ok, the pictures look similar (multiple blooms on a stalk), but the height is off. Spring Star is only about a foot tall. The bulb in question was blooming at a height of at least 1.5-3 feet. I was bending over (as opposed to kneeling) to take a closer peak. Sigh... Got any other suggestions? Boy am I bummed. I thought we had it!

You can deadhead the blooms at any time but some people like to keep them for winter interest. On the other hand, if these are reblooming hydrangeas, deadheading promotes new bloomage so feel free to cut the strand that connects the bloom to the stem. If you have no fungal problems on the shrubs, feel free to use the spent blooms as mulch!

msfuzz, I'm in my 5th year of tomato gardening, here's a quick recap of my methods and what I've learned so far : Year 1 : I used terra cotta containers about 1 gallon in size. I used gardening soil from the local Home Depot. Given our dry air and the small, breathable containers, I found watering twice a day was a requirement - which I didn't always achieve. My plants suffered but the taste of my first homegrown hooked me hard. Year 2 : I used white, plastic 2-gallon buckets which were better for moisture retention, but still required daily watering and weren't very pleasing to the eye. My plants did better, but were prone to tipping over in gusty winds. Year 3 : Using small landscaping bricks, I built a planter / raised bed on my patio, dimensions roughly 7ft x 2ft x 16in. I lined it with rubber pond liner to reduce moisture loss, control drainage and prevent staining my patio. This improved my results and cut watering to every other day during the height of summer. I re-used one of the buckets from the year before and tried a hanging / upside down technique for a cherry tomato variety. It was a neat experiment, but again the small size meant mucho hydro maintenance. Year 4 : Moved to a house with a yard! Built a raised bed on one end of the back lawn. The planter was a hell of a project. Three conjoined circles, each about 4 feet in diameter (picture the circles on Led Zeppelin's Stairway album). I tapped into the sprinkler lines for a drip irrigation system - highly recommended. I probably should have removed the grass / sod underneath, but instead I turned the soil with a shovel, covered with several layers of newspaper and filled it in with about 20in of gardening soil from the local nursery. I was pleased with the results, but fruiting was delayed because I didn't have any way to mitigate the excessive heat last July. I learned high temperatures can sterilize the pollen. It was frustrating to see a multitude of blossoms never come to fruition. 2009 : I'm adding a second raised bed (3ft x 13ft x 16in) where there is currently a patch of boring landscaping gravel. I believe this new planting area will be appropriated by DGF (darling girlfriend) for flowers. The tomato garden bed will get some wrought iron shepherd's hooks for another attempt at hanging tomatoes and to provide support for a shade cloth. In short, unless you have mountains of time and money, don't try to accomplish everything in your first season. I have learned (and love) patience thanks to this fantastic hobby. The mistakes you make and the successes you have can contribute nicely to next year's project (and the following year and the year after that, ad infinitum) Welcome aboard and have an awesome day! Ray

There's a reason that greige colors like Revere Pewter and Edgecomb Gray are so popular. LOTS of people have both warm and cool colors in their rooms. Few of us get to start from scratch and most people need to find a way to combine existing non-changeable finishes (floors, cabinets, countertops), plus furniture they already have. Often that's a mix of warm and cool colors. The greige colors look good with both, and when you add or remove something from the mix, it all still works together. You may find that with a new wall color that your existing trim, kitchen counter etc. look just fine.