Hey Joe...quite a selection..Very nice plants before the holidays...:) Is your Holly true Holly or common name? Leaves resemble Holly, but thought Holly had white blooms??? Very nice haul. I passed a Good Will twice in two weeks..must have recently opened. Considered going inside, but was in a hurry so didn't get to check their products. Do they sell large pots? 10" plus... Ohio..hmm, there are a few Ebay sellers in Ohio, but can't think of any nurseries.. There is one nursery, World Plants, but can't recall if they're located in OH....www.worldplants.com I'm certain some of my plants came from Ohio, but can't think of any particular place at the moment. Can't even recall which city. Are you saying, you will not order plants via mail before the holidays, but will buy locally? Turkey Days? What about Christmas and New Year's Day? lol Very few nurseries ship after October, and those who do want to get rid of 2012's etc, stock. Remainders are usually discounted. Joe, did you know, once you joined GW, you become one of us? Pods who grow pods..lol, j/k...Happy Halloween. Actually, most plants prefer cool temps to hot, but that depends on how cold. If you start seeing ice on the walls, it's too cold..Then YOU better find a warmer place..lol. Joe, you were very heroic rescuing the little bird..Thank goodness. The neighbors across the street, husband and wife, rang my bell, asking ME to shoo a bird off their front porch..A Blue Jay. I was totally embarrassed for them. Two adult people asking a neighbor to shoo away a little bird! Good, ol' college days...lol.. About plastic..although our windows are semi-new, they leak air. During winter, when temps are -2, a slight draft seeps in..plants on the sills are cold..The cold is a horror to succulents. So, this year, I placed clear plastic on the sills. It might not be 100% effective, but I had to try something. Place a hand near the sill, it's very breezy. They say it's because the house is settling, which may or may not be the exact truth. IMO, the safest windows are the old-fashioned types..With a screen/storm window. Is that the name? lol..Haven't thought about the name in a long time. Two windows opposed to thin, 'gas' panes. New windows are a lot less work, I'll give them that..no painting, and easy to open and close, but new windows are nowhere as protective as the old types. Just my opinion. That's the reason plastic now goes on each window. Nope, can't afford a larger gh..lol.. Believe me, my dream is to design my own house w/attached solarium. Unless I win the lottery................. Next year, if all goes well, I 'might' sell some plants on Ebay..Agaves, 'pups will stay,' 2 Pachypodiums and a huge Pandanus. The Pandanus/Screw Pine has outgrown space. I detest this house w/small rooms...even if I didn't have plants, the rooms are tiny. Thank goodess there's a third bedroom, which is now a plant room..lol. I love Geraniums...what type did you get? Toni

I'm perhaps a bit biased, in that I'm a trustee of the HRF, but let me start the conversation. We are a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization, organized in the U.S. but international in scope, dedicated to preserving heritage roses, promoting their culture, educating the public about them, and supporting research into them. We have wonderful conferences (the next one is in June, in Winchester, England, with an all-day visit to Mottisfont Abbey! Wowzers!). Our "big" publication is Rosa Mundi, a superb publication which, unfortunately, doesn't come out nearly as often as we'd all like, but with a volunteer editorial staff, you do what you can. Between issues, there are periodic newsletters, which also have articles of interest (I'm currently the editor of the newsletter). Welcome! We appreciate your support of "the cause," and hope you'll make it a long and fulfilling relationship!

Elkwc, there is a saying that I fall back on often: "Don't judge the message by the messenger". While SSE certainly has some PR & customer service issues, they are still accomplishing great things. Nowhere else is the diversity of our food heritage so widely available. We can quibble over what is meant by "available", and how, and at what price... but the point is, for thousands of varieties, SSE represents salvation from extinction. The buck stops here. The 2007 Yearbook is out... and much to my surprise (and probably Kent's as well) it has the highest number of unique varieties ever listed in SSE's history! 12,920 varieties are being offered by 726 listing members (those who offer seed). After several years of setbacks, this is encouraging. Even if we assume that 5-10% of the listings are duplicates under different names (which is not unreasonable), this is still a huge number. And once again, Heritage Farm - which is the SSE organization itself - listed itself as the source for a large number of those varieties (2199 to be exact). You will note that this is a major increase over the 1700 varieties they offered last year, so they are making a greater effort to get seeds out of their vaults, and into the hands of gardeners... which is, after all, the purpose of the organization. Consider how difficult it is to grow that much pure seed; it's a tremendous accomplishment, on a scale no one else can match. The increase alone - 500 varieties - is more than the total offerings of virtually any seed company. It kind of puts things in perspective. And incidentally, lest you think that SSE headquarters competes with its membership... if any other member lists a particular variety for exchange, SSE will not list it, even if it has seed to offer. In a current thread, a GW member was searching for pole wax beans, and expressed frustration with how few were offered commercially. SSE members offer 33 varieties this year, from around the world. To me, this speaks volumes. So my advice to those who have expressed discouragement is... give it a chance. As you learn the ropes & begin to utilize all that SSE has to offer, you may see it in a different light. It is an invaluable resource. My own gardening experience has been enriched immensely; not only by the seeds offered, but by the opportunity to network with other gardeners of like mind. It is, in many ways, very much like GW... what you get out of it, may depend upon what you bring into it. ;-)

Hi Ellen and welcome! I have counted points using the Weight Watchers method, but never actually joined the program. I was able to lose to within 3 pounds of my goal weight. Then I got off the program and haven't been able to make myself get back! I have only gained 6½ lbs back, so that makes me around 10 lbs more than I would like to be and I think all 10 lbs are in my stomach! I hate that!!! I always had a flat stomach until I hit around 47 or 48 and then the weight decided it liked my stomach area. I didn't do any exercising while counting points, but I have started an exercise program of my own the past week and plan to keep it up. Hopefully I can get toned up and build some muscle so that I can get rid of the ab flab! Buglady, thanks for the nice words about my website! I just put info there that really helped me while I was counting points. If you come across more helpful info just let me know and I'll be happy to add it to the webpage. My biggest problem is that at age 55 I still eat like a teenager. I love junk food! I guess I'm really fortunate that I haven't gained more than I have considering my eating habits. MaryAnn (who just finished off some ice cream and a few cookies, and feel like it all went straight to my stomach!)