Shellva, I just found this thread and after seeing the photo of your "sick" tomato of a couple years ago scanned down through to see if you reported on the results of your soil test. To my eye that tomato showed nutrient deficencies. There seemed to be a purplish cast to the stem--not enough phosphorous maybe. The growing tip was pale green--not enough nitrogen. The dried leaf margin so early in the season may have been a potassium lack. And those cupped leaves are indicative of a nutrient lack too but I don't remember what. And as some have said, pH is critical. Here in eastern Okla our soils are too acid to grow many crops well, beans and peas especially, also asparagus. So we amend our soils with woodashes as well as lots of organic stuff. And I am in total agreement with those who say it takes 3-5 years to get good results. Aeration is also critical. Our first garden at this location--on heavy clay--was built by hand, because we didn't own a tiller. My husband and I turned the soil with shovels, our two oldest children beat it up with rakes and hoes. That was 24 years ago. Then we got a soil test and for a couple years used a bit of chemical fertilizer while we built up the soil. Have been organic now for 20 years. We still till twice a year--the garden is 5000 sq ft, too big not to, although we tried one year. Once in the late fall we turn under the chickenmanure/woodchip litter from the chicken house and again in late winter we have to till to get rid of the darn winter weeds. We don't till to "cultivate", but use a hoe early in the season. Then we mulch with oak leaves that have decomposed some over the winter and grass clippings and rotten sawdust from a sawmill when we can get it. And we provide veggies for 4 familes all summer and a good part of the winter. So I hope you come back and let us know what that soil test showed. It is a very handy tool to use. Knowledge is power. It is also very handy to study the photos of nutrient deficiency in plants. Wish I could remember the name of the book that I first saw them in but I gave the thing away to a neophyte gardener. Maybe someone knows of a link that shows them. I would like to refresh my memory.

Most of my family is spread all over America, so I take pictures and send them via e-mail and post them in PhotoBucket for them to browse through. I also send them seeds and plants and trees. When we do get together for family gatherings, it is a joy to take them on tours and talk flowers. The grandkids love all the paths, the Koi pond, and all our animals. Their favorite thing I grow is fruit, especially the peaches. :) I do see people slow down and look from time to time and that makes me happy, but our house is built on a hill high up off the road and there are large trees, so they don't see much. Plus, most of the cottage garden flowers are situated in the back and along the north side of our cottage. However, since my DH cleared out the front along the top of the bank above the road, you can now see up into the north side of the yard, and right now it really shows up with all the fruit trees, shrubs and spring flowers in bloom. I hope to one day have a big white gazebo out there to enjoy. It will show from the road and add beauty to that part of our property. Someday, when we add onto the house, it will bump out that way with lots of windows. There will be access to a deck on that north side through French doors, so we will be able to sit out there and enjoy the view all year round. In spring, the view will be heavenly. All the flowering fruit trees and bulbs and shrubs and green grass. In summer, it is partially shaded most of the day and will be a great place to sit and have cookouts. In the fall, we can watch the colors change on the trees and the fall flowers bloom. The Canadian geese migration and enjoy the return of winter birds. On cold, snowy days in the winter we can enjoy the view from the dining room through the new wall of windows and the French doors. On warmer winter days, I will no doubt sit out there too. Visitors Will Be Welcome. Someday... I digressed a bit there...ah hum! Sharing plants and seeds with others on the Garden Web has been one of the most wonderful experiences in my gardening life! I enjoy giving "gifts" from the garden and I have also received generous pass-a-longs from many of you and others on other forums, as well, and my gardens thank you all for it. Mostly, I have all of you with whom I share my cottage garden, and I am very thankful for the friendship and the bond we have on this forum. ~Annie

Again, great to see so many of you on this forum voting. Hopefully those of you who are casting write-in votes are helping to get some of your newer favorites on the "Top 100" list for your respective regions for next year. In our region at least, any cultivar that gets at least 2-3 votes has a good chance of being listed in the top 100 for the following year. Sometimes there are 1000 or more cultivars in each region that only get 1 vote each. Any of you who are AHS members, please take a minute to vote before Sept. 1st! Maybe the percentages will be up from the tiny minority who usually votes. That is why you don't see so many new ones on the list - because so many people don't bother to vote! Several of you have made good comments and suggestions for changes you would like to see in future Pop Polls. If anyone (who is an AHS member) sincerely wants to suggest a change or make a comment about the Pop Poll to the person who can actually do something about it, the person to make the comment to is the AHS Director( Board Member) for your region. These folks are all listed on the AHS website and all have e-mail addresses. The Fall Board meeting is the last weekend in October, so if you have comments or suggestions, please send them to your regional directors before then so that the subject can be brought up at the meeting. The AHS Directors are the folks who have a vote and can make changes to existing policies and procedures!

Jon-When I lived in Arkansas I knew a lot of people who regularly rode horses. But I only knew ONE who always rode a mule; never a horse. The mules name was Willie. I commented one day since mules have a reputation of being "difficult" in a way few horses are, it surprises me that he rode Willie all the time. His reply made perfect sense to me. He said "Awe, Willies OK. You just have to smack a mule as hard as you can, right between its eyes with a 4 x 4, to get its attention first." It made sense because I never tried to ride a mule. The topic was not about killing a hosta to prevent HVX, or any other virus for that matter, from spreading. It was about what commericial growers, retailers, hybridizers, TCers, etc. actually do with their waste. Since we ALL CONCEDED it can be spread from hosta roots left in growing medium, it posed the question: Is it wise for them to recycle their hosta potting materials and waste by composting? I'd already conceded that I only presumed this is what they do with it, based on the piles I had seen, and was open to enlightenment. At the outset I had invited any growers, etc. to take part in this discussion. It illicited Chris and Rob to participate. Now they are not. I am afraid the string has been severed, repeatedly, and can't be recovered. I give up-Jon. Its your field now. Go ahead and run with it with my blessings! I have one statement to make to you JON, and will not respond if you have a comeback. During much of MY lifetime, engineers based much work on the hypothesis that the electron, proton, and neutron were the most fundimental elements of matter. This hypothesis was dealt with as if it were fact and the basis for much progress, while it was commonly accepted it was a very consistent hypothesis. Now we KNOW (at least I do), of course, that it was not fact. We learned this as scientific researchers developed greater technology that disproved the hypothesis. Their work is applauded, and their success was achieved because they DID NOT ACCEPT IT AS FACT and looked for better answers for unsolved questions. SO MUCH FOR ENGINEERS ONLY DEALING WITH FACT, NOT HYPOTHISIS(as your opinion clearly stated). This experience has created no hard feelings towards you on my part. I am frustrated because the question has not been answered. Back to Hosta Forum! Les