Julie I'm vaguely remembering an older gentleman with suspenders who was very relaxing to watch (not the Cajun Chef). But I don't recall if the entire program was gardening or just a segment. It was on PBS but I think it was a local one in NC. Or maybe it was when I was a kid in NY? I can't really remember.

There's a younger guy now who recently got his own line of plants. I can't remember his name either but that's because he was just a bit too relaxing for my taste. I could only watch a few minutes until I got bored. Maybe P. Allen something?

@Joolie , I might have some of the "sunset" runner bean you wanted. I just ordered a small pack of them, so I'll have to see how many I end up with, but I should be able to offer atleast one packet with a few seeds.

Years ago there was a guy on HGTV, Paul James the "gardener guy". Quirky, goofball, made gardening fun. About the time it ended I found out he was from my city.

There's another guy, Allen Smith, who has that calm demeanor. He's from close to where I grew up, so it's another show I liked to watch because the growing conditions were similar.

Wow, I can't believe I've missed this much yakking, lol. I'm busier than I thought. We just finished Rooster's birthday party and now I'm down to collecting seeds and cleaning. This year our first frost starts the same day as the swap. Somehow I don't think any of my plants are going to make it that long. I know for a solid 2 weeks I've felt fall coming. Not little by little but enough of a difference that we won't be warm come November this year. I like it though. I need some snow this year to kill all these pesky little bugs.

Joolie, my planner for the next year is always started in July. By then, I pretty much know what I like and what I never will plant again. So the plans for the next year begin. I plan it all by hand in sections. I have some gardens long or wide enough that require it. I also take a copious amount of pictures during the season and at the end so that I remember spacing. It's really a long process for me. I guess it helps starting early because I really get crunched on my time. This year I wasn't able to garden as usual so everything really turned out to be seed beds for the swap. And not all of that turned out the way I wanted but what can you do?

Elena, Bob Ross had a brown afro. He was a white gentlemen that was very soft spoken with a large brown afro. I always got tickled with his hair. I think that is what most people would remember about him physically. Artistically, Dnd is spot on about him. It was like magic the way he painted. I remember him doing these trees and making this entire landscape come to life and wishing I had inherited my mothers skill for painting. I do to this day, lol. Instead, I garden. That became my canvas since I didn't have the skill to paint.:) Oh and I also think you are talking about P. Allen Smith. Has his own website too. I've read it before and can't say that he said anything worth bookmarking although people speak highly of his gardening skills and advice.

I have always thought of Queen Anne's Lace as a weed in a prairie setting and as a pretty annual in a garden. Weird. Maybe it's a control issue for me. But the story about someone's parents asking why they were growing a weed made me laugh. A couple of years ago I decided to grow something I've never tried before and never seen in a garden. Well as the months wore on, this thing never blossomed. Finally I was standing on the corner trying to decide if I wanted to pull it and this man drove up and asked me, why are you growing those weeds in all those pretty plants? LOL. Lesson learned.

Well, I'm off to see what other seeds I can scare up for the swap. I'm not quite done yet. Everything is just in bits and pieces this year. I took the Master Elite Bronze zinnias down because they are not what they are supposed to be. I talked with Swallowtail and this is just a quirk I guess. The zinnias are supposed to be 10 inches tall. They grew to 3 foot bushes. The bloom spread was 5-6". They are pretty for sure, but I was worried that someone would be mad about this. They are great zinnias, I'll plant them again but I don't think they will be the 10 inch zinnias they should be. I did send swallowtail pictures for height, color and bloom size. Color is what it is supposed to be. If anyone still wants these and knows they are probably going to be the 3 ft height instead of 10 inches I will put them back up. Just let me know.

@KarenHolt thanks for the heads up about the zinnias! I probably would have bid on them & planted them in my front yard. Wow, would they have looked out of place since everything else would have been around a foot tall!

Karen , Zinna seeds are most often very adaptable , the blooms usual match descriptions , but in a free ( open garden or field) setting even tiny ones grow large , Most often the types described as shorter work in pots ,
as you said though , I'm sure that is partial lesson you have learned I have the tall 4 ft zinnia red , there is one stuck in a pot that grew a single bloom barely under 2 ft tall same seeds , same plant , all in the growing difference

I do a bunch of weed , one of my favorite and hated is Bull Thistle , But I got painted lady butterflies from one this year

Elena,

Those were in my front garden, lol. They most definitely edged quite a bit out of it's place. I had planted these for the 10 inch height so the 3 ft was a big surprise. I do think a portion of it has to do with the great soil I have in there. Everything grows well in that soil, but that was just too big of a leap even for a zinnia standard. The marigolds did particularly well in there too. Larger but not like the zinnias. I have no problem giving that seed away. They will more than likely be the size they should be next year. I also planted some redman cactus zins in July in the same bed. They were more normal size. I really think these were just a fluke in seed somehow. I'll end up ordering from swallowtail again for the smaller size.

This is where I expected them to stop....


And this is where they stopped....

Jim, we got bull thistle (or what I believe is bull thistle) pretty bad this year. Ow, ow, ow, ow!! Those suckers go right through heavy gloves, too. Between bull thistle and common thistle, this year has, quite literally, been a pain. I am realizing just how much easier it is to pull thistle our of mulched areas rather than plain grass, though, which stands as an argument for me to mulch up a lot of the land at our next place!

