Vera,
Love that clarkia. I'll have to try that this winter.
I didn't even see your pregnant friend until i read what you wrote :) She's a sly one. Great pics
Laura

Great pics Vera...love the clarkia and the yellow tomatoes.

I'm sorry to hear that you have been ill, but glad to know that you are on the mend.

Great pictures as always!

So Vera, did that Russian Persimmon have any flavor? I grew Kellogg's Breakfast X this year. It's very similar in color to your Russian Persimmon, but I was disappointed in the lack of flavor, after reading so many good things about it. They were huge and meaty though, not a lot of seeds or gel, so I used them to make pasta sauce.

I wintersowed Dahlia 'Unwins Dwarf Mix' this year, but the grasshoppers ate most of them. There were a couple of plants that survived, and the two colors I got were a pretty yellow, and a hot pink. Even though the blooms were pretty, I didn't like the fact that they were nodding and not upward facing. Still haven't decided if I am going to dig up the tubers or not.

Oh, BTW, the pestemon seeds are ready now. I will email you for your address.

Bonnie

Glad to hear you're better now, Vera. Beautiful pics as always.

Karen

Very lovely pictures! Thanks for sharing! :)

Wow very nice late color Vera. Love that russian tom. wow it's big. The black plum looks prolific too did you like them?
Are you in the winterswap? Definitely throw in some of those asters.

Glad you are feeling better, Vera. Your tomatoes look delicious.

Hope your hibiscus bloom before you get a hard frost. Mine were repeatedly chopped off by rabbits. Think I will move them next spring and fence them as have so many and want to find out what is what so I can share the duplicates. Most were from traded seed mixes.

Those clarkia look lovely. Will have to give them another try.

I put out a couple of PM cases last spring but didn't ever see a PM. None this year either. Maybe they are amongst the grasses like in your photo. Had to look twice to find her.

Asters are gorgeous, as are the other flowers - Let's see that Hibiscus in bloom!

Carrie

Wow Vera. You are making me wish for Godetia again. I used to grow them at another home about 25 years ago. Looks like they may be back in my gardens next year. :O) Wishing you well!

Thanks :)

Bonnie,

Oh yes! These Russian Persimmon have great flavor and excellent slicers for sandwiches. Try'em..you'll like'em I promise :)

Mnwsgal,

I gotta post a pic of the Helenium (red). I have one plant from seed rec'd from you that has sported 2 totally different colored flowers...one side is a solid red, while the other looks like Gaillardia aristata LOL!

Vera

Mine did the same for two years. This year it is only red. I had thought I had two different plants and wondered what happened to the yellow one this year then I did some research and found in an an article by Arie Blom: "Flowers in different stages on on the same plant show different color shades: very young flowers are red with yellow; more mature flowers are dark red and old flowers are red with orange and yellow. The less light exposure an individual flower has, the higher the proportion of yellow its petals will show. This means that flowers developing on stems lower down the plant are likely to have more yellow in them."

2009

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2008

Rt. Side
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and left side

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Nice plant!
However, these flowers were not blooming in different stages and were opening at the same time. Just one side has a shoot that is blooming a different color than the rest...it is even taller than the rest of the plant :O

This the shoot that resembles Gaillardia and is much more vigorous than the rest of the plant:
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Here is the color the rest of the plant blooms; petals are even more scarcer growing much more compact:
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Yes, the leaves are are up by grasshoppers:(

Interesting. An oddity of this variety I guess. I don't know the variety as I got the original plant as a ws sprout at a spring swap. I miss the yellow and bi-color part so will be looking for seeds for other varieties and starting a few more of my own. A neighbor garden buddy has yellow. Plan to take divisions of this one in the spring to add to my red bed.

very nice pics!!

The aster's are my favorites! Love that color!
Do they re-seed? I had some burgandy ones that were very nice and I think I missed most of the seeds.

Karen

Thanks Karen,

Oh yes! If you go back and read the description for the first pic (Aster) you'll read my warning :O
I'm so darn close to just yanking them all out for one not so invasive. It is more suited to my prairie bed and may be just where they're gonna go since they are a prairie plant; they'll get along just fine with the Rudbeckia, Ratibida, Echinacea, Mondarda, grasses, ect!
I winter-sowed them and germination was 100% and out of about 50 seedlings I only planted 3 in back and 1 in one of my small front beds. I let them go to seed to harvest for trades and the following year I had Aster seedlings coming out of my ears. The fluffy seeds are carried by wind and boy did it ever blow around! Last year I cut them back before setting seed and this spring I still had a ton of seedlings cropping up....between the crevices of my rock border, in the gravel road outside of the bed and just about everywhere else:O

Hi I'm new to seed trading so still learning. Beautiful pics. Would love some seeds from the one that posted a pic of the red flower that also has the yellow flower. As you can probably tell I'm not good on flower names. I want to try WinterSow this year, so any advice there would help. I'm making seed packets sizes 2 1/2 by 2 3/4 also 3 1/2 by 5 with labels attached to those to print on Keep posting pics love them Thanks Judy

Vera, I checked my helenium and it has new blossoms, all yellow.

Judy, send me an e-mail for some helenium seeds.

Lovely pics. Vera, and I am glad toknow that you are better. You are right about that Aster. I had it take over a small front bed some years ago and yanked it out. Took a couple of years to get it all. As for Helenium, I have three distinct types which I have managed to isolate and keep isolated: rust, yellow and yellow-striped.
This is Helenium autumnale 'Striatum' (striped):
{{gwi:431779}}
This is Helenium autumnale 'Superbum' (yellow):
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This is Helenium autumnale 'Rubrum' (rust):
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There may be some cross-pollination in some cases, but generally mine have remained separate. The colours do change a bit as they fade.

Vera, very nice photos. I LOVE that Aster laevis! If it didn't reseed so vigorously, I would enjoy having it. I wonder if it would reseed in an existing meadow where there was no bare ground? Great tomatoes too! Hope you are feeling better. :-)

Vera, beautiful flowers. Hey, what is the name of the plant in a few posts up that is purple and has the purple balls on it? I WS them every year but am clue-less as to the name of the plant (I tell the grandkids it's the purple pepper plant - and only purple people eaters pick the peppers. That has them laughing as they hi-tail it away from the plant!)

BTW, are the purple balls eatible?

Happy WS'ng To All

Hi nbacres,

Those are pepper plants and are called 'Black Pearl'. The foliage is near black in full sun and the peppers eventually mature to red...very hot! I love the leaves that look almost fake/satiny :) I am wintering one over indoors after cutting it back to about 5" from the base (root pruned as well)along with my 4 year old Golden Habanero. It is currently leafing out like crazy.

Northerner_on, those heleniums sure are pretty!