Hi Lori, sorry I didn't respond quicker, I've been away for the last week. Here's my chicken info page on chicks, you can read it and glean anything out of it that may help: http://jackshenhouse.com/VSChickHensBroodiesChicks.htm But meanwhile, do you have a heat source in your brooder box, and is the box in an area that is free of drafts? Make sure the box is warm enough, around 100 degrees but allow the chicks room to move away from the heat source if they get too warm. If they cluster under the heat source, it is too cold in the box. If they avoid the heat source, they are too warm. Shipped chicks have undergone a tremendous amount of stress, and who knows what some idiot USPS worker did to them. You need to keep them warm and quiet the first few days and resist picking them up or playing with them (this is tough!) I'd also offer them unflavored Pedialyte to drink, get it at the baby aisle in the supermarket. Pedialyte is a liquid that will boost their electrolytes, which stressed and injured birds tend to lose. Also offer little goodies to eat in addition to the chick starter or grow mash you are feeding--live mealworms, cooked ground beef and scrambled eggs are all great. Anything that gets and keeps them eating will give them time to bounce back. Diced grapes, cooked spaghetti cut into tiny pieces, and diced raw corn are all good also. Makes SURE you dice any food into tiny bits that they cannot choke on. Good luck with your chicks, and yes, I'd say the hatchery owes you a partial refund or a new shipment of the same breed bird. Sometimes chicks die despite your best efforts though, either through shipping stress, illness or some congenital issue that you have no way of knowing about. Just do your best. :) Velvet ~:>

I decided to repot them all into a better mix and better groups last Friday, I didn't want to water them in to a mix that wasn't good to I did a more thorough root cleaning and a better foundation. The jades have their own home now. The semp will spend the winter all alone in a very frosty south window in the basement. I don't know what else to do with it and not sure if it can go outside in my zone over the winter or if I wld have enough time to harden off it off. If it should perish....I plan to redeem myself with a succulent rock garden in it memory. We bought a house last year with a south facing yard and have tons of landscaping rocks on 3 sides and an island of them in the back. We both really, really, don't like all these rocks, but where can we put them all?? Is it a blessing in disguise? After reading so much in the forum I feel like I know you all a little, everyone is so nice and helpful, so I will share another picture of what I have in store for my gardening future. I have so many ideas! My DH is a farmboy in the city so we will have some fun. Mr. B says hi! All the leaves dropped in a week, we had some drought then some snow. I got a fire pit and tree skirts as wedding present from DH. He did it while I was away for the weekend. How do you say, "Thank you, I love you so much and I hate tree skirts? You don't, everyone worked so hard and filled it full of flowers! I hope to use some of that labor for helping in the garden when we get one. Did I mention it faces south? All I will do all winter is research, plan, discuss. 2 year, 5 year, 10 year, etc. I hope to share my progression either here or somewhere on these forums, this IS where the experts are at!

You are very thorough. Good on ya! :-) At first I thought it might be Banshee, but the form of the blooms is not right for that rose. It's definitely an Alba and looks like it could be Celestial or Amelia. Both are very old and wonderful roses. Note about the site linked: photos are user-contributed, and sometimes folks post a photo or two of a mislabeled rose. It happens, but you'll find that most of the rose photos look like your rose. And, of course, different cameras and their macros vary in their color saturation, especially with pinks and reds. Bloom color can also be affected by temperatures and the amount of sun the plant receives. Blooms on mature plants can be different from blooms on immature plants. The brown gunk is a fungus called botrytis. It is most likely to occur in cool, damp weather. If temps are warm or the air is dry it is not so prominent. Some years you might see quite a bit of botrytis and other years there is little to none. Some folks treat it preventively with a fungicide; others, like me, don't bother. We just clip off the affected buds as far as humanly possible, and clean up any diseased blooms that have fallen to prevent the spores from hanging around. Some roses are more prone to getting botrytis than others. But it is usually not a big issue, depending on your climate. It is indeed a lovely rose and isn't it wonderful to have a wafting fragrance? This rose will probably outlive you and me. :-) It's a vigorous, hardy, and care-free rose. Congratulations!

I don't and won't eat grits at all so not only do I have grit-free potatoes, I have a grit-free diet since grits ain't gourmet around here. I'm with Lou on washing them when peeling. Hardly redundant. You'll still transfer dirt and otherwise while peeling, especially with some of the hokier peelers out there. I don't really scrub them hard if peeling but a wash, and then a rinse when finished peeling. Part of this is to remove some starchy slime. I often just put them into some water while I'm peeling the rest. If I'm baking them and don't plan to eat the skin, I'll give a lighter wash but if I plan to eat the skins or have company who might eat them, I scrub them well. I like to eat the skins if they're crispy, but if they're soggy, forget it. No foil-wrapped potato skins for me. When people come on to hype their websites, I won't even go to the sites. Even when the post is on topic, it's still spam in my book. Hmm, maybe I should call that stuff "grits" 'stead of spam! LOL