Is the Nuns Orchid a perennial? If so I would like to trade for one. I have Ginger Butterfly, and several others, but do not know their names. I have canna Tropicana and Canna-Striata. Please ck my list, to see if I might have something else that you might be interested in. Thanks, djune/Donna

Hi Brina's Mom- Welcome! I'm a very proud mom tonight too! My DD and her best friend cooked their very own Thanksgiving dinner tonight, their first one ever! I have to tell you that they also had a 22 lb bird, they stuffed it too and without a doubt it was the best turkey I've ever eaten!! Definitely better than mine, better than most of my mother's and without a doubt it was better than the woman whose house we go to each T-day! So don't be afraid, just dive right in. The girls used Pepperidge Farm stuffing mix and cooked it about 5-6 hours until they thought it was done-- risky-- I'd have preferred that they had a meat thermometer. I'll be buying them one each for the holidays! Good Luck!

"Just wait until you have to pack up all that crap and move it." My SIL just bought a retirement home so they are decluttering their current house as a preparation for selling it--she keeps telling me she can't believe how much STUFF she's got to get rid of. When I go to their house I always admire how it looks nicely organized and without extraneous things all over. However, I also admire her tons of closets and storage space which she says leads to keeping, you guessed it, all that stuff LOL. I've decided I will play a mental game this summer and pretend we have to move; maybe that will be my motivation to get rid of much unnecessary and unused stuff in our house! I use the holidays and shopping for gifts to satisfy any yen I may have to be a retail hunter/gatherer. The past few years I increasingly feel as if I am gorging myself after staying on a careful and healthy diet; by the time January comes I feel so psychically bloated from all the shopping /buying that I need another year to rest up and recover! It's interesting to me to watch my young adult daughter who is setting up her first home. She loveslovesloves Home Goods, Marshalls, Pier 1 etc. And when I go with her I usually find stuff I could easily buy. I have a rule that I can't take anything from those places home the day I see it. That usually short circuits the purchase, I'm rarely motivated enough to fight the traffic and crowds to go back a second time!

I really like the Tiny Tuff Stuff I have planted, though mine his bright pink flowers: I've thought about amending the soil (especially since I also have Azaleas), but I haven't done so yet. Some people say its not as hardy as Tuff Stuff. Most hydrangeas seem to get bigger than their advertised size in good conditions and with age, but the smaller variety Serrata and Macrophylla hydrangeas are definitely more compact, not just in total size but also as far as the internodes, which I think makes for a nicer looking and sturdier plant.