Wow...I didn't realize my printing was that neat!! I get a lot of those comments over on the WS forum but it's just the way I've always printed, whether using a pencil, pen or marker. Thanks heaps echman, deanna & marquest!! After I got an "F" in 5th grade penmanship, I must have sub-consciously become more careful & precise whenever I picked up something to write with. When I first moved here, the neighbors all laughed at my plant labels. When spring rolled around, they weren't laughing...they were asking me to come tell them what plants were in their flowerbeds. Once I started winter sowing, they brought me seeds to grow for them. So far I've grown apple & pear trees for one neighbor and blackberry lily for another. Cracks me up to get home from work and find an envelope or ziplock baggie of seeds stuffed inside the door with a note that reads, "Please grow these for me." Winter sowing & seed trading has opened up a whole new world of perennial plant opportunities for me, at a price that's affordable for experimenting to see how the plants & I like each other. Not everyone has the space or opportunity to WS hundreds of milk jugs so the colorful, glossy catalogs of lush plants (photoshopped or not) will still rake in lots of inexperienced new gardeners. Thanks to the GardenWeb forums, we may collectively save some of them from repeating a few of our own mi$take$.

It certainly helps that my garden is on top of a sandpit (all my cacti are growing on 2" sand mulch on top of 3" soil on top of 30+' of sand) and also on a decent slope. If you need a couple new pads to try again just let me know.

first.. welcome... second ... our base line is that THEY ARE HOSTA .. and will grow on the driveway ....with total abject torture ... but .. third .... i smell bigboxstore, plastic bag stock ... this stuff can be problematic .. in that it is possible that they have been in the plastic bag.. in the wholesalers warehouse and in the bigboxstore too long.. and they MIGHT fail ... if they were totally dried out... and lacked any heft .. they might not make it... if they felt like there was some water inside the roots ... sorta like a semi dried carrot.. they will probably survive ... 4th.. up here in the great white north of MI ... i plant the eyes at ground level .... 2 inches deep MIGHT be too deep .... i might recommend replanting at the proper depth .. on giant hosta.. 2 inches means nothing.. on some of the dwarves and minis ... 2 inches too deep might stunt them.. and lead to their decline ... but being hosta... it will take them a few years to decline entirely ... if you find next year that they aren't quite performing to expectation.. it might be the depth issue.... you didn't mention the name .. or alleged name of the hosta ... so it is hard for us to figure it out ... maybe next year if you can post a picture we can help you ID it ... 5th .... though some hosta have rhizomes.. most don't .... hosta have 3 main parts ... the roots at the bottom... come out of a crown which has the eyes.. and of course.. yours were missing the leaves at this time of year ... 6th ... hosta take anywhere from 3 to 10 years to mature ... again.. ID'ing the plant will help you define that period .... you will get leaves.. and the plant will increase year by year... based on how well you grow the roots ... most will flower the first year.. but some of the plants that take 5 to 10 years to mature.. may not put up a lot of flowers the first few years ... 7th ... THANK YOU ... this forum has been so dead... it was very pleasurable to actually have a real hosta question .... bottom line.. don't worry about it.. ITS A HOSTA ... ken

So just so I have my details clear - quartzite and granite are the best choices for durability in a kitchen correct? Did I read that quartzite can still etch, but doesn't scratch and that granite doesn't etch or scratch? We spoke with the owner of the granite place and they will replace our stone. As much as I love the super white look I need something that won't cut when the pizza cutter rolls off onto the counter and that won't etch badly if things like fruit juice are spilled on it. Any suggestions on what type of stone is best as well as any more specific suggestions on a light color that has a similar look to super white? Thank you all so very much for your help!