Im sorry jmcbackyarddigger!! I didnt mean to steal your post!! very sorry for that!! The poison ivy is gone (Thank someone, probably the doctor that put me on steroids!!) And yes Ken i am surrounded!! but i love this little city of Ferndale, MI!! cant think of anywhere else I would want to live!! But the yards are SO small and the double lots here are too expensive (and a double lot here is probably a 1/4 acre! I dont know!)It would be nice to live out in the middle of no mans land, but I really hate to drive over 40 miles to work one way. and that is how it is around here!! even the city of South Lyons (which was farm country 10 years ago "and is only about 25 minutes from home on the xway> now even has a McDonalds!!! would you believe that!!! it is so built up now!!! my parents used to drive out there when we were kids (8 siblings, and not much money) to go see a movie for less than a dollar each!! That is where I get my hair cut ( friend owns a barber shop) so I know how much it has changed in the last 10 years !! I would love to go back when nothing ws open after 9 pm and life was SOOOOOO much slower (not even a gas station was open on sundays!!! let alone a BEER STORE!!! (and this is not the Quadrillion acre woods that winnie the pooh lived in) this house was built in 1918 and so was this tight knit comunnity) probably spelled wrong there!! OOPS!! I am rambling..... uh oh yeah now I know, Pics on the hosta forum SORRY!! Ken you are bad for distacting me!! now i am onto wine cause i forgot to pick up the BEER when i got out of work!!! okay now for some answers I guess and hopefully in order as they appear to my eyes ( the wine is starting to hit me faster than the beer ever does!! ) and this cat is sitting in my lap which makes it more diffifcult to type (she is really ornery tonight!!) sunny east texas pic 3 the three hostas in the pic are Francis williams (behind the begonia) to the left of that is Sagae to the right of sagae is aureomarginata something (or Oreo Margaritta)! Pic #6 That is Perrilla Magilla (not sure on the spelling) grows just like a coleous, no flowers that i know of (which means no picking out flower buds, and is REALLY easy to start from cuttings, usually i do those in the fall) the one on the right is planted in a pot (with some blue hosta seedlings that you cannot see, and neither can I when i look at it, around the base)the perilla was about 6" tall when put in that pot, and the other in the ground, the hosta in the middle of all of this is Rich Uncle. and the black things in the background are my neighbors garbage cans that I cannot photograph around!! Thanks for the nice comments (always love to here them, dont we all?) Hey upnort!! I didnt even see myself in that pic until i read your post!! (there is a ghost in my yard, or did you get out the microscope to check out the pic? now i see the bird feeder in there, hope the birds arent hungry!!) was having a hard time juggling the two, (the beer can just wasnt taking the pics i wanted!!)so I had to hold the camera!! DARN and i was so thirsty!! Carol ( I should have said Sunny and Carol, Sorry!!) oh wait!! the dryer is done (have to fold and put in the other load) back in 15!! thankyou for the nice comments!! my head is swelling as my glass gets more empty (does that make any sense, this is the wine speaking , it is so much different from drinking BEER) Actually my pond does not get that much sun, only a couple of hours a day, (well maybe 6 at different times) I have a large canopy of MAPLE, elms and oak, all of them are mature. I love the shade that they all make!! which makes it so nice to sit on the deck and just watch the yard grow. and then go pull another weed b4 i take another picture or go grab another can of beer(or grab the 5 gallon bucket and fill it from the pond to water another hosta). that plant is also in pics #1 to the left next to blue angel #3front and center #5 to the left (which is the same plant in pic number, oh jeez #6?) Hey starina thanks for the Zanfel tip!! is that a cream? it only cost me $10 (and 2 hours)to see the dr and $10 for the steroids (insurance). which started to work on the second day!! but took about 2 weeks to finally clear up after 2 weeks b4 seeing the doctor!! oh carolreall tough! (well, and gross!) hey mctavish6! Thanks for the nice comments! pic# 2? is wide brim if i am correct or pic # (soory i have to go back and count) oh, have to go count again...oh and again... lost my thought here... #4? to the lower ledt (i think the wine spelled that one!!) uh left? is ... darn, one more time (darn wine, not like the beer)...hold on, let me go back....oh jeez! what is that!! let me think!! ummmmm oh yah ,,, uh uh uh OH!!! summer breeze next to the uh japanese painted fern. WOOO!!! that was hard to do (LOL) okay, and for the sculptures, there are actually 3 total, only 2 in these pics, a very nice friend of mine was living in an upstairs flat, just around the corner from me, such a really nice guy. was helping him move to an apt around the corner from where he lived, they were in his back yard when he moved there. when he moved out the land lord told him that he could take them with him if he wanted to. they are made of ceremic and weigh between (depending on which one) 150 to 400 pounds each. he told me and my partner that we could have them. (had to leave one behind because after moving 3 we were pretty well worn out) (and kinda upset to leave one behind) they were made by a previous tenant which the landlord (or my freind) didnt rememner the name of. so we picked them up( and not really that easely) and brought them over the couple of blocks to our house! and what a chore that was!! but they are SO WAY COOL!! oh and mctavish? I store my elephant ear in 5 gallon buckets over winter. no holes in the bottom in a sunny window. they like a lot of water. except the Xanthosoma in pic #(have to count again, DARN)4!!! (yes!! okay,getta grip) in a very large pot, in a window. my dining room in the winter time is pretty much a over winter plant area, I have a 7' ficus and some orchids and others to deal with. and for some reason i take the tropical waterllily in for the winter too!!(which all my freinds can attest too!! and the second load in the dryer is done, hold on, more folding and hanging stuff!! AAARRRGGHHHHH!!!!!'' did i tell you that i dont have an eye patch or a parrot? If this doesnt make any sense at all or I have spelled something inkorrectlie, I will blame it on the "charles shaw" wine that i am drinking!!! (or 2 buck chuck for those who shop at (oh no !! i forgot the name of the store!! oops sorry!!) well any who thanks for all of the nice comments (except for KEN, there are no cows in FERNDALE!! LOL!!) Paul ps I hope i got to everyone here! and id this message is rejected i will be so POed

