Petee

If anyone wants to order seeds for some of these unusual plants, you can do it here: http://www.gesneriadsociety.org/ I will be happy to share an order if there is a minimum.

Since you're in the south you may be able to do it on the barbecue if you have a side burner. Just keep the flame really LOW! It takes more time but it's safer. You don't want to lose your house or eyebrows over a waxed flower.

Oh wow is that beautiful! You have to take a picture of some of your waxed beauties! Post one please?

Never did it, and never even heard of it till now! Thanks for the info! Here's a link that sounds like what you want to do: http://mobilecamellia.org/Camellia%20Culture/Waxing/waxing.htm

It was way out in the woods on a road near Parker Dam. Great food, rustic and seemed well built.

Maybe you could talk to the doctor or nurse associated with the waiting room you were in?

When the government stops letting slum landlords take tax breaks on letting buildings sit empty in anticipation of maybe selling it someday then maybe buildings will get sold to people who will renovate them immediately.

Mine is a tropical Hibiscus and if I didn't bring it inside, it would be mush in the spring. It lives in a pot all year round but I found that leaving it indoors all year round was better for it. It bloomed several times in the fall and now it's getting tons of new flower buds. They only last for a couple of days and they are Red-Orange. I had a hardy Hibiscus in the garden that got smaller and smaller every year till it died. They need some protection through the winter and lots of food and water in the summer.

I just happened to look toward the window and guess what is blooming for the first time! What a nice surprise when I thought it was never going to bloom! http://www.dipbot.unict.it/orto/1048-1.html

The earliest one I can remember was 6570R2 and if you didn't know a number the operator would look it up for you.

Actually the Cotton flower is pretty, kind of like a Rose of Sharon. The leaves are a medium green and prone to bug infestation if they aren't happy. Yes, I grew Peanuts and sold them through the BUDS gardeners too. Again I didn't manage to save one for myself. One member from Brockway has a farm with fabulous soil. She said she was cleaning up the garden in the fall and noticed a peanut on the soil so she dug them up and found a whole bowlful which she roasted. With proper soil management and growing information there's a lot more plants that can be grown here. It's important for our kids to learn that and to practice it.

Where are you located? I didn't have a chance to bring in the Geraniums from the BUDS planting beds this fall so they're probably toast by now. I could stash this one and plant it out the in the spring.

Thanks for the info. There were so many things that I wanted to see or do as a child and didn't get a chance to investigate. Seeing how Cotton grew was one, so there's another I can cross off my list! The plant is going to school with my granddaughter this coming week so they can see it too. :-)

I got some Cotton seeds a few years ago and have grown them for sale every year without saving one for myself. This year I saved one and got Cotton. It's so interesting to see how it develops into something resembling a giant green acorn and then and then pops out a cotton boll. Sorry it's not such a good picture but hopefully Christmas will have a new one for me!

Fungus Gnats come from the soil and as soon as it's moist enough more will probably hatch. They probably won't kill your plants but can damage the roots to the point that it won't grow well. The traps are cheap. I think three for $2 but I can't remember exactly. They last forever or until they are completely covered by the little buggers.

While the Brugmansias are indoors they are extremely susceptible to bugs, so get one of the yellow sticky traps to catch any adults before they lay eggs again. I put one at soil level in each large Brugmansia or group of small ones, and hang another in any other area with plants. I get my traps at Hanzeleys. I have also heard of homemade sticky traps but can't remember how it was done, other than it needs to be done on yellow paper.

I have never seen seed pods on mine. I'll have to try some cuttings from mine in the spring.

Don't you mean a hardy Hibiscus Ed? What I have is a Tropical Hibiscus and if I left it outdoors it would freeze.

I've had a nice Hibiscus Tree (standard) for several years now. For the first couple of summers I put it outdoors with minimal flower success. Last fall when I brought it in it started blooming and continued all winter. I decided to let it stay indoors this summer and now it's starting to bloom again. What a lovely backwards plant! The flowers are huge and a bright orange-red. We counted them every day last winter and some days we got three new ones every day. It was wonderfully cheery on snowy days.

The harmful chemical present in natural Sassafras is toxic enough to have it banned from the market. Since cancer is one of the resultant diseases I think I'll pass.

Well that makes it even better that it's hard to find. I wonder how many people in the "old" days developed problems from it and didn't realize it was harming them.

It's probably a good thing that it's hard to find because drinking too much of it can damage your liver and kidneys. It should be used as an occasional tonic rather than a regular beverage. http://forestry.about.com/library/silvics/blsilsasalb.htm?iam=momma_100_SKD&terms=Sassafras+Tea

If they are in danger of being destroyed by logging or coal stripping then go ahead and try to move them. But never dig them just to add to your own garden. They are more likely to bear seed and multiply right where they are. There are privately grown woodland plants for sale on some websites. They prefer soil near a stream or a moist area (not soggy) with mixed evergreens and hardwoods. Get a LOT of the soil they are growing in and try to move them to a location as close as possible to the one they came from. Dig a hole bigger than necessary and use the soil you collected from the native site to fill it. Then plant the Trillium, Jack in the Pulpit, or whatever. I collect leaves every fall to bury my woodland garden area because there are no hardwoods near enough. Some flowers have come back beautifully. Others I never saw again.

They grow fast! One or two years and you can have a large plant. That one always smelled like Baby Powder and bloomed pretty late in the summer so you could have it blooming indoors too. I will have more at the BUDS plant sale in the spring.

The yellow ones can be found in the State College area. They prefer some sort of rock formation found there.