I am so happy to find this post. I have almost the opposite problem - I live in the hot wet tropics, never cold. I purchased some Crocus (Saffron) corms (was very expensive here so trying to not make mistakes). I put them in my veggie drawer in the refrigerator (all fruits removed from fridge) at 3C/37F. I read that they must have a cold period of at least 15 weeks to have a proper healthy bloom. After being in the fridge less than 3 weeks, each are having a white sprout coming out the top, but no roots. So do: 1. Ignore and wait the 15 weeks (will they starve to death?) or 2. Plant now (they are going in a pot) being very careful not to break the tender shoots and water only once until green shoots emerge from the soil? Thank you so much for the help, Christa

My Blue Bell is eons old but don't know if he's the bushy kind. He loves his space he crawls all over the area he's at so for several years now I have replace his tomato type hoop w/ a 2 ft tall cage to lift him up from crawling. He drapes over the wire fence & still crawls. Unfortunately & sorry to say that I have taken him for granted & didn't find any photo of the poor guy. He is full of buds now ~ went ahead & photographed him ~ will again when he flashes & will post then! 'Love your pic of BBB Jp!!! Can't remember how mine looks like I'll soon pay him the atten he deserves! TIA for reading long post!

yeah the title got screwed up but i blame dragon naturally speaking picking up on the TV but at this point working in the summer heat is killing my brain. As for where in Z9 Tampa,FL land of lightning and skeeters that will carry you off in the shade. And for a good friend i would help remove the jungle and start again but since this one is only an OK friend he must suffer in the land of overgrowth and oddities.

Catholic school? Ha, ha! I knew we were kindred spirits!! I really like the way you can create a picture using patterns and such. That is a challenge to me. Yours are fantastic! I am rotten at trying to make shapes using glass. I have the cutters and nippers, but mostly I have to make my pictures out of pieces. I have learned to cut a straight line though and that comes in handy. :) So this is a watercolor I did in 1991. I went to college as an adult, a nice smaller Catholic college when I lived in Baltimore. I didn't need the degree for work, I was just doing it for my own satisfaction. So my degree is in English, along with a heavy emphasis on History and just to challenge myself I took quite a few art classes. I think because I got some encouragement, it allowed me to try different things I would not have had the courage to try otherwise and I found I had a real love of art. I took quite a few classes from Kevin Raines. He is an artist in his own right, taking inspiration from the Hudson River Valley artists. He makes beautiful watercolor paintings of nature in the Adirondacks. I drew this picture from a postcard I have of Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. There is a wonderful national park there. It borders on Maryland and was not far from Baltimore, so I visited there many times. I was happy with the way it turned out and my boss loved it, so he paid to have it framed! It hung in my office for a long time and when I left I got to take it with me. It is a constant reminder of those fun days at college. It was so much better to go as an adult and enjoy every single minute. The teachers loved having adults as well because of the life experiences we brought to class. The program was geared toward working adults, so classes were Friday nights, Saturdays and Sundays. Very convenient and I thank my boss for encouraging me to go to school and get my degree. As he so famously said "the time is going to pass anyway, why not do something good with it". Wise man! I have other paintings and pieces that I did at that time, but have not done anything with. I have one in mind that has a tea cup and tea bag in it. I should dig it up and share it here. :)