OK Gaston, I'm doing this is for you- I have to start this slowly. Here's a photo of a picture of me since almost before I can remember. I was maybe 3 or 4? I don't really know. I'll have to ask Mom. (sorry it's so fuzzy!) Maybe I'll be able to work up to a more current picture :p Carolyn

There are other factors involved besides the insulation qualities of mulch. Solar gain, daytime and night time temperatures, wind, humidity, and even the microbial activity contributes to soil temp. You can't have solar gain on the soil in the shade. I don't know the shade situation, but if there are trees or buildings nearby, even a bright day's solar gain will be lessened. That's why you'll see snow on the north side of a tree or a slope for weeks or even months after the sun has melted south-facing snow. What every insulation does is to "damp" the temperature fluctuation from one side of the insulation to the other. Without outside help, eventually the temperatures on both sides of the insulation will become the same. The mulch applied in the fall will slow the cooling while the same mulch will also slow the warming as winter ends. One thing that can be done to make the mulch nearly completely worthless in the heat transfer regard is to wet it down. Wet mulch has almost no insulation capability. But there again, there are other factors involved. On low humidity days and nights, the moisture in wet mulch will evaporate thereby cooling the mulch and the soil/air touching it. I think this mulch removal issue goes to historical precedent. If your daddy did it, then you should do it. I don't see a need to do it. As kimmsr said, Mother Nature has no process equivalent to mulch removal. In speaking against the concept, it exposes the soil and any weed seeds to the sunlight necessary for the seedling to photosynthesize and take root. margiemeg: I see you're new here, and welcome. The way this works is...if you want to ask a question that isn't nearly identical to the one we're talking about, then you need to start a new message. Otherwise, nobody knows to come to this thread to help you with your issue. You could start a new 'thread' with the subject, "Stout method of mulching," and paste in your question above.

Neal. That is one beautiful specimen and I can understand it being one of your favorites. Nice compact shape and gorgeous caudex. I would carefully rinse off old soil and pot up with Gritty Mix. My preference is clay (terra cotta) for a pot. As these plants get bigger and with the weight of the gritty mix, I find that plastic or other lighter weight pots may need to be used if having to be moved in. I prefer closer to 2" of space around edge between caudex and rim of the pot, but no more. You can raise it a bit. I think the amount really becomes an issue of personal taste and visual effect. I prefer the appearance of keeping an " ^ " shape to a " : : " shape with out it becoming " v ". This just my personal choice. Hope some of this helps, Rick

They do -- and I like those. They caught my attention with the ones that were a little different though. Take a look at their website -- they have Italian marble and swirled alabaster shades in 14" and 16" sizes and in brushed nickel. You cans search the site by finish. You might find a local dealer who will order it for you if you don't find it online. I'm looking for a breakfast room fixture too -- probably a dark bronze or wrought iron with fat candles. I saw one in a store that I really like, but I don't like the shade on it -- they are butterscotch color and too dark. I'd really rather have white and they just say tough. Can't change them. The gal at another lighting shop who sold us our dining room fixture showed me a white glass that might work, so we ordered one and I'm waiting for it to come it. Meanwhile, I really don't want to buy from a store that offers no customer service (same story when we were looking for the dining room) but I saw this fixture when looking for the dining room fixture and haven't seen anything like it anywhere else. I've been looking at pendants thinking about replacing the recessed fixture we have in a dormer above our front entry. There is a window, but you don't even see the chain of the foyer fixture, so I thought it might be fun to have something you do see from the street. I've always liked that in other houses. I haven't seen anything that really grabs me -- especially for an area that will be so hard to clean. We put a small Christmas tree up there our first couple of years in this house. I loved it, but not having to go up the ladder and climb up there. Getting up on another ladder or step stool to clean a fixture once up there is not something I would look forward to, so I will have to love it to make the change.