Guest Post: The Bloomin' List

The lovely Michelle over at Green Woman has offered to fill in while I'm on vacation. You can see a post from me over on her blog. I talk about something other than helpful writing details (LOVE!) I asked Michelle, who is a great gardening expert to help us with what flowers bloom when, so we can get those details right in our books. (P.S. Tansy is my favorite.) Without further ado...

Tracy has asked me to give you all a list of the bloom times of plants. Well, this is a complicated subject! Because plants have very specific needs, and those needs are met by nature at different times depending upon the climate, soil, etc. But I have done my best! All bloom times are APPROXIMATE. Every region has variations in climate that affect the bloom times. So, if you're looking at a specific bioregion, check with the state's extension agency, employ a search engine, or contact a local gardening group. It's not hard to find this information and get your details right, writers.

Obviously this list is not comprehensive. Flowers come in endless varieties. I decided to stick with fairly common plants suited to fairly temperate climates, since that's what I know best.

Also, I've included for each plant whether it grows in the sun or shade. This is VERY IMPORTANT. If you have your heroine harvest Lavender in the forest, I will be angry with you. Just so you know.

Winter:

Hellebores (usually February) (sun to part shade)

Purple Deadnettle (January-February) (sun)

Snow drops (January-February) (part shade to shade)

Spring:

Apple Tree (April-May)

Bleeding Heart (Late Spring) (part shade to shade)

Camellia (February-March) (sun)

Chives (March-May) (sun to part shade)

Clover (Begins in Spring, goes throughout the summer.) (sun)

Columbine (late Spring) (shade to part shade)

Comfrey (mid to late Spring) (sun)

Crocus (early Spring) (sun to part shade)

Daffodil (early Spring) (sun)

Hawthorn Tree (May) (sun to part shade)

Plum (tree) (March-April)

Rosemary (sometimes as early as February in mild climates, but usually April or May) (sun)

Tulips (early to mid spring) (sun)

Wild Violets (early spring: Sometimes as early as late February) (shade)

Summer:

Black Eyed Susan's (late summer--August-September) (sun)

Borage (begins in late spring and continues putting on blooms throughout the summer) (sun)

Calendula (June-September) (sun)

Chicory (July-September) (sun)

Cornflowers/Bachelor Buttons (June-July) (sun)

Daisies (june-july) (sun)

Echinacea (late summer--July-August) (sun)

Iris (May-June) (sun)

Lavender (late June-late July) (sun)

Peonies (May-June) (sun)

Poppies, California (start in late Spring, bloom throughout the summer. In warmer climates they bloom as early as February.) (sun)

Poppies, Oriental (May-June) (sun)

Queen Anne's Lace (late summer--July-August, into September sometimes. (sun)

Roses (late May-September) (sun)

Sunflowers (July-August) (sun)

Yarrow (sometimes even starts in late May, blooms throughout summer) (sun)

Fall:

Asters (late August-September) (sun)

Chrysanthemums/Mums (Late August-throughout the fall) (sun)

Crocus (there is a fall-blooming variety) (sun-part shade)

Dahlia's (August-September) (sun)

Goldenrod (August-September) (sun)

Tansy (late summer-fall) (sun-part sun)

Did I leave off a plant that you're dying to know about? Feel free to ask! I'll try to answer questions to the best of my ability. And never forget, search engines are your friend. A tiny bit of research can save you from making your readers swear at you for getting your plant stuff wrong.

Gone Filmin'

Instead of fishing (though I will be doing that too) I'm going filming! It's time for my yearly family vacation up at a lake. Should be awesome (dirt biking, jet skiing, boating, wakeboarding, <3). But I'm also going to be doing a lot of filming while I have the chance in some real "wilderness."

Should be fun. If you have any last minute suggestions, comment and I can try them out too. I will still be able to check my e-mail until Sunday. I will not be deserting you completely though! I have an awesome guest post (that will be super helpful too!) that I'm going to have automatically post on Wednesday. So check back then!

Finally, it's the last day of the contest. Rafflecopter will select a winner for me. So even though I won't be posting about the winner, it will show up who won on the widget after the contest ends. It will also give me your e-mail (or so they say) so I can contact you about your prizes. Don't worry about that. Just celebrate and start thinking about what you want!

I'll miss you guys, but the filming festival I'll be on will make it WAY easier to not have problems like last time. Keep your pants on while I'm gone!

EDIT: Thanks for making me a liar Rafflecopter. It won't announce the winner. I decided to do a consolation prize for every 50 entries (so we had about 150 so three consolation prizes). So here it is:

FIRST PLACE:

LAURA (lmlong)

CONSOLATION PRIZE WINNERS:

BETH MACKINNEY

TIM McCAUGHAN (Tim Cody)

FAITH

Laura, please start thinking about what scenes (PG rated) you would like us to film. I have 65 followers now, so your film will be 6.5 minutes. (Fair right?)

Beth, Tim, and Faith, as in the rules, consolation prizes are as follows: a chapter critique, a nifty drawing, OR an Author Spotlight. Please pick one or maybe think of something else you'd like. I'm open to suggestions.

Friday Freebies 6

Hey guys, be sure to enter MY contest. Who wouldn't want a film version of their novel? (even if it is just a scene done by a bunch of community theater actors).

Elsewhere on the great big Internets, you can find:

Epic Fail (again): I mention this a second time, because I really want this book. I don't know why. I'm such a girl.

Another Book Giveaway : These are the easiest things to find, btw. So if you go look, you'll have lots of opportunities for free books.

