different looking flowers than my night blooming variety. Actually, my night blooming that blooms off and on spring to fall is in bloom, too, at this time, so I'm thrilled to have that intoxicating fragrance day and night on my patio.

I cut a 5" branch tip cutting that has four 7" long leaves Aug. 12th and put it rooting in water in bright light in an east window. It's Sept. 15th and it has two 1" roots, so I'm planting it in soil today. This is the 4th plant I have propagated this way with the same results. It's very easy to root new plants.

It's mid Sept. and my plants are about 2 ft. tall and a nice bush. They are starting to make seed heads. I will grow it again next spring since it not only tastes great, but also has an unusual blended purple and green color that is ornamental.

It's well into Sept. and my plants are 2 ft. tall and making beautiful seed heads. This is very similar to Thai 'Siam Queen' in fragrance, taste, and flower head color. Very spicy licorice.

I got seeds in one of the big Seed Swaps in fall 2016 that were labeled RED but no name. I think they were from okieheart. They did so well last summer that I saved a pod for this year's seeds. Another bumper crop of pretty plants that get up to 6'. We pick them daily at different lengths and even the 8" ones are tender. Here in south Louisiana we boil those that are 5" or less and slice and cook most past the slim stage and use fresh or frozen in many dishes including gumbo. It's noteworthy to say they don't stay red when cooked but turn green. Otherwise, they are perfect!

I got a small plant of this beauty in a trade this past Feb. 2018. It has really grown into a pretty houseplant. I always wanted to try propagating begonias by root vein cuttings, so I did that with one leaf on July 14, 2018. I cut it into 16 small pieces and placed them together in moist soil in a plastic bag under my Sunblaster light. It only took 26 days, and today I found that 11 have started to root. I'll wait another week to check the other 5 for roots. What a multiplication miracle of over a dozen new plants from 1 leaf!

I received a 6" plant in a trade in 2015. It has thrived in my zone 9. It grew about 18 inches a year and branched out to 12 inches. Last year it needed a larger pot, so I moved it to a 5 gallon pot and it took off. This year I've trimmed 12 inches of top growth to keep it a manageable 6 foot plant and now I'll allow it to get wider branching for a nice plump bush. It's 4 years old and hasn't bloomed yet, so I moved it to a full sun location. This requires a strict watering routine since it's in a pot, but I'm not ready to plant it out.

I got seeds from poisondartfrog in the Nov. 2017 seed trade and planted them March 1, 2018. Most seeds sprouted so I had about 10 to share and kept 2. It's late July and the plants are 2 feet tall and just started flowering. She noted hers had a light yellow edge but the 1st three flowers have been true double, solid white flowers with a soft sweet fragrance. I love them, Thanks Alana!

I collected red to black seeds in March 2018 from plants in my daughter's yard. After they completely dried up for 3 months, I sowed 12 seeds on June 22. It's July 20 and today I found a 2" sprout and 2 more breaking through the soil. This happened overnight as I've checked daily, anticipating sprouts any day. I'm thrilled to have babies of this nice plant that does very well year around here in zone 9. I will report more progress in a month.

The 6' row of these against the wooden fence of my backyard is in full bloom. It's July and with the flower and stem they are 6 feet tall. A couple are almost 7 feet because they are taller than the fence. I had sprayed them regularly with Sevin to keep caterpillars away, but we just had 3 weeks of off and on rain that interrupted my spraying regiment, and this week there were signs of caterpillar invasion. It's raining less, so I cut the rolled buggy leaves and started spraying again. Cutting them to the ground after they flower encourages new growth from the rhizomes and I get a fall display of flowers again here in zone 9.

In May 2018 a neighbor gave me a rhizome with an unfurling leaf. I planted it in a 12" pot on my patio so I could monitor its growth and spray it regularly with sevin to ward off caterpillars, which are real pests to cannas here in south Louisiana. It's late July and that starter plant is now 3 feet tall and has 4 different stems of leaf clusters that seem to be setting flower buds. Because it's been in morning sun only, it still has its deep vibrant coloring that would have faded in a full sun position. Best of all, the caterpillars never invaded it, so it's a picture perfect specimen. I will take pictures to post later.

I got seeds labeled 'Black Moon' vinca in a big seed swap here in Nov. 2017. I thought they'd be a novelty color to try so I planted them in an orange hanging basket on my porch. They grew well but when the flowers opened they were not dark 'Black Moon' but, I think, 'Cora Punch' pink. They are blooming beautifully, but they really clash with that orange pot I thought 'Black Moon' would have looked wonderful in. I don't know whether the seeds were mislabeled or cross pollinated, but my disappointment was tempered by these very large fuchsia-pink beauties. Now I don't have the heart to disturb them by removing them from that glaring orange pot!

I have a couple of these small, dark green "bird's nest" plants. They stay about 5"x5" and send out several pups when they are root bound. I've given away lots of offspring through the years, but I always keep a mother and a couple of pups for a variety of sizes and to propagate more. Mine grow on my porch close to the house where they get filtered morning sun and bright light all day but no rain. I keep them on a strict once-a-week water routine because they will die if they are left too wet for too long. When temps are dropping below 40*, I bring them indoors by an east window for winter. By April 1st here in Zone 9 out they go again. They are great beginner's indoor plants I call "Plant Pets"; cute and easy to grow.

I have a 5-year-old plant that has reached its mature size of 5"x5". It was only a 2" pup with 3 leaves when I got it in a trade. It didn't even have visible roots, so I kept the soil in its 2" pot moist to encourage healthy roots. It grew well, so it must have developed good roots, and by 6 months I allowed it to dry out a little between weekly watering. It continued to grow, but very slowly. It looks like all the posted pictures but most like extranjera's. It's now root bound in its 4" pot, so I'm joyfully anticipating pup development any time. I will take a picture soon and get it posted when I can. I lovingly call cute and easy-to-grow plants like this one "Plant Pets." I have quite a few "Plant Pets" at this time.

My gold-edged 'Laurentii' is sending out pups. It's several years old and rootbound, which triggers it to multiply. The new 3" pups don't have the gold edge yet. They change over time as the sprout gets to be 6 months old and about 8 inches tall. At this rate I'll have a lush, full pot by next year. This pot is by a north window that gets full day bright light. I water it once a week. It's very happy!

I've grown these perennials for many years. As always, it's mid July and here come the flowers. Because they die back to the ground each winter even here in zone 9, they return and grow from April till July to be a two to 3 foot plant before starting to flower. I have the tall purple and the pink, which are so pretty in a mixed bed. I had them take over one year and it took 3 years to manage them again through pulling, cutting immature seeds, and even "Round-Uping" them. It's a shame they overpopulate because otherwise they are disease and bug proof beauties that attract bees, butterflies and hummingbirds.

I believe this is the dwarf variety of purple I have. It's mid July and flowers just started opening every day on this border plant of my front yard beds. It only gets 8 inches tall, and it branches, so each plant grows to 8"x8" and looks perfect in a border. They will bloom into fall and get nipped by the 1st frost but they are perennials, so they will return in spring and flower by July. It can be invasive as it pops seeds out 3 feet like its taller variety.