Editor, Greetings, all you seed savers and plant rooters.

Thankfully, Mother Nature has washed away most of the pollen. Bees, butterflies, dragonflies and hummingbirds are flitting around all the blossoms in my yard, doing their job of pollinating all my plants. My lavender lantana has bloomed all winter. Now my fruit trees are blooming, and these busy little workers are pollinating them, too. Right now, I am mother to a magnificent grapefruit tree; two kumquat trees; a pear tree; an awesome buckeye tree with lots of babies underneath; four "sloes," which are wild plums; three grapevines; 2 Methley plum trees; one lone loquat tree; a Fuyu persimmon tree; and a chestnut tree. Now all I need is a pet aardvark to keep all the ants from building their mounds in my flower beds.

I am so blessed to have so many friends who love to swap seeds and plants. My marigold seeds sent to me from my friend in Colorado are up now, and so are my balloon peppers from my seed buddy, Joyce.

Spring is the time to buy fruit trees and even in the fall, when you can get them at a cheap price.

Stay busy, my friends. You’ll live longer.

Dot Moss

Midway