Imatallun, I was thinking along those same lines - get the kids interested early, make them life-long gardeners. Katie, would a children's garden be feasable? Would the local schools be willing to promote "Garden Day" field trips to give kids a chance to actually work in a garden and learn where so much of their food comes from, what composting is and how it works, etc. Could you find a local artist willing to donate drawings for a factual coloring book the zoo could give to Garden Day participants and perhaps sell at the gift shop? Sorry to be so long-winded, guess I spent too many years in advertising. cora

jannie hope you're getting better..it took me several trips going an alternate route before i had the courage to drive where i got rear ended seveal months ago... sue, when i worked for ma bell (in san diego) that was a common complaints..here, it's squirrels that do the most damage...you't think with all tech they could get a wire that didn't taste good! glad you're back... not much going on in mi..weds was b squish day. the rest of this week has been getting dh's laundry all done early. actaully he'll be closer to you next week. they're having a mini elevator convention at purdue u for 3 days. he and the head mechanic are attending...i probably could have gone but would much rather stay home with the cats than sit in a hotel room, lol...

Here are a couple rare trees, very seldom seen in collections on the east coast, especially this far north for the Cornus and (probably) this far south for the Asian mag hybrid. I missed their main fall sale a couple weekends ago. I still snuck into the "not for sale" area to see what was hanging around. If they crack the code to growing Gunnera on the east coast, that will be highly commendable, but I think it's telling I didn't see any of those in the garden. Makes me think these were recent imports from the faraway land of the PNW ;-) It's nice that they had a species camellia for sale, even if it's one I've never really seen the purpose of growing. I am _pretty_ sure the Udel gardens has one of these, and it does NOT have the commendable resistance to cold - with respect to blooming - that C. yuhsienensis has. That was blooming literally 2 weeks after single digit temps during the polar vortex winters. On the way back to I-97, I drove past Homestead Gardens without even meaning to. With the passing of Behnkes, this is now considered one of the premiere nurseries in the Maryland suburbs of DC, so I decided to stop. Look at that beautiful blue spruce out front: And feast your eyes on this dubious planting advice: but you know what? Their heart is in the right place. Homestead Gardens was the local sponsor of Victory Garden on PBS in the early 1990s, which is one reason I acquired my love of plants via the inimitable Peter Seabrook's travel segments. So here's to you, Homestead. May you live long and prosper. I bought a (surprisingly) rare shrub that was on 50% season end discount LOL. As for London Town...glad I finally saw it. I saw a staffer planting some Osmanthus x fortunei 'San Jose', which is exactly the sort of thing they should be planting to complement a garden like that. So, someone there seems to know what they are doing. My rating: a solid B.

IMO stainless just is better . There is a reason thye are used in commercial kitchens and I think every kitchen should be treated like what it is a working space where prcticality and function are top of the list. I run a catering bix from home I have back to back stainless sinks with buitin drain boards honestly cheep from Ikea 15 yrs ago still look great not one dent and I would get them again if I move .