Tiffy, that pic doesn't really do the cosmos diablo color justice. This pic was taken a few weeks ago with the sun shinning directly behind it. I wasn't intending to get the pic with light at this angle, just some pics, but this is what I got. A lot of times the cosmos diablo will have more of the lighter orange on it when it first blooms, then darken a few days later. This one is from last year just after it started to bloom I love both the cosmos diablo and sunset. The bloom early in the summer, by July 4th at the latest for me, and keep blooming till the frost gets them. My original seeds came from my grandparents farm just before they sold it, almost 40 years ago, and I've been growing them myself every year since. First in pots on an apartment balcony and finally 30 years ago, in my own beds at my home. They only grow 1--2 feet so they fit in the beds in a variety of locations and if you want to really keep them short, you can prune the plants to stay very short and they will still bloom beautifully. I will have tons and tons of seeds of both the diablo and sunset for trades and BEAP offers in a few weeks. Just getting things all together now. NORTHENER, the dahlia diablo, fireworks, and collarette dandy are dwarf dahlias that are easy to start from seed and bloom the first year. Lots of people just sow them as annuals and toss the entire plant out at the end of the season. the seed packets came in mixed colors, so what I have been growing where just the colors that I got from the seeds I originally WS. I've saved the tubers for the past 2 years because I liked the specific colors and combos of colors that bloomed and wanted to be sure that I had them the next year. I wasn't sure that the seeds would come true to the parent plant because they are open pollinated and I have a lot of the dwarf dahlias. As far as I know, the seeds that I collected last year and the year before did come true to the parent plant, at least for the friends that WS seeds that I collected from them, here in my town and a few towns away. The collarette dandy are new seeds that I WS this year and they where from mixed color seeds. I only sowed 2 seeds and wouldn't you know that both of them bloomed in the same colors but with different color combos, so they do look different. I should have seeds from them, including collarette dandy, diablo, fireworks and stargazer. NAN, My chinese forget me nots where WS in March and up within 3 weeks. I planted them in hunks with a lot of hunks together in big holes because they look so much better when they are clumped together. Yes they have bloomed all summer for me, even when I didn't dead head or collect seeds from them until now. They started blooming around the end of June and are still going strong. They are a real work horse in the garden, blooming even under the worst of conditions. They where some of the only things blooming in my beds last summer, when we had real cool temps and rain for 2 solid months in June, July and into part of August. This summer, they have been blooming without skipping a beat, with horrible heat and humidity, most of June, all of July and August and even into the first week of Sept. Add to the fact that we had no rain to speak of for 2 months, more than 7 inches below normal and I can only water every other day. They still chugged along, blooming their hearts out. Just not a plant I would every be without. Fran

Saturday I picked the last of my roses: 2 very deep orange somethings-- but pretty and still scented. the buds opened sunday during the day. last week my spray of cary grant roses bloomed inside for me as well. I had picked them before it snowed about 2 weeks ago. on friday morning (i had the day off) i saw a patch of bright blue in the back yard. turned out that my monkshood i got 2 years ago at the spring exchange had bloomed. such a beautiful clear blue against a yard of bright yellow hickory leaves that had finally fallen. i went and enjoyed the flower and ignored the leaves that needed raking. :)!!! I also have a few dusty rose mums hanging on and feverfew. Planned on getting the yard raked today before we have more snow, but i'm stuck at work with a late catering job. still i've managed something in bloom in my yard every month this year except december. which is really good here in north east ohio. Hope to see you all in the spring at the exchange. diggerb

I have several different varieties of dianthus...my perennial ones put on quite a show early this spring, then kinda went blah when temps in the 90's rolled around. I cut them back all the way to the foliage in mid-June and now they are reblooming. As far as my annual varieties, I just deadhead continuously and they finally let me know when they've had enough...that's when I leave enough of the dead flowers on it to collect seed for later. ...but I'll pass on the beer! :-) Good Luck! Amber

Nancy, Etosha tends to rebloom here, but usually just one scape. And Kate, you almost feel bad about that you'd like them to finish. Alex and Debra, Marseilles Watercolor always re-blooms well, and usually early, which it did, but when it sent up the set of tall scapes, it didn't occur to me that even u the label said MW it cold actually be MW. I assumed it had to be Half Moon Key since MW has been much shorter every time...but I had cut off some of the tulip tree limbs and it is getting more sun, which may have helped. And that tree may go yet. Julia, it started April 24th and today I saw that Crazy Mr Jim has put up two scapes. Heavenly Angel Ice has scapes. It may well be September before it is finished. Lori, I need to move Jumpstart, I think. Thank you all for looking and commenting...and Brad, it really can go too long. kay