I'm trying to stay away from too many evergreens myself, but just couldn't go another year without Pink Aloha. We will see if I can protect it better this next winter. Can you tell how yours survived over this last winter Debra?.... Has anyone tried any of Polston's pink daylilies? He has one, Pink Hawaiian Sunset, on his website under his 2011 introductions whose picture just sends me and it's a dormant. But we all know to be cautious about photo lust.......Maryl....Polston Website

Rita, It is not that they don't bloom at the same time, just this is the first time they have both bloomed so heavily at the same time. They are in a back corner that I could never keep watered before but now have installed an underground sprinkler system and both plants are loving it. I hope this is the first of many good bloom years. Julie, Persian Pattern is new to me this spring too. Well, almost everything is...LOL. You'll love how she almost looks you in the face. I'm glad you enjoy my photographs. It is so nice to be able to share them. Isn't the internet great? I never would have imagined 20 yrs ago that I'd be sharing my garden photos with people all over the world this way.

* Posted by lynxe z6B/PA (My Page) on Wed, Dec 12, 07 at 11:21 "Most people don't like Tall and Small, they want a plant that is tailored." Seriously, they have role in the garden IMO, holding up their part of the backs of borders. To my eyes, the small flowers on their tall scapes are charming and graceful. They are not dramatic, and you won't go running across a lawn yelling, "Wow! What's THAT blooming over there!" If you're a hybridizer looking to produce 10" spiders or something like that, they won't be your cup of tea. But they are pretty, and they can add a different look to a daylily collection. +++ Dear Lynxe, Great comments you made above! I meant to comment when you posted, but the last 2 days have been horridly hectic. I am one of those hybridizers breeding for the 10 inch spider/UFs, but I do love and appreciate the tall and small daylilies. Afterall, tall and small is how natural selection designed tall daylilies! H. altissima and H vespertina (a form of altissima) are the two tallest daylily species, and they have small (maybe 3 to 3.5 inch) "tailored"? blossoms on well branched scapes. They look perfectly natural and in balance to me. Although some people freak out if a small flower is on a tall scape, it looks natural to me, untold eons of natural selection can't be "wrong". :-) One very interesting thing about H. altissima's scapes and one reason why have not used it directly in my tall lines (though it is behind some of Stout's plants that I used, like 'Challenger')is this: if you follow the scape of H altissima down into the clump and pull it out (after it has dried in the fall) you will see that it narrows down to a flat segment like a piece of strapping tape. And, after the seedpods mature that scape will rotate on this natural hinge and the seeds will scatter 60 inches from the parent clump. This is a perfectly adapted reproductive strategy to scatter the seeds far from the parent clump. However, that hinged scape will give those of us fits who are trying to put huge flowers on it (not the 3 inch ones it was "designed" for). The base of an H. citrina scape has a triangular shape. This is a stable, upright form. Also, H citrina's flowers are quite a bit larger than H altissima. In my breeding program citrina has given larger flowers, and sturdier scapes than H altissima, and that is why I have used citrina so extensively. As I mentioned above, H altissima is behind some of the Stout cultivars I used as foundation stock: 'Challenger', 'Autumn Minaret', 'Statuesque'etc. Stout had already selected against the willowy and hinged scape traits, so they did not bother me. Can you explain the adjective "tailored" to me? I have always read that, and it never really made sense to me. Does it mean without a lot of extraneous ruffles etc.? Clean lines? For those of you who like the tall and small look, and like fragrant, nocturnals please look into H. citrina vespertina. This is a lovely, lovely plant blooms very similar to H altissima, but the height is maybe 30-36 inches, however it is amazingly branched and budded, the scapes are beautifully upright and delicate and have a very "twiggy" look. This plant is radically fertile (pollinate at dusk), fragrant and has given good seedlings. best to all, Brian

We purchased a very nice wool carpet runner for our 1930s Tudor stairs. It looks marvelous and has withstood ALOT of foot traffic w/ no noticable wear showing. I enjoyed the look so much, we used a cheap olefin carpet runner down to the semi finished basement level. This also turned out great and was very easy since it was being attached to pine (painted) steps and the olefin has no backing/ pad. I purchased both thru overstock.com Good luck!