You give FF more the benefit of the doubt that I do. I placed one order and was ROYALLY PEEVED! They HACKED the one tree I wanted most. HACKED IT!!!! Another had been hacked previously. I'm still growing the second out of it, and the first I gave up on getting it back to a single leader. Makes me wonder about their true policies. I know others that got less than great quality as well. Same story, some Ok, but some WTH. It is beyond me how they get such good ratings. Another thing to be aware of, is that everything in that order budded immediately. So you have some stressful nights if the temps drop. For this reason, when I ship something in, I ways a couple weeks to see if it's going to buds quickly before I plant them. With that said, you can do as Ken suggested and plant them more upright. If it leans a bit, most trees with straighten themselves as they grow. they most likely got this way from being grown in crowded conditions. All the individual plants grow away from one anther in an attempt to capture more light. So they end up bent every which way. If you steak them, VERY loosely pull them over in the direction you want them, so that they can move around ALLOT. I typically just use the stretch and tape loop it around without tying it to the stem. Has worked nicely for me. To establish a new leader, do a similar procedure on the highest limb. Pull it up vertical with the tip being easily the highest point of the plant. Except this time the steak (use a bamboo steak) needs to be close to the original main stem, and you need to tie it tighter, but don't constrict anything. If you go to a local nursery and look at the larger b&b trees, you can see more or less exactly how they did it. Thing is, you should not HAVE to do this. No excuses. Hope this helped, Arktrees

Although not as humid up here in the FAR north, I certainly can relate to short, cool seasons. In addition to your list I would and do grow every color of carrot I can find, bush beans (both dry and snap),turnip, spinach, lettuce, swiss chard, bok choy and any other leafy greens I may find. I have started growing a few Asian vegies (more leaves) in the past couple of years. You might try some of the short season varieties of corn if you want a bit of a challenge. Many are early maturing, short season hybrids. Seed available in many Canadian seed catalogues. If it is worth mentioning, cherry tomatoes grow like crazy up here. Less time to mature and they are super sweet. I have many but a few favorites. Easily started from seed in April. :) Ginny

Happy SuperBowl Sunday!!!! Big day here in New England!!!!! I am making ribs and chicken wings. I'm just hoping if the game gets too intense DH doesn't have a stroke!!! Last game he watched clutching his chest. LOL Marci, you are so cute. I love the bunny bunny!! ((((Patti and Dave)))), I am so sorry that you got turned down again. I don't know of anyone so deserving as the both of you. I admire your willingness to keep at it and I think your attitude is awesome! Please don't stay away so long! Amy, you too are a professional artist, so please be nice to yourself. All artists have a different interpertation of things and you submitted yours. If someone feels they need to be critical of your work, then maybe they need to take a step back and look at their own. I think you are brave to put yourself out there and you should be proud of that. Please let us know how it goes. NHSuzie, congratulations on the cover!! Way to go. Bummer about the trips. Doesn't it figure? Is there anyway a date for either trip can be changed? I saw the previews for the Oprah show but did not get to watch it. Was it about how being overweight destroys your organs? I wish I had seen it. My mom was here for the weekend. Yesterday we went to see "Somethings Got To Give". I loved it and will rent it again when it is out on DVD. Really cute and Diane Keaton looks great. A real natural, you can tell that she has had no plastic surgery or cosmetic procedures and I admire that. Marci, sometimes those book fairs are so over priced anyway you probably would do better getting those books from Amazon or you must get a teachers discount from Borders and Barnes and Noble. BJ, did you buy Hanging on to Max for your daughter? MIL is home from the hospital and doing much better. It will be a slow recovery and I hope she can stay down long enough. She is a real cleaning freak. DH was slow at work last week so he thought it would be a good time to trim out the new windows and paint the living room. Now I am not complaining that he wanted to do it but I came home from work on Friday and the entire living room was in the dining room. Yikes. The LR is now painted so I must put it back together. I was planning on doing this major cleaning job the week of February school vacation, but I don't think I can wait another 2 weeks. Now he starts a big job tomorrow and won't be available to finish what he started. Ugh! Enjoy the day. GO PATS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Love, Besh

Zinnias are always a good choice! And there are zinnias in every size from 6 in to several feet. But aside from zinnias, I tend to think in terms of what else will grow and be happy in the heat and the sun. For me, that includes annual vinca (though perhaps these may seem plain jane to some people) and johnny jump up (viola), which grow easily from seed and I think are really pretty. Viola are fairly short, only about 6 or 10 inches. Marigolds do well in the sun and heat, though they aren't my favorite. Petunias don't like the heat as much. They can't hardly handle July in my zone, so I don't know what they would look like for you in August. You might also consider annual salvia.