I harvested elephant scapes on tues and music scapes on thurs . I have more scapes to harvest from each type no scapes on the Spanish Roja the last to give scapes each year. 35 lbs of scapes harvested so far. I expect to harvest garlic by next week The turbans (Morando Gigante, Santung purple and Tuscan) Wayne watch for Music scapes to come soon. Any Elephants that don't produce scapes will be soild and thats good, They make nice seed for the fall if they are big and if small eat them .

Jan, I want to steal your thunder a bit so I can tell the folks what been ailing me. I know it shouldn't be on this side but I will post a pic so as to keep in line! I had an episode about three weeks back where the Dr thought I had a mini stroke. It turned out that, that wasn't the case but I spent a couple of days in the hospital anyway! I went to Fl with my sis and started feeling a little sick in mid Ga. by the time I got to Orlando, I was ill but able to get around. we went to Abajians garden. He is a lovely man. Then to Stamiles ( guy pierce ) but they were closed. Then on to Trimmers where he was closed but we looked at his dls. fabulous garden. I was supposed to visit Phillip Reilly but he was a no show! Anyway by this time I was really sick so we started back home. I finally went to the Dr and had.. Pneumonia, pleursy, ear infection, sinus infection and an intestional infection. I have been treated at home and am on the mend but still weak and not able to do much, but take pix. Not that I have that many to take yet! Here is one I ordered from Guy Pierce a couple of months ago. For a ffo, it's lovely. BTW, Frank Smith was a few miles from my sis's house in Apopka but wouldn't let us come to his garden. No exceptions! Oh well, I didn't feel like it anyway! Thanks for all of your well wishes...Ellie

This is a great thread - although it seems to have strayed a little bit from the original question - there are still many interesting ideas and opinions being given. Personally, I don't deer hunt because I don't particulary like venison. In Wisconsin, where I live, the fall deer hunting season is about as close to being a religion as it is to being a sport. Rifle season typically runs from the Saturday before Thanksgiving to the Sunday following the holiday. Schools close the entire week because they realize that a good many (most?) of the students and a good many teachers have other ideas for that week and there is really no benefit to keeping the schools open at that time. I own 56 acres and I allow my neighbors to hunt on my land. I KNOW that my neighbors are safe hunters and that they are respectful of my property. Also, if they happen to shoot an animal on their own land, and not kill it immediately, I certainly want them to have the oportunity to track the wounded animal if it happens to lead them on to my property. Knowing that there is the potential for hunters to be on the "wooded back 40" anytime during the season means that I don't go into the woods without wearing orange. While I don't have a particular worry about our dogs or horses, I do keep them close to the house (dogs) or in smaller pasture (horses) during the rifle season. Ultimately, my family does not change our basic lifestyle to any great degree during hunting season. Although I understand your initial hesitation, fifidanon, I also think that you did the right thing by overcoming your concern and living your life. As other folks have already suggested, the car ride to the mall is MUCH more of a risk than is the potential stray bullet. As for deer roadkill, it is also legal here to recover a deer that has been hit by a car. Seems to me like a much better option than letting it lay on the side of the road to rot. Last year I hit two deer with my truck - in almost the same location - about 5 days apart. The first deer survived the impact, but it had a broken back and was in obvious pain, so I drove to a neighbor's house and brought him to the wounded deer where he finished it. We loaded it up and took it back to his house so he could butcher the carcass. The second deer was hit right on the head (I almost missed that one) and was killed outright. Again, I loaded it up in the truck and took it to the same neighbor so the meat could be used - rather than leaving it to rot and to be wasted. BTW, that particular neighbor works as a seasonal DNR warden so he took care of the "official" report on both accidents. Anyway, although we may see deer-as-roadkill-food differently, I certainly echo labmomma's sentiments when I say that the story of the deer that she hit being allowed to die a slow death - in pain - as being preferable to a quick bullet putting it out of its misery - because the cops were concerned that people would see them shoot it (!?!?!?!) was disturbing at several levels. Sad.

So hard to pick 3, but here goes #1 must be Bengali, I got 2 fans last fall, each fan bloomed, every bloom absolutely perfect, at least to my eyes. I could go out at 6 a.m. and the bloom be open and looking so nice. In person, the bloom is darker than my camera shows Claudine's Charm would be #2. I could have wished for more blooms, but the ones it had were beauties Jerry Hyatt arrived this spring, so I was pleased that it bloomed. It didn't have a lot of blooms, but I was so impressed