Help Libraries : Oh and get a free trip to Atlantis (in the Bahamas). Not bad. Not bad at all. But libraries are more important.

Secret Agent Contest : Miss Snark has announced her contest will be on Monday. Pay attention because the contest is only open at certain times to the first 25 people! So be fast and be ready!

See you guys on the flip side!

Minor Setback

Sorry for the lack of new episode today. It will be late because I had to switch around the order of some episodes. The one that was supposed to be this week will need more time. So I'll try to quickly throw something together if I can. I might not be able to with family things going on today.

But, please check out the contest, and remember you can enter it daily. You get entries for each thing you do.

Friday Freebies 5: In which, I have my own contest

Firstly, I'm going to be having my OWN contest. Yup! I'm having a contest.

What can you win? We'll film a scene from your novel and post in on the blog.

Now wait, you ask, why would I want that? I'll tell you my observant friend. First of all, if your book is published you'll have free and fun promotions (or a book trailer). Or it can help you see how your dialog reads on screen. Or it could just be a lot of fun to make me act like a doofus.

Okay, so you're thinking to yourself, why would I spread the word on this? Shouldn't I just keep this secret so I have a better chance of winning? Well sure, you could. But the more people who find out about this the better the prize will be! I'll lengthen it! Plus, even if you don't win, everyone gets to see me (and possibly a cast of my friends, family, and thespian buddies) be dorks for you. (Outside of the usual stuff.)

But what if I don't write or have something you can act out? Then pick your favorite book or scene from a book or even just make up a scenario for us to act out. (Like do werewolves and vampires really hate each other.)

Stop talking already and tell me how to enter! (You're saying this not me.)

Okay, okay, it's pretty simple. You just fill out the rafflecopter form below. You can get bonus points for tweeting about it daily. (I provide text but if you want to use the hashtag and link and make up your own words, you can.) I'm also open to new ways to get points (I can edit the widget with those at any point without losing your entries).

And as always, other people have stuff their giving away. Books, contests, if its going on I'll try to find it for you. Well at least five. I can't find everything! Gosh, stop being so demanding.

Epic Fail : Win a modern retelling of Pride and Prejudice. Or not. I can win it too. I'm cool with that.

3 books : More for your time investment. Can't beat that, right?

Pick Your Prize : As always, the lovely Rebecca Hamilton has fabulous prizes for you (and free editing).

500 words contest : Gotta love chance for books or agent feedback!

Mini-Synopsis Contest : Not a pitch, but a short synopsis. Interesting. Very interesting. Will you enter? Can you manage it?

See you guys next week!

Friday Freebies 4

This time seems to be lots of books you can win. But those are great, because you don't have to be a writer to enjoy a free novel.

Two Chances to Win Free Books : It seems Ms. Miller there gets a lot of free books to give away. Am I jealous? Yes, I am.

Free Editing : InkMuse does fabulous critiques, and every week (or sometimes every other week) she gives them away for free. How are you not signed up for this already?

Partial Critique : It's mostly for teen writers, but those of us past that stage in our lives can enter as well. 50 pages critique. Not bad. Not bad at all.

8 Books : Don't forget this chance to win 8 books!

So four contests in all, and that is not even including contests that don't run on a Friday.

Good luck though! I hope one of us wins.

Episode 3: Burning Documents

SUMMARY OF SCENE

Great, now my hair is a real mess. I need a hair dresser fast. I think I have a card somewhere in my bag. I push aside the receipts and knick-knacks I've collected. It's no good. I can't find anything in here.

I pour out the contents of my purse onto the counter, papers goes everywhere. A business card floats right onto the scented candle. The lit scented candle. Oh bother. What if it gets burned? I think I have some chemicals in my purse that I can use to read what was written on the card! But I'll need to save it in time...

MY HYPOTHESIS

I didn't really have one this time. I just had the two scenarios I was interested in learning about. I suppose I thought the paper would just burn right up and you couldn't save anything really. But I really did want the Sherlock Holmes stuff (salvaging an already burned paper) to work.

ACTUAL OUTCOME

Yeah, I was wrong on both counts.

CONCLUSION OF SCENE

The burned paper disintegrated in my hand. There was no recovering it. At least it was just a small corner. I can easily read the card. Phew. Now to just get out of here.

DETAILS

The first thing I tried was throwing the paper in the fire to see if I could leap in and save it in time. I could. Only the corner was burned. That could make an interesting scene if that corner had the final location of the treasure or the name of the heir to the fortune! Otherwise, it won't cause much trouble.

I also threw a stack into the pile and left it. The pages burned from the bottom up. The ones that got left for a long time were burned on the top and bottom, but the middle pages were just burned on the edges. They were still quite readable.

As for the super sleuth attempts? Well I burned the edge of the paper and left it to burn. That was the how they did it in the last Super Sleuth movie I saw. It just burned out quickly when I set it down. When I held it up to let it burn, it crinkled in a lovely way. I'm a pyromaniac like that I suppose.

As for saving what was on the paper? It's highly unlikely to happen as the pages are so delicate they fall apart when touched or moved too quickly. A very trained specialist might be able to salvage what was on there, but he would have to be careful. Just be aware of that in your scenes.

Final detail: the ashes would blow away or rise up in the smoke, so don't expect to find much left over if the papers were left in the fire.

Thanks as always for reading. Sorry to be a little late this week. Youtube was being silly about uploading the video.

P.S. The video was edited by my assistant/husband "The Drudge," which is why the style is so different this time. He's so talented.