Hi Folks Been so busy this week - just didn't get a chance to try and log in - why is it so difficult to get on here now? DD and SIL are in the Dominican to stand up for their friends (who were the maid of honour and bestman in Sept.) Just the four of them went and so they are having their honeymoons together. I have my two dogs back for the week so it has been lovely (and comforting). DH and DS have been travelling back and forth to see my Mom to keep me company. She is about the same but a new frailness is there. It is very hard for my Son but at the same time he wants to spend as much time with her as he can. He certainly manages to bring a smile to her face and that's what's important to both of them. I got my Christmas/Happy New Year gift Besh. What a great package and thank God not too Feng Shui. A great(easy read) book on Move your stuff, change your life. (as Besh says - "What else would you expect from a librarian") I've started reading it and it's a "fun" book. A great candle with candy canes inbeded in it. I'm waiting to burn it in May ( I know that sounds weird, but if my Mom is still here we are going to have a little Christmas then). A beautiful decoration - a giant snowflake. and my tacky decoration - too funny - an orange ball filled with tic tac mints - get it "tic tac" for tacky. Again, only a librarian with a twisted sense of humour would come up with that one. It was great to get this last week, it really picked me up. Thanks again Besh. Count me in on the Birthday exchange. Hi and Hugs to all So nice to see Amy and Patti and John (briefly) checking in. I lost a bunch of weight before daughters wedding, for some reason lost a couple of pounds during the holidays (weird) and have lost another couple of pounds in the last couple of weeks. So all in all I can't complain - I stay at 115 and a size 8. I'm lucky though that my DH does all the cooking is a health fanatic. DH is back working - he is building a plant about 90 minutes away from where we live and will back producing tobacco products around March. (I know for those of you who are non-smokers this sounds unusual) - I have never smoked, nor does DH but we live in a free world, free to make choices. Even my Mom who now has lung cancer has no regrets about smoking and would still smoke if it wasn't for the Fire Safety Rules in the Nursing Home. I'm just glad he is back working and in the industry that he knows so well. It makes for a much happier camper! Take care everyone and thanks so much for all your prayers and HUGS for both me and my Mom. Joanne

My Corkscrew and Tongue Twister both look fresh and lively and similar. i didn't get a pic but the low is only 38F tonight. I'll get one Wednesday when I'm back in the garden. Kathy

z6 is about half the Us.. and very divergent ... where are you ... and what kind of sun exposure are we talking about .. ALL hosta can still look good in august ... properly cared for .. and in the right place .. so we need some more info ... what kind of planter .. and will you be starting with fresh media ... its usually the most important thing in a decorative planter .. speaking of which.. does the planter have drainage??? oh.. and what size???? ken ps: and what will you do with it for winter? .. so many questions.. so little time ...