I hope next year is better for you. If you want I can send you some seeds that would hybridize well with Hyperion. I also have a few things that may pair well with red Volunteer if you want to add some UF genes to your hybridizing program.

I will keep an eye on the plants , I have bunches to set in the ground , My fall seedlings , While i am avoiding walking into spiders and watching the honey bees partying on the aster blooms , nice , but Hot , outside .

Whew. I just packed up 7 more packets of fuchsia arborescens seeds. I think I'm done with teeny tiny seeds for a while!

So many fruits I've squished:


Also, the papa plant has gotten a second wind and sent up a couple of new panicles, one of which is even more dense and full of flowers than the ones that came before:


Also, this is my crimson clover seeds only a few days after I planted them:


That was REALLY fast. The austrian winter peas came up just as fast. Also, the germination rate is a little bit mind blowing. I got the clover from Outside Pride this year, and GEEZ. I would have tossed fewer out there if I'd known they were basically ALL going to sprout. But they'll sort themselves out. No way am I gonna go out there and thin 'em all. There's too many and I'm getting too old for that sh...nonsense. They can go all seed Thunderdome and the losers can add extra humus to the soil.

Look at that pop of color from the ...climbing nasturtium?

LoL on the clover! I'm pretty sure that's why it makes such good grounds cover...just a few seeds and voila!

Yes, nasturtium! Such a tenacious guy. It was of course savaged by aphids so most of it is dead, but there are still a couple of spots where it stubbornly carries on. I love it. I'm definitely planting more next year. ...And maybe setting up auto delivery on ladybugs? Aphids looooove nasturtium.

I I've never had occasion to order ladybugs yet, but I can only imagine opening up a box full of the cheery--to me, probably not to them after riding in a box for days!--little creatures. Have you ever ordered any praying mantis? I hear they are actually friendly creatures and some people them as pets and let them road their homes. This was the first year in my entire life that I saw one in person (outside of a zoo) and I actually saw two! Sadly, the first one was dead, a garage casualty of some sort... Or maybe he enjoyed the mattress so much, he died and went to heaven?...(we had a mattress in our garage for a short while... Long story) The second one was alive, but still as the dead... hanging onto our screen door outside.

Praying mantis are AWESOME. I had a chance to see many in my garden this year. It's neat when they move their head around to look at you. They walk really funny and try to sway like leaves when they think you're looking at them. There was one protecting my morning glory fence, and another I saw pretty often on some of the zinnias. I've been looking out for egg sacs as I'm removing dead stuff from the garden. Ill be sure to take a picture if I find one! My nasturtiums I plant near sunflowers usually do good because the ants like to carry the aphids off everything around the sunflower onto the sunflower. I love the bugs. Best pest control! I also encourage the huge army of spiders and wasps in the yard. People get scared of wasps but they really don't even notice you. They're pretty dumb. Lol. They may get curious if you wear a flower colored shirt though...
I've never sprayed a single pesticide in my garden. Sorry if that was a bunch of ramble, I get really excited about the bug helpers!

I just saw a ladybug outside in my yard!

Sorry but I despise praying mantis ever since one bit me on the toe. I couldn't use my deck for days because it kept stalking me.

I guess I'm lucky because ladybugs just arrive in Spring. I don't need to buy any. I typically have issues with aphids after the first frost which kills the ladybugs but not the aphids. If the weather warms up (& it usually does) the aphids go nuts. But by then its only kale & Swiss chard left so they are easy to wash off.

Wow that wasp face is so comical from that angle! Love it, @KelliW!

I didn't know praying mantises bit people! I won't buy them for a few reasons. One is that they are very indiscriminate about their food. They will eat bees, butterflies, caterpillars, ladybugs, whatever gets close enough. Two is that they aren't particularly native in my area. Three is, and prepare yourselves, because this is grisly... They also eat tiny hummingbirds. Four is that in general they aren't actually that effective. I'm better off buying lacewing eggs. But I have to pre-order those from the store and I'm lazy so I just buy the ladybugs they have in stock. I get ladybugs naturally too, but never in the numbers I need to combat the aphid population.

I also don't spray anything, not even soap or neem, because I'm terrified of killing any bees. Or baby ladybugs. They are the real predators. They are voracious. And cute:

Ok, since were talking bugs, what is this? Ive got a whole swarm of them in my garden.

We used to play with praying mantis when we were kids. Their stick feet feel weird walking along your arm.

okieheart said:Ok, since were talking bugs, what is this? Ive got a whole swarm of them in my garden.

We used to play with praying mantis when we were kids. Their stick feet feel weird walking along your arm.

