Looks like one of the swamp dogwood species. Cornus foemina perhaps.

MissSherry, Hee hee, I had to laugh when you said about sneaking over when nobody was looking and get the pots. :) There is a town about 10 miles from here that has a big trash day and now I remember how someone described how people cruise the streets looking over other people's junk to see what they can use and jump out of their cars and grab what they want. Ha, that sounds like something I could go for. I think they might have already had their trash day this year though but not sure. Yes, I bet that nursery was glad that you took care of their unwanted pots. I'll have to look at Lowe's and see if they have any broken bags of potting soil. Sometimes they do and put it on sale for half price. Yes, I think I probably do have enough milkweed to feed an army of cats and so I'm not worried that I won't have enough this year. :) tdogmom, You make it sound like your hubby likes his Plumeria as much as you like your Monarchs. :) Does he raise them to sell or he just likes to grow them? I bet between his plants and your butterflies, people passing by your place must think that they're in some tropical paradise. That's cute how you both have your nursery friends and nice that they save containers for you. It sounds like cleaning those pots was good therapy for you. Hee hee. It also made hubby happy at the same time. We don't have a Home Depot around here, but we have a Lowe's and sometimes they'll have broken bags for 50% off. I'll have to check that out. I forgot all about that. Susan, You sound very resourceful and I could do that too if I can't find any pots anywhere for free. Yeah, I saved my plastic pots too that I purchased plants in. I don't even know anymore how I ended up with 20 some one-gallon pots. Those already have swamp milkweed growing in them (they're just poking their heads through the soil...just soil that I used from our place). I don't know why I didn't even think of the gallon size jugs...we have some of those that we bought milk in and I could use those. Jill, Yes, I'll definitely have to buy the potting soil. I just hope I can find some for half price. I know the SuperWalmart has real big bags of it for something like $9, I think. I never heard of Freecycle. I just learned something new again. I had been buying the small bags of potting soil for convenience. I have back problems and can't lift a whole lot like those bigger bags of potting soil at Walmart, but surely I could get hubby to do it. MaryAnn, That's a good idea too, using the half gallon milk and oj containers. I imagine that some of the plants that I'm starting later than the others won't get real big and I could put them in those. I wish I could get big bales of potting soil like you describe. I never saw anyone around here have those. They'd last quite awhile! Well, for me, that's a month or so. Ha. That's for sure, at least starting the plants myself is much cheaper than buying all of them. I can just imagine that if I'd go to buy all the plants that I started from seed this year, they'd cost hundreds (maybe even a couple thousand) of dollars. Paul, I wonder if I'd be able to keep milkweed in pots up here year-round without them freezing considering that I live in PA. I'd do that if I knew it would work. It would save some time. If I'd try keeping some over winter and find out that they don't make it, I could at least use the soil over, I guess, rather than keep buying new every year. I wish I knew for sure if I could keep them over winter without them dying. That's a good idea you have about mixing the potting soil, sand, soil, lime, and fertilizer granules. I do that sometimes when I feel adventurous. :) I also built a new cage but didn't get it finished because of all this plant stuff. I hope I can find time to finish it this year yet or else I'll have tons of caterpillars on our back porch this year. THANKS, EVERYONE, for your excellent advice!! :) Cathy

Thanks, Dave. Although mayhaws do grow in bogs and wetlands, they also grow beautifully in well-drained soil. We are fortunate to have good sandy loam at our place, even though most of our area has awful black gumbo clay. My parents told stories of going with their parents to scoop up the mayhaws with nets from the wet, boggy areas, but they planted mayhaws in their yard many years ago. They make a very tasty, unique jelly that is crystal clear deep red. The mayhaw is very tart. It's a beautiful tree, especially in the spring when it is full of white blooms. Since I forget that other parts of the country may not know what a mayhaw is, I found this off the mayhaw.org website: "The mayhaw (crataegus opaca) is a fruit about 1/2" to 1" in diameter. Ripe from mid-April through early May, its fruit color varies from bright red to reddish yellow. It is not a desirable berry for eating raw." "The mayhaw is a Hawthorne native to the southeastern states that is normally a 20 - 30 foot tree at maturity. Usually found in low, wet, slightly acid areas, mayhaws produce best on good upland soils in full sun." "The mayhaw normally flowers in February and March. Ball-shaped at maturity, the mayhaw tree makes a beautiful ornamental." "Historically, Mayhaws have been harvested in backwoods sloughs, swamps, and river bottoms. Boats are sometimes utilized in the harvest of wild mayhaws. Limbs are shaken over the boat and nets are used to scoop them out of the water. Accessibility has dwindled over the years as developers have cleared the woodlands. Commercial and home orchards are now being created with grafted mayhaws." My grandmother used to make a delicious mayhaw cake, which was about 6-8 very thin layers of plain cake and mayhaw jelly. While still warm, she used a toothpick to poke holes in the first layer, pour warm melted mayhaw jelly over it, added the second layer, poked holes, poured jelly, and repeated until finished. The top layer was dusted with powdered sugar. I'm making my mouth water just thinking about it! I have a feeling I won't have enough juice left to can it for drinking. :-) Jill

Thankfully my hub's doing better today; it's been a long week. Here are a few pics; if you go to the album; they start with the thumbnail below. Yesterday (day 22) they had the day off. From trailrunner Lined up at Southport NC ferry to Ft Fisher. taking tomorrow off. just rode 80 mi avg 13 !!! camping at Carolina St Park 5/18/11 From trailrunner Much needed break 5/19/11 From trailrunner Surf City NC beach campground Lagunitas 5/20/11 From trailrunner