Not sure about the fig, but the pomegranate is almost surely the variety "Nana" which many of those mail order catalogs sell. You can even find them for sale at the florist or the local grocery store sometimes. It is a Japanese dwarf pomegranate, and purely ornamental. Although I've seen claims of good quality fruit, it rarely sets any, and the few I've tasted were tiny (smaller than a golf ball) and not very sweet. Hope this helps...

I know that Linwood is along the west shore of Saginaw Bay near the famed cheeze towns of Piconning and such. It is at the northmost part of the Saginaw Valley and is more continental than most of Michigan. Since that would be a safe zone 5, I'd recommend only a few plants; any flowering plum, or cherry (especially dwarf trees) would be good along with a pussy willow or forsythia. If it was about mid April, the options would multiply significantly. You may want to check with Dow Gardens (in nearby Midland) they seem to have a phenominal selection of plants and would have an expert who could suggest something other than what I just did. A google search for Dow Gardens in Midland, MI would be a good start.

Redwolfdoc, I'm considering that one or Peonia Ostii, the parent of Phoenix White. I need to pay much closer attention to the leaf structure this spring to make a determination. To me, the Phoenix White is fuller (and prettier, unfortunately!) than my blooms, Ostii looks closer. It'll probably turn out to be an unnamed seedling of Ostii. And I'll try Michigan Bulb customer service, thanks for the suggestion!

Although it's getting OT I too think this is bringing up some interesting discussion. Before going off, I'll comment on: Definitely better the devil you know. So many are poor workers, thieves or worse so if it's a small issue then probably better to do little or nothing but the whole point I tried to make before is if it's a big thing to you Jae_tn, then for your sake, something should be done. And BTW, glad to see you posting - I remember seeing you around the forums! Hope things are well with you. Now for the off stuff! I guess being normally pretty moderate leaning in most things, pragmatic on virtually all and try to be guided by common sense and other values of "Cynics", I know that it's good for the world to try to conserve resources but there's practical times when it makes more sense to do things for my benefit. I use a water filter on the kitchen sink but also I buy bottled water and won't hang my head doing it. Fiscally it's responsible for me since I buy it for anywhere from $1.50-$2.50 per case of 24. I also try not to exaggerate things. The water I buy is *not* simply "tap" water from someplace. It is filtered, sometimes I buy spring water. I do not buy much in the way of soft drinks, though I have been getting hooked on the iced tea from Aldi. The bottles are convenient to take with me and I don't buy drinks when I'm out, even if I go through a drive-through for eating. One saved can or bottle pop purchase pays for about 1-2 months of bottled water. Good tradeoff for me. Plus with physical limitations, it's not as easy as for most to just "get up and go to the sink". And BTW, I recycle all of the bottles so they're not going into the landfills as so many try to say too. Please don't blame the bottles when people won't recycle them! I sometimes use cloth, sometimes paper, for cleanup. I use CFLs for nearly all of my lighting and bought LED lights for Xmas decorating. I do not buy or use disposable diapers. Now these are *not* recyclable and they *do* all go into the landfills! What a waste of resources in so many ways! I could see using them on occasion, similar to using cloth and paper cleaning items but diapers are a big peeve of mine, especially when someone complains about resources. Many are quite hypocritical there IMO. I don't do 20 loads of laundry a week. I'm willing to wear something more than a few hours. Heck, if I'm just sitting around I'll wear the same shirt and pants for a couple days. I'm not a surgeon needing to change gowns after each operation. I don't need to shower 2-3 times a day most of the time. And I don't have to marinate myself in colognes and sprays to keep myself from offending peoples' olfactory systems. I'm quite proficient at offending people in other ways! :D Along with money, keyboards, phones, steering wheels, doorknobs, TV remote controls are all grubby. Period. Few people, admittedly myself included, clean them often enough though I've always had a thing about a dirty phone. That's where I approach "OC". People also seldom realize some of the filthiest parts of the body are eyes and ears. People wipe them all the time and (shudder), well you could probably be better off bacteria-wise to scratch your butt! I like to use tongs or scoops for things when multiple people will access it. I keep sanitizer by the computer if I am going to eat by it. I keep some sanitizer in the vehicle too but I don't use it all that often. I know what it did to Howie Mandel, but that was his own OC that got him into trouble. Misusing things isn't the responsibility of the product. And also I'll use certain resources but I also contribute in other ways too. I use reuseable bags at the stores often, but not always and never for drippy meat. I have planted literally hundreds of trees, and saved trees on properties which helps clean the air, save moisture, promote wildlife and other things. I don't use tons of fertilizer & weed sprays. I think an occasional dandelion is just fine. And I haven't run a sprinkler on my lawn in 20 years. Rain and snow wash my vehicles. So if I use a paper plate or two, and enjoy the convenience and savings of a bottle of water I'm able to sleep at night! Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to get a sandwich and a salad (from a plastic bag) put it on a paper plate, grab 1/2 a paper towel and have my din-din! :D