Have just been noting the orange daffodils to get some for next season - Orangery, Kedron, Mordern Art and Professor Einstein are the most striking. Uploaded a bunch of pictures to my blog Posts Daffodil Dilemmas and Differing Daffodils). Haven't posted much here since my move to the mountains (there are so few colder zone CA folks posting) - every time I edit and fix my zone (now 7) it resets, hmnn. New love for orange as well. Coppers and oranges blend more with the summer brown landscape around me - the pink cottage thing looks wrong here. Here is a link that might be useful: mists and enchantments my blog

Well, that's because there are no Cocktails in that bowl, mrtexas :-) You're looking at Bearrs limes, Moro oranges and Dekopon mandarins. Yes, the Dekopons do resemble a Minneola a bit due to the neck. The Dekopon is a cross between a Kiyomi tangor (which is a cross of orange and satsuma mandarin) and a ponkan (hence the neck). They are not available for us in tree-form, yet, due to the very strict patent regulations. They are being grown by just a handful of growers in the Central Valley in California, and are being marketed as Sumo mandarins due to the extremely large size (as large or larger than a Minneola.) We are all anxiously awaiting budwood from UCR CCPP to be able to graft and grow, or for growers to do so, and provide trees for those who would like a backyard Dekopon. But, that's going to be a few years out, still. Definitely NOT a Minneola :-) I don't care for Minneolas as they're a wee bit too tart for my liking. Which is odd, because I love grapefruit and pommelo hybrids due to their sweeter taste. But for me, the Minneola just tastes like a tart orange, and not a sweet grapefruit :-) The Cocktails, which are most definitely Cocktails, are LONG gone, as they are my most favorite citrus in my yard. I squeeze two every morning, so I blew through them on my young tree in short time. Going to the Farmer's Market tomorrow to try to find some. Boo. But, I am now enjoying the few Melogolds I have. The Oro Blancos are also gone, too. But, everything is getting ready to bloom, so hoping for bigger crops this year! Patty S.

I had a large Valencia orange tree in Venice, but now I only have a small one and will probably not get oranges for a couple of years yet. The previous owners' dogs kept the orange tree from growing and they completely killed another orange tree - the only trees that I liked in my new back yard. I now have Meyer lemon and Bearss lime trees growing in wine barrel planters, where they can live fine for a couple of years before I plant them in the ground. In Venice I had mature lemon, lime, mango, and fig trees, and I did not wash the fruit unless it looked dirty. I certainly never washed any of the figs. I never sprayed any of the trees, and I used natural methods for keeping pests under control, such as worm casings spread around the tree. When I did wash citrus or mangoes, I used only water. However, I never had my soil tested, and I don't know that much about the soil in my back yard now, but the lemon and lime trees are growing in potting soil, which I guess is okay. I'm concerned that parts of the yard may have had bad things dumped on them. There is one corner of the yard where grass will not grow, and so I put the bird bath over it. Lars

don't paint the cabinets, they look like they work well with the rest of your house. we have knotty hickory cabinets similar in look to yours in our house we bought year ago. even though I wasn't crazy about them at first I love them now. we painted the walls Valspar "smoked oyster" a warm gray with brown undertones. its a lot nicer than the stark white the walls were originally painted. our cabinet hardware is oiled bronze, I think it works better with the grain of the wood. someday I plan on changing the appliances to slate or black stainless. there is gray in our flooring even though this picture doesn't look like it. and this picture is not the best its dark so I'm showing our laundry because it shows the color better.