Hi, Debi, I'm interested in the following: Balloon flower "Astra Pink" Echinacea: "Tiki Torch", "Sundown", "Sunset", "White Swan" and the yellow/orange mystery mix Ligularia "Britt Marie" Penstemon "Husker's Red" Zinnia: "Zowie," "Scarlet Flame", "Park's Whopper Yellow," "Creame", "Benary's Giant Mix" Anemone Sylvestris Bluebead Lily Trillium Grandiflorum I know this is a long list, so obviously I have no expectations - just the things I'm interested in! Also, I am fine with trading small amounts, too (even just a few seeds). Please look at my list and tell me if there's anything that you'd be interested in: http://members.gardenweb.com/members/exch/mdreiser I have several new items bought for 2010 including 2 specialty foxgloves "apricot," "Elsie Kelsey", larkspur "Venus Carmine", Meconopsis species mixed, snapdragon appleblossom... don't know if any of those would interest you. Let me know! --Melissa

I just received a shooting star as a Christmas gift. I live in western New York state, so I realize it probably wouldn't bloom again outdoors again if it even survives the winter. My garage is heated, and I have an area of plants, a tropical Hibiscus, which is going crazy blooming and a dwarf lemon tree growing under fluorescent lights. Could I successfully grow the shooting star under the lights during the winter, and then bring the plant outdoors in the spring? It's about 65 degrees in my garage.

Hello Mary During the Christmas holidays in 2007, I purchased the shooting star hydrangea at the grocery store because it looked interesting. The hydrangea was in a six inch pot and had three or four blooms. I think it cost $12.99. I remember doing some research and the name "Fuji Waterfall" rings a bell. After the flowers dropped off, the potted plant went into the garden and was repotted in a two gallon plastic pot. The plant rebloomed this fall and has twice as many blooms. I plan to repot it again in a bigger pot when the flowers drop off and will use potting soil for azaleas. My hydrangea appears to be really happy. Here is a pic of the potted plant in Dec 2007.

I'm going to bump this back up to the top and set it on the base of a related plant - Cyclamen, not because I've grown either dodecatheon nor cyclamen outdoors. I can't remember doing anything other than picking up a florist cyclamen as a gift. Hardy cyclamens bloom at a different time of year but, perhaps, their care is similar. Shooting stars are most everywhere here in the lightly forested areas and some of the grasslands. Blooming so early in the season, they are a delight for someone taking a walk in the woods on a warm Spring day. digitS'