That is a yellow and black spotted Cucumber Beetle


Amaryllis

OMG! I just got my seeds in from Chiltern Seeds and I'm SO EXCITED. I got 20 packs of the Bargain Basement seeds where they pick what to send. I'm hoping y'all will find something you need.................. Here's what I got

Alpine Wormwood or Black Mugwort (Artemisia genipi)

Annual Phlox (Phlox drummondii 'Brilliant')

Baby's Breath (Gypsophila elegans 'Covent Garden')

Basil (Ocimum minimum) Greek or Bush Basil (the CUTEST 1.5' sphere)

Candytuft (Iberis umbellata 'Fairyland Dwarf Mix')

Collarless California Poppy (Eschscholzia caespitosa 'Sundew')

Common Boxwood (Buxus sempervirens)

Common Cosmos (Cosmos bipinnatus 'Radiance')

Cyclamen (Cyclamen hederifolium) Ivy Leaved Cyclamen

Dahlia Semi-Double, Dwarf Hybrids - Mixed Colors

Dianthus barbatus, 'Scarlet Beauty' (Sweet William)

Edging Lobelia (Lobelia erinus 'Sapphire') Trailing Lobelia

Feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium)

Fivespot (Nemophila maculata)

Flowering Tobacco (Nicotiana x sanderae 'Crimson Bedder')

Glory Vine (Eccremocarpus scaber 'Tresco Mixed')

Gomphrena (Gomphrena haageana 'QIS Orange')

Klondike Cosmos (Cosmos sulphureus 'Bright Lights')

Large-flowered Tickseed (Coreopsis grandiflora 'Mayfield Giant')

Peony Poppy (Papaver somniferum var. paeoniflorum Mixed Colors)

Poppy (Papaver somniferum) Mixed Varieties

Pot Marigold (Calendula officinalis 'Radio')

Sensitive Plant (Mimosa pudica)

Wallflower (Erysimum cheiri) Mixed Colors

I've already wishlisted some of them! I love the Bargain Basement deal! I also ordered from Chiltern but the seeds may not come in time for the swap.☹️

Oh, what a great assortment they sent you! I love like half the stuff on there! I've never ordered from them. That 'we pick for you' thing sounds awesome. Like Christmas!

The mantis may not be that effective, but they sure are cool to look at. I feel bad for the bees but aliens gotta eat too. The hummingbirds here are too big and the mantis are too small I think to worry about that. More danger to those are the local cats that want to hang around with no collars. 😢

So many great seeds! I've never seen that site until I joined this swap, they really do have alot of great stuff.

Ohhhhh, I realized I've heard of them, but never ordered because they're in the UK. But I just looked at the site and ohhhhh myyyyy.

And they're having their Autumn sale. I need to stop. I have a problem. I recently divided up all my seeds by where I'm going to plant them and went, uh oh. This is not going to work out for me. I'm going to have to put a bunch more containers out. Who needs a lawn, anyway? Lawns are stupid.

Now they are having a sale?!?

Okay, only 20% off. Nothing to work myself up about. If it were BOGO I would have HAD to place another order!

Can't wait for the 2018 catalog!

Elena, my seeds came in less than 2 weeks so I think yours should be fine.

They have good directions on the front of their packages too.

Here's the link to the BB page. If you're really adventuresome you can get the NOID mixes for a REALLY amazing price but I don't have the room to grow out that many.
https://www.chilternseeds.co.u...

If you buy from them please let them know you come from NGA. They sell all over Europe. If enough people order from them maybe we can get them to be a NARR sponsor.

Ut oh. I forgot to order Mini Angel Trumpet seeds. May have to put in another order and add a Bargain Basement pack for more swap seeds.

Aww, for my last order I ended up having to contact them via email. I would have mentioned the NGA at that time. The people there are super nice! I order from them at least twice a year and I always try to have a large order to make the shipping worthwhile. Next time I order (probably early next year) I'll definitely mention the NGA!

I've never gotten seeds from them that fast! It typically takes at least a month. Not sure if it is extra screening in NY or what. Plus our mailperson has a tendency to deliver to the wrong address so that can also add time.

I do buy the mixes! I planted some this year in a container but the squirrels dug up every last seedling looking for ???? At least one grew enough so that I could identify it as an impatiens (probably New Guinea). I'll try again next year. I'm going to have to invest in a lot of mosquito netting to keep the squirrels out of my containers.

Yes, I'm addicted to buying seeds! But since I'm not into shoes or clothes or electronics I figure it's a pretty inexpensive addiction comparatively! Now if I only had more space!

Think of all the seeds you could buy for the price of a pair of Jimmy Choo's.