Kim, I have this same book so I grabbed it to see what you see. Here's my opinion.... It's important to remember that not all photos show true color. That particular picture looks a bit "washed out" to me. It's not the best. Look at the leaves, I think you'll see what I mean. It's possible that the flowers are darker than what shows in the picture. There isn't a good leaf-back in the picture, so I can't speak to that. The FC2 description is: Dancin' Trail (5565) 09/30/1983 (S. Sorano) Double red star. Dark green, pointed, glossy/red back. Semiminiature trailer As far as I have found, some violets called "red" are not actually red. From the pictures in FC2, it's a very purple maroon color. The leaves are more what I call a medium green also, but that is so sujective! If you want a pink trailer, I doubt it'll be hard to find one similar to how Dancin' Trail shows up in that photo. I did a quick search on FC2 for double pink trailers and here's a few that I saw: Champagne Pink (7945) 10/08/1993 (S. Sorano) Double light pink pansy. Crown variegated green, white and pink, plain, ovate. Semiminiature trailer Cirelda (3620) 03/01/1979 (P. Tracey) Double pink two-tone. Quilted. Semiminiature trailer Dresden Doll (7259) 11/24/1989 (P. Harris) Double pale pink. Medium green, heart-shaped, pointed. Standard trailer Lyon's Pinky Wink (7972) 10/08/1993 (S. Sorano) Double medium pink pansy. Medium green, heart-shaped, quilted, serrated. Semiminiature trailer Rob's Willawong (8181) 06/05/1995 (R. Robinson) Semidouble bright pink sticktite pansy. Medium green, pointed. Semiminiature trailer Rob's Wooloomooloo (8074) 03/05/1994 (R. Robinson) Double bright pink sticktite. Medium green, plain, pointed. Semiminiature trailer There were 140 entries. Good luck at finding the one you like best! ~Brambles

Good nurseries in the Tuscon area: Mesquite Valley Growers (18 acres)on far East side; Catalina Heights Nursery and Harlow gardens, more east/central; Desert Survivors, west of U of A campus; Moon Valley Nursery, 3775 W Chandler Blvd, Chandler. Links for you about growing citrus in your special triangle (Tuscon, Phoenix, Yuma triangle). http://www.azcitrus.com/ http://ag.arizona.edu/yavapai/anr/hort/byg/archive/growingcitrusincontainers.html A very good reference book to have on your shelf for growing citrus. A little biased toward Florida, but still very good for us here in S. Calif. and AZ (again, copy and paste this link, as GW breaks the link at the first hyphen): http://www.amazon.com/Citrus-Selecting-Varieties-California-Illustrated/dp/0962823643 Attend the Arizona Cooperative Extension Citrus Day, a great educational opportunity for you in your area (we have a similar function at UC Riverside here in S. California, in February). Here is the main page for U of AZ Extension and Citrus (copy and paste this link, as GW breaks the link at the hyphen): http://extension.arizona.edu/programs/citrus-management Be sure to check out their "Event Calendar" for future citrus classes and presentations. They hold Citrus Clinics in various areas in January And, Pima County's extension site: http://extension.arizona.edu/pima You have a great citrus fertilizer available to you, that is especially formulated for your soil and citrus, Arizona's Best Citrus Fertilizer. Many, many great cultivars for you to choose from. Any mandarin is going to probably do just fine for you. Satsumas are famous for handling low winter temps in stride. Gold Nugget is even more cold tolerant and produces ripe mandarins at a different time than the satsumas, so you can extend your mandarin season. Several grapefruits also do well, Rio Red, Oroblanco/Melogold pummelo hybrid (my favorite, as they as sweeter and less bitter), and Cocktail pummelo hybrid (yet even sweeter, and one of my top 5 fav citrus). Lemons tend to be less cold tolerant. Eureka is the standard, but I would the Improved Meyer which has some orange or mandarin in its genetics. It is more cold tolerant and is a little less acidic than the Eureka. Extremely prolific fruit producer as well. Tangelos, Minneola is the standard, but you might want to consider the Page mandarin. It's not really a mandarin, but a cross between the Minneola and the Clementine mandarin, so that makes it 3/4 mandarin and 1/4 grapefruit. It is an absolutely outstanding citrus cultivar. Just meltingly delicious. Worthy of a spot in everyone's citrus collection. You can buy anything on semi-dwarfing rootstock. In fact, most citrus comes on semi-dwarfing rootstock, harder to find it on standard rootstocks. I would recommend that over truly dwarfing rootstock (really only two, Poncirus trifoliata 'Flying Dragon' or Cuban Shaddock), as the trees will mature more slowly on dwarfing rootstock, than on semi-dwarfing, and be slower to produce fruit for you. You can keep the trees crotch pruned to a managable size very easily. I have a "No Ladders" rule in my orchard :-) No climbing a ladder to pick a piece of fruit. Too old and bones are not up to that kind of tumble anymore. My rule is no tree can be taller than what I can reach up and pick. And, I'm only 5'5", so that's not very tall :-) Semi-dwarfing trees will only grow to about 10'-15' anyways, so very little pruning is needed with citrus. Do learn how to crotch prune correctly, though, as citrus produce fruit on new wood, at the tips, so if you go at your tree with shears and not pruners, you'll have a lovely, round tree with zero fruit :-) Here is a decent article about pruning citrus trees in AZ, with the exception of leaving dead wood. That is absurd. Always prune out dead wood, as it is a source for infestation and infection. Just protect the branches and trunk from too much sun. Very easy to do. Just paint exposed branches with the cheapest flat latex paint cut in half with water. All evergreen trees need to have protection from the sun on their branches and trunks, especially when very young: http://ezinearticles.com/?When-and-How-to-Trim-Citrus-Trees-in-Arizona&id=1386215 An excellent article on how to correctly prune all fruit trees, including citrus. This is how to crotch prune fruit trees: http://www.crfgsandiego.org/Presentations/Fruit%20Tree%20Pruning%20Central%20Leader%20and%20Modified%20Central%20Leader.pdf Good luck, definitely reach out to your local extension folks to get to their Citrus Day/Clinics, or any classes put on by your local Master Gardeners about citrus. Let us know what you end up with, and how you fare! Patty S.