Libby , you can use the needles to sow with like cactus berry thorns , The spines or thorns are N-a-s-t-y- ,,!!! As all things though , finches and butterflies love them ,

Those thistles are nothing to cleaning for mulching your correct , Grasses come , and are to stay , Of course I like grasses also .

Karen really pretty square garden ,

Zebra Grass and Indian Paintbrush growing on it's roots as host

DogsNDaylilies said:@Joolie , I might have some of the "sunset" runner bean you wanted. I just ordered a small pack of them, so I'll have to see how many I end up with, but I should be able to offer atleast one packet with a few seeds.

Oh, wonderful! Thank you! They're so charming. I loved my regular red runners this year but got hearts in my eyes when I saw sunset!

@KarenHolt Augh, JULY? I'm already behind! Oh no! (mostly kidding... mostly.) I've been making mental notes all spring and summer, but I know how well mental notes last in MY head these days(years). I've been taking a lot of pictures, at least. That'll help.

I'm a bit jealous of your autumn, as my summer of hellish dryness seems like it's never going to end and all it's been raining is ash. I've got several pounds of cover crop seeds waiting for some freaking rain, but we haven't had any decent rain since June. And it's HOT (for where I am, anyway). Tuesday hit 90. It's supposed to be raining and in the 60s by now! I guess it means the runner bean pods have more time to mature and my seed collecting is in general a lot easier and less messy, but argle blargle. I'm glad it's at least not an official drought so I don't have to feel bad about watering my plants.

But I guess yay I could collect a ton of my pretty silene seeds and that probably wouldn't have gone very well if it had been raining, so... silver linings. I really wanted those seeds super bad, haha. The grower told me they are "Cherry Drumsticks" but honestly the photos of cherry drumsticks all look way redder (liiiike a cherry!) than mine, which are basically fuchsia. I loved them SO much and want them again, so I'm taking no chances. Collecting ALL THE SEEDS! (But I did put up a little packet of them tonight! They're too pretty not to share!)

Change of Topic , Before I cut them all , I was wondering ,? Anyone want any Stinging Nettle to play with ,?
Queen anne's Lace
or Bull Thistle is possible ,
I am not doing any unless someone admits they would like them

another to diddle thing about me is seed growing instruction , Sometimes I don't offer because I usually don't know
However with Kanakee Mallow and Campanula latifolia I figured out how , I lost the latter so I am trying for more seeds in the swap , Hard hot dry earth for that ,
The Mallow , I packed sediment grit from the walks , where the limestone became sand , Packed that hard into a cup , I got four of six seeds to sprout , Two I still have doing well ,

I was planning on offering Queen Anne's Lace, myself. I have so many "baskets" out there in my garden, I could supply an army with those seeds! I'll be saving some for myself to grow (likely in a container) at our new house, assuming all goes well with our moving plans.

I'm pretty sure I have 1 pack of Queen Anne's Lace offered. I really like it but I guess others find it too weedy. I had volunteers this year but they didn't like the rainy conditions & cool temps. I think one plant bloomed at about 15" tall. All the other seedlings are about 3" tall.

3 to 6ft tall here , runs faster than dandelions I have my eye on a wild Large leaf or giant leaf thistle (rare plant ) if I can get seeds ,?
Swallowtail butterflies and finches seem to like them all ,

Lots of small plants and flowers growing for next years blooms ,even a little Lupine looping green about to sprout ,
As seeds dry I will be adding more

Keep up the wishlisting! When I see more wishing than packs, I go back and see if I have more I can pack up. Added more red four o'clock seeds and nasturtium tonight!

And I had a good long talk with myself about the actual likelihood of me planting ALL the herbs I have (especially since my little case for the herb/veg seeds was about to EXPLODE), so I packed up a bunch of those, too.

Tomorrow hubby and I are gonna go out and see what's ready to collect. Turns out he really likes seed harvesting. I am the luckiest lady ever.

In other news, I learned today I need to put the birds away when I'm dishing up seeds. They will be perfectly behaved when I'm packing up big seeds, but as soon as I'm dealing with teeny tiny seeds, they start flapping around. There are nicotiana and salpiglossis seeds EVERYWHERE. I may as well toss some dirt down and leave the lights on and garden on the floor.

Jim, if I could, I would happily give you all of the thistle in my yard, if I could. Surely there has to be an exotic variety in there somewhere, lol

Julie Small seeds are intimidating , So are big ones if you sneeze


Libby Thistles are Thistles , nature all their own ,

I have a few to collect and several still drying the seeds

I wish I could grow some native thistles, but I am 100% sure my neighbor would kill me.

Hey guys,
I have lots of pepper seeds now. I'm looking to trade for any type of tomato seeds that I don't have, please.
I have reaper, carribean red Habs, orange Habs, Serrano, Thai long hots, cayenne, Tabasco, shishito, tangerine dream, hot Portugal, Hungarian hot wax, early jalapeno, and could probably swing a few chocolate bhutlah ( the world's unofficial hottest)
Send me a treemail if you're interested. Again thank you and I hope everyone is doing well and safe from these hurricanes

Jerb,
Thanks for the offer but we are all trading in this swap. Everything we want to offer is going up here. It's why this is a swap. If you want to trade, join the swap again and tell us any specific tomatoes you want. If you don't know, then just say tomatoes. If there is anything else you want, tell that too. Thanks for understanding.