I must say that I was hoping for more of a debate about the results of the new poll and am rather surprise that that hasn't happened. To MadPlanter 1: I can understand that it is a lot of work to water your GE daily. I can water my GE every second day. Our temperature in Ontario, Canada has been in the low 90's for the last two weeks and it only rained once during that time. But temperatures have now decreased. I so love GE. I have purchased Dream Queen this year and look forward to doing a comparison. Since I am new to hostas, I only voted for 4 hostas: GE and June, Paul's Glory (because I love the coloring. I remember someone on the forum saying that they loved Paul's Glory because it looked different every day. I thought "how could that be?" Well, it is a great joy to see the coloration change so frequently. It is a good grower too.) I also chose Earth Angel. It has great thickness to the leaf. I like the shape of the leaf and the form of the plant. I have had F. Aureomarginata for many years and it is very nice. But I have never ever loved it. copher mi: Your Regal Splendor is beautiful. I purchased one this year and hope it will be as lovely as yours. coll 123: Your Thunderbolt is gorgeous. I want to also comment on whether one should really vote for a hosta that you have if it is not mature. In 2010 I had approximately 15 hosta in my garden. Last year I had a total of 30 and this year about 50. Of the 15 that I have had for many years, I do not love any of them. I voted in the poll for GE (this one I have had for many years) and for June, Paul's Glory and Earth Angel, it took me just one year to love them. I don't think that I need to actually have a mature clump to know what I love. This year I purchased Sagae, Liberty, Regal Splendor, Rainforest Sunrise, Blue Mouse Ears, just to name a few, and they are very nice, but I don't love them yet. I am looking forward to seeing them next year. I don't know why I am hooked on hostas rather than some other plant. I guess GE just blew me away and then I was hooked.

First off, let me say I just love pictures. I love seeing what everyone else is doing. Randy, I'm quite impressed with your greenhouse. Sammy, I live in a small town, not a lot different from Sheriff Taylor's Mayberry. I garden in my back yard. Currently I have three raised beds 4'x 24', a pipe and stock panel grape arbor about that same size, a pipe and stock panel trellis that goes all along the front of my shed, maybe 2' x 36' and a triangle of a herb garden in the 12' space between the shed and the back porch. I have two small raised beds in that space because there was a tree there and it is still decomposing but is not far enough gone that other plants can get their roots down very far. I found last year I could plant in SOME places, so it's getting there. When they cut the tree, we had them grind the stump down, but it was a huge tree that shaded out everything in that area and dripped sap almost all the time, and it had an extensive root system. Several times we had a limb fall that came dangerously close to hitting the house, so we were glad to get the tree removed. I start plants in several ways. Even though I said I wouldn't do it this way again, I did sow some seed that had to be winter planted in soil in milk jugs. I notice there's already something up in one of them. Some things, like poppy seed and red clover, I had enough seed that I could just scatter some on top of the soil in one of the raised beds in the herb garden, and cover with chopped leaves. I noticed a discussion here about how you really don't need to chop leaves, and that's somewhat true, but I find that they blow around, and they have a way of refusing to be buried sometimes. So for me, it's just easier to chop them. It improves their ability to break down, as well. As you can see, some of them don't chop up very well. Those big pieces will probably be in my fenceline by the time the wind gets done with them. I have 2 apple trees, a Santa Rosa plum tree and two Red Haven peach trees (well, one has reverted to the rootstock, but I have kept it around because when the other tree bears, It makes a lot. I will replace it eventually. But anyway, most of the leaves that I get in my yard come from other people's trees, or those out in the park, courtesy of the wind. Last fall and this spring, every time I have seen bags of leaves on the curb on my block, I have taken them before the garbage truck comes. My next door neighbors rake their leaves and just put the bags of them up against my house. Living on the back of the city park has lots of advantages, but if you want a leaf-free yard, that's not one of them. I have cabbage, bunching onion, tomatoes, potatoes and some jicama planted inside under light, either in trays or newspaper cups, depending on how sensitive their root systems are to being transplanted. The only critters that I have trouble with are the family pets, a few garter snakes, an occasional vole, and toads. It has been a struggle to keep Pearl, the cat, out of the raised beds. She just loves freshly dug, soft dirt. So I try to keep a stock panel flat on the ground wherever I have planted anything or she will go right to it and dig into it with those big furry paws of hers. And then there's Sonny, the dog, who likes to pee on everything. Fortunately, he's kind of leery of 'structures' so stock panels standing on their sides will keep him at bay. He doesn't pee or leave other gifts in the paths between the raised beds. I don't know why, I'm just grateful. He likes to make his rounds out there, guard dog fashion. Once there was a garter snake that lived in one of the raised beds amongst some mature tomato plants. The white fur around Sonny's neck was green all summer from sticking his head in between the plants trying to get to that snake. The vole has done some major damage in my yard in years past, even getting into the raised beds. It didn't eat my plants, it just burrowed too close to the roots and either uprooted things or caused the roots to dry out. This year I'm going to be putting down some milky spore disease to kill the grubs that are attracting the vole. We get an occasional skunk but usually they're just passing through. There are so many dogs in my neighborhood, one of them always spooks it and we wake up to that smell in the air some mornings. I don't leave my dog outside at night like most of my neighbors do. Toads abound out in the park, and my neighbor on the south has a koi pond so a lot of them hang out there. But I get my share. If I have plants set out on the front porch, it's not uncommon to look down and see a fat little warty guy sitting in one of the pots. They kind of dig down when they settle in so even though they're not trying to kill the plant that's in the pot, usually they do. Last spring when I was carrying things in and out, I accidentally carried in a toad. I don't know who was more startled, him or me! Wish I had taken a picture of that. I have a lot of trouble with the birds poking holes in my tomatoes and my fruit, so Dawn I'm going to take your advice and put out plenty of water this summer.