Debbie, Gigi, Carol & Scarlett: I like the Sunset books too! One of the first garden guides I ever bought (about 25years ago!)was Sunset's "Garden Color, Annuals & Perennials". I had forgotten that there was a small encyclopedia in the back that included info on how to care for each plant. A very nice little book! I also received the Sunset book, "Cottage Gardens" for Christmas. Beautiful photos and helpful info on many plants. Marylu, I agree with Haziemoon. Great idea about having an ongoing wish list! Georgeanne & Bibliobeth, there are certainly never enough flowers or books at THIS house! Nan, The "Rodale's encyclopedia is excellent. I highly recommend it to everyone! As for garden magazines, I am definitely hooked. They are piling up now, unread next to my comfy chair. Waiting for a snowy day when I have time to read them! Leslie, you HAD to mention English Garden magazine! I'd never heard of it before and a flyer came in the mail TODAY with a reduced rate, and since you spoke about it in such glowing terms, I just had to get out my checkbook and subscribed on the spot! It's all your fault. Haha! I agree with you about Larry Hodgson's books. "Perennials for Every Purpose" is such a great book. The way the plants are divided up by growing conditions, such as wet areas or shade is extreemly helpful, especially when I am unloading a trunk load of newly purchased plants, and can't remember which plant likes which conditions. Honeysucklecottage, I've never attempted to grow herbs, but I'd like to try next year. Rob Proctor's book will be first on my new "Wish list", along with the American Hort. A-Z encyclopedia that Lynne suggested. Thanks everyone for your comments and suggestions. I hope others will add their fav "how to" book. Patti

Like some here, I learn skills best in an interactive situation where I observe, then try, then get corrections. But an instructor is not always available to me, and books work reasonably well when no teacher is available for the skills I want to acquire. And even when they are, books enhance and expand the learning experience for me. I prefer to have both, but will take either when that is all I can get. What have I learned? Gardening, cooking, quilting, sewing were all skills I learned to varying degrees from books, though certainly I have had some instruction, too, particularly with sewing and tailoring. I'm getting mentally prepared to learn to knit, and I think I want to take up playing the recorder. I don't play any musical instrument. Knowing that I would give up quickly if I don't get to a rewarding level fast I thought, why not the recorder? Children learn quickly to play it on a simple level, yet this instrument is capable of producing lovely music in the hands of a musician. And best of all, no one could ever ask you to sing along! Rosefolly