I'm right along with you Jim. I have really collected all the seed I'm going to other than my datura. I expect them to be brown by the first of November. We finally got our first frost thursday night. Now for the killing frost and I can pull up my dahlia tubers. I'm going to move them come spring.

I'm pretty much done with listing. Only waiting on a couple more things and that should be it for me. I think this week I'm going to finish making my packets. No sense in waiting now that I have the time. I do like how I managed my seasons this year. I didn't feel near as rushed or like I missed anything.

Jim I meant to tell you about the black prince snaps! My, oh my I thought they were goners. I just left them alone and resisted the urge to pull the brown stalks. Even when everything else was coming right along in the snaps dept these were not. A couple of weeks ago I was doing something by that snap and who would have thought but it was bushy and blooming! I'm going to have snap seed this year! Wahoo! I was so worried they were not coming back for fall and I would have get more seed for next year but it seems I'll have all I need for next year. Another testament to successful swapping, germinating and growing!

Karen These (the photo ) are Night and Day Snapdragons . still growing , Te blooms got ate the first time so no seeds , but maybe ,
49 and a cold cloudy wind outside today , Tomorrow and the next 10 days says 60" and 40's
so some might bloom yet ,that is the weather they like ,

Later I will get the Shiso Chinese Basil pods that remain dry a few more offerings of those , cold for that now though
The Snaps







The Camphor Basil , finishing up I came back to say , I offer this when I have it (seeds) but it could be an American Red Basil (rare Plant ) it is still possible ,, it's natural understory , thin dispersive growth still says that is possible ,


A Gray about seed collecting Sorghum heads , and Sunflowers , this one's favorite to help with , only thing is ,, it keeps them ,,

Jim,

Your snaps will be fine. If they don't make it through the winter, let me know. I have saved seed from my night and days I got from someone here. You or elena. I'm not sure which.

Karen ,, The purple ruffles came back as opal type this year for me ,did not grow large and is still small it might come indoors .?
Sunday I will plant some seeds setting up for next year , some may sprout and die others will grow on , the seeds I keep a few , trade a few
Native Sunflowers
Native Penstemon
Native Echinacea (Coneflowers
Depending on how fast or slow I get it done , I'm in no hurry ,but I always anticipate the trades ,(here ) I have gotten where I don't pick as many as in the beginning , as my eyes and button finger overwhelm my Get it Done , growing ,

Greater conclusion is my flower beds will recover from all the plumbing and Digging here Feverfew and Erigeron ,in front of the Iris and so forth for next year , Bed is full of Daisy ,,Some Pink Red Monarda is there , Lots of seed goodies yet to happen , A small Silver Snaps are in a pot From Elena from last season ,
Big disappointment my Burpee seeds from the rack last year , from direct I will go from now on ,
Time to quit rambling and go back to watching and hoping

Jim, or anyone else, if you need large leaf Shisho/Perilla, let me know. I grew i last year and collected a bunch of seed, tho it's a bugger to get them out of the blossoms. A few self seeded this year, but I cut off the flowers before they could go to seed.

Hope everyone's having a good weekend. I'm getting the last of my potted things and a few siberian/japanese iris roots I bought in the ground and think i'm done planting ...(about time!) Now it's just bringing in the plants and/or waiting for frost for my dahlias.

Val, same here. Today is my last chance to get my amaryllis bulbs separated and re-potted, and to bring them (and my other plants) indoors. I also have one climbing rose bush to get in the ground. I wanted to do it last weekend but didn't get to it.

Val I may try that Large Leaf Perilla But I have tons of annuals to try , Sometimes I get lots of them sometimes not , Nice to get the Long standing color though

Mostly I am trying cool weather starts hoping for returning perennials that will bloom .. An Early Sunflower hopefully a couple more leaves and solid root will happen , then a bloom or two next spring , or after ,

Nothing looks right in an of my gardens this season but some nice blooms did happen ,
A little Sunflower sprout (perennial


Some tiny Falsespike Nettle

I'm with both of ya'll. We had a great day today so I managed to pot my coleus and new daisy seedlings. Tomorrow I'll start getting winter jugs ready as I don't enjoy breaking up dirt in the cold. Just little end of the season things and getting ready for ws'ing again.

A friend gave me a couple annuals of what she thought was something else, but turned out to be the perilla. I had never seen/heard of it before, and I REALLY enjoyed the dark color against all my other greenery and blooms last year. This year, I just didnt get around to planting it, and it did reseed, tho it was behind a trellis so they didnt really stand out. Very unusual leaves. Jim, I'll pack some up for you :D

Val, I don't think I'll do perilla this time around, but I was interested in your comment that its leaves provided a nice contrast against the other plants you have--do you have any pictures? It might be on a future wish list of mine if I can see how it looks against other plants. Unfortunately, there were no multi-plant pictures it (the large leaf perilla, anyway) in the database when I looked this morning.

Karen,
How do you hold your coleus over the winter. I'm wondering if mine would be OK as houseplants for a few months.

DnD, let me look n find some photos

Leslie, you can bring your coleus inside as house plants. I did it last yr. And as it grew, I took and rooted more cuttings to make more plants

Yes lala, I treat them as house plants. I put them in a south facing window. I also fertilize them.

It appears I dont have alot of the perilla/contrast photos to share, but here's a couple from my 2015 garden that hopefully show the plant and some contrast

Thanks for the coleus info.

Oh wow, Val, you weren't kidding--it's beautiful! Next year....

I always thought that the only envelopes the PO could crush were First Class Letters (thinner than 1/4"). Those go through the high-speed rollers and usually get crushed.

Then a postal clerk warned me that paying for "hand-stamp" or "manual processing" means nothing to the jerks that feed the sortation machines.

"If they can force them in, they might do that because it's easier for THEM, even if it causes jams that destroy many letters."

So now I beware ever sending a "skinny" bubble mailer. If it is much thinner than a full inch, I add padding until NO ONE could even TRY to force it into the crusher-rollers, no matter how "Postal" they have gone.

Same with the Flat Rate Envelopes. Since they have no weight limits, I have even put my seeds into bubble mailers INSIDE the big flat-rate envelope, to make sure that they get hand-cancelled or at least never go through First Class Letter pinch rollers.

The bubble mailers can even end up spherical, and it is acceptable. My local clerk suggested I use one for something that would not quite fit in a small box (I was mailing a nylon knapsack). We even put a small jar of jam in the middle of it! The glue they have on the mailers is great glue. The bubble envelope mailer thus ends up with a larger volume than the small box, for the same price.

I put bubble wrap around my seeds inside the bubble mailer and haven't had any problems. I hope I didn't just jinx myself saying that.

Congrats @KarentHolt , and @Lalambchop1 ...and @Pistil for your NARR wins!!!! I just watched the video. I'm so excited for you two! I hope you both get something amazing! Leslie....is this your second or third win of the year? Are you Irish? ...because you certainly are lucky!


edited to add Pistil's name....sorry, Mary, I must have been distracted at the moment he announced your name and I didn't catch it! Congrats to you, too!