Sorry to take so long. I have not been logging in much of late. The current situation, so far as I know it, is that Dona F1 seed is available only in France. The most recent packet I have shows a "sell by" or "use by" (whatever you want to call it or however you want to interpret it) of 2016. This indicates to me that Vilmorin has bred a new lot of seed. That's encouraging but does not guarantee that they will continue. However, seed is available now though difficult to get in the USA. There is no-one that I know of selling it here. Moreover, it seems to me that as you are in MA it is probably too late for this year, so you might want to plan for 2012. Your best bet, I think, would be if you have acquaintance with anyone in France to ask them to send you some and offer to pay them the cost of seed and postage. They would have to do this using the equivalent of an international express mail document envelope. Do not let them declare the parcel as seeds or they will be seized. There is a USDA program for import of small lots of seed and you could check into that if you want. Next best and probably just as good would be if you know someone travelling to Paris on vacation or business. They could go straight to the Vilmorin store as shown above and get what you want. Do not let them bring seeds back in their luggage. Mail it as "documents" and you have a good chance of receiving it. Third is to just order some online from a French retailer. This is what I did. It is very expensive. You could order as much as five or six packets in one order without an increase in the postage and that would give you 250 to 300 seeds. Search the forum under the keyword Dona and you will find my other posts, in one of which you will find a little more information on this. In my case, the retailer just happened to use a document envelope and so I received my seeds. A few French companies have websites that allow for international shipment though it is definitely not what they are accustomed to. Sorry I can't be of more help right now. It's late at night and I can't think of anything else right now. I'll try to check back fairly soon in case you have any more questions.

Thought I make a comment on something I found in relations to the inside bulbs staying on and possibly causing overheated compartments or even a fire on LG refrigerators. I have a Kemore refrigerator which is made by LG and I'm having problems with my freezer fan not coming on. Replaced the fan and found out that the fan was good all along and that it was a problem with the electronic control board (PCB). In the process of troubleshooting the problem I bought the wiring schematic of this particular refrigerator and came across an issue with the wiring schematic. When I physically dismantled the middle refrigerator vent and cool air track where the light bulb is mounted I found a thermal switch sensor mounted against the light bulb compartment. This thermal switch sensor is not depicted in the wiring schematic. I believe this was an after modification that was done. The thermal switch sensor should act as a safeguard against the light bulb compartment getting too hot and there by shutting off the circuit (current) to the light bulb. Evidently LG has been working at fixing the problem of the bulbs staying on while the doors of the refrigerator are closed. Now the only thing to do is find out if the refrigerator you have or are contemplating on buying has been modified with the thermal switch. Hope this helps.