I saw two bushes of MCT, and one of them was quite close to the Castro-Green Musk. I was so impressed by it's size and those gorgeous pink cabbage-flowers- I've never seen a MCT that large before. On a bush that large, with that many flowers, the nodding stems looked so elegant. So...on the way home, I couldn't help it: I had to stop at Rogue Valley Roses and buy a 5-gallon Mme Caroline Testout. She is HUGE- can you imagine what it was like trying to get her in and out of the car (which was already over-packed anyway)? Not to mention driving 4 hours with those long thorny branches lurking behind me. Gean, you and I live in the same climate, which is why I was curious to see what happened with yours. Hopefully she'll like it here.

Pieter, Nematodes do travel through wet soil and hibernate in soil. They do need plant tissue to live. This is why I suggest that when hostas are determined to have a virus that "nematacides" be used in conjuction with killing the plant (removing the required source of food). Perhaps a better way to approach the problem would be to perform the nematode testing to determine whether they are evident first. In many cases Nematode damage is readily determined by characteristic elongated brown streaks. If there is no nematode infection then using an insecticide would still be a good idea as it would be difficult to determine the thrip or other insect population and spraying would be "cheap insurance" to prevent transmission to other plants. In any event a combination of a non-HVX virus with nematode or thrip infection would be a difficult situation. I think these are the only practical ways to approach the problem. Extensive and expensive laboratory testing may or may not determine the virus or other disease involved, but that still leaves the problem of treating it when the plant is in a bed which you are trying to preserve. I don't know of any other prudent next step other than killing the plant, in situ, and ensuring it is completely dead. Killing it before taking steps to address nematode or thrips first or concurrently will speed up the spread as we know that nematodes or thrips live on tissue and killing / removing the plant alone will simply cause them to go elsewhere. If the action where taken with ground freezing immenent, then your suggested scenario of hybernating nematodes infecting new plantings may be possible. I think this would be a very unusual and improbable situation as hostas would be dying off before any real ground freezing. There are no over-the counter approved nematacides, however cholinesterase, the ingredient in Bayer Systemic is listed as a nematacide and might work as well as anything available to the homeowner. Of course bleach and ammonia will kill them undiluted, but the problem of how much to use and preventing damage to neighboring plants is a big problem. Spraying with a 10% solution of ammonia is done for slug control, so this might be an option to help. I simply don't know of any sure-fire nematode control other than professional treatment. Jon

I like your vanity, but also get an uncomfortable feeling about white tile with your sleek countertop and integrated sink. The issue is, I think, that the countertop and vanity are so starkly simple, and most tiles have a lot of geometry going on with the grout lines and all. What about a very large matte-finish rectified porcelain or stone tile in a dark bone color with minimal grout lines? Use that for the floor and tub deck to keep the ultra-simple thing going. For the sides of your tub suround, I'd do the same diagonal-veneer woodwork stained to match your vanity as closely as possible.

Haven't read this post yet, glad I did...It makes ME happy! Other things for today, second day of waking up pain free and basking in the wonderfully funny dreams I'd had. DH actually left the seat down in the master bath. Going to bake banana bread, baked ziti, and a whole host of things so we've got them packed nicely in the freezer. I'm SUPER busy at work and need to be able to have dinner ready to go when I get home two hours later than usual... Anticipating my visit with DS tomorrow morning, then an afternoon spent scrapbooking with a good friend. The fur-kids. Granddog Ruphus spent the night and he & Aurora do not have off buttons. Seeing them frolic, with the others joining in (even the cats) is so much fun.