Here we go yet again... mild and rain with a high of 53 Friday in NYC. Can you believe it Alex. I am not complaining and the palms are doing well. We got about 1.5 snow Saturday which was all melted by Monday. This is a southern-style winter so far. Islandbreeze, your low of 11 is not bad for your zone and you're having a break this winter as well. The cold air in the mid west sometimes moves northeastward and sometimes the core of cold air slides back into Canada over the Great Lakes before reaching coastal New York City. So we do see some of the cold but often miss the bitter cold part. When I see temps in Pittsburg, PA for example in the teens during a cold snap, its usually moderated to the 20s by the time we see it the next day. Wetsuiter, smart idea to experiment with palm seedlings. NJ, you got the most snow on Saturday it sounds like.

"According to my dad, most gasoline now has about 10% ethanol, which wreaks havoc on two stroke engines, especially when the fuel is stored for long periods. So this probably explains why I couldn't get my little generator running before I moved to the west coast, and apparently it's causing a lot of people problems with their generators. " Yes, most gas has ethanol, but the myth about it destroying engines just has not been true. One of the worst things you can do to a small engine is leave gas in the tank and worse yet, the fuel line for years. Actually 100% gas is worse in this case because of the shellac buildup. The bigger problem in 2s strokes is the oil left in there. The alcohol can actually help clean it out a bit. It's been a long time since I've seen a generator with a 2 stroke engine anyway. They're not common anymore in snowblowers or mowers either. They're still common though for gas trimmers, chain saws mowers and the like. When you're going to have any engine sitting a long time you should *always* run the engine dry if you can. Either siphon out the gas or shut off the fuel shutoff when so equipped. Some put fuel stabilizers in there but I'm not a believer in them. Most reputable mechanics say the simplest, cheapest and most effective is the basic run it out of gas. And the fuel should *never* be stored for long periods (100% gas or blended) when used for small engines - you should always try to use reasonably fresh gas in a small engine. If your gas has been sitting a year or so, put it in your car and fill the can with fresh gas. We've had blended gas in this state for, what, 30-35 years at least and I've never lost an engine to ethanol, and I don't know anyone who has either. I heard the claims at the time and was concerned but the fact is the ethanol scare was a big hoax. There's people running 80% alcohol in cars with no trouble, and not even ones "designed" for flex-fuel. I saw on the news yesterday where a generator manufacturer started running as many shifts as possible and converted all manufacturing to generators in anticipation of the storm. If there's a "good" part to this event, it's happening in moderate weather, rather than the super hot time of year or super cold time of year. Hope people heeded the warnings and were prepared so no more lives will be lost. Last I heard about noon or so there were 10-12 so far. Sympathies and condolences to their families and friends Best of luck to everyone impacted.

After the storm, if you're without power... 1. Pick out as much debris as you can. 2. Add bleach daily and swish it around with your brush. We were without power for 9 days after Ike. I worked on the pool for a while every one of those days...pulling branches, scooping leaves, etc. I added a gallon of Clorox a day, and used my brush to stir the water and make sure it was spread throughout the pool. The water color looked OK, but the pool was very cloudy after the storm, and it stayed that way the whole time we were without power. Our power came back on at about 5:30 on a Sunday night. One of the first things I did was turn on the pump. By the time I got up Monday morning the pool was completely clear.

Hmm, Felicity - I don't tend to pay as much attention to width but I can at least categorize them as upright/compact (probably no more than 2' wide), sprawling (4' plus), or bushy (narrow at base widening to maybe 3') as follows: Careless Love - I'd call this classic HT type upright - doesn't bush out much for me and stays fairly narrow Clotilde Soupert - clearly bushy, at least as wide as tall (3' or less), but not too sprawly Dame de Coeur - can't tell, but I'm expecting more upright growth Double Delight - definitely narrow & upright, and mine have never really survived well enough to bush out so this might not be true in your zone Firefighter - likely to be bushy now in its third year Fire n Ice - Ha. This one needs a new "teeny" category for width. Julia Child - I'd go with bushy, about as wide as high (maybe 3' X 3') Pope John Paul II - mostly upright and narrow in good conditions, but I'd like to see it bush out. Mostly mine is that narrow sparse HT type growth, and short like Seil says Rockin Robin - definitely bushy and might get more like 4' wide, particularly for you Rock & Roll - very broad bushy vase shape - give it definitely 4' in width. It's probably not as wide as tall, but mostly because it's a tall rose for me. It doesn't flop or get octopus arms for me, but naturally bushes out at least 3-4' White Pet -low and the only one that probably sprawls. For the under 2' height, I might double its width to 4'. Adjust accordingly for your zone. Glad this helps! Cynthia