Howdy All, This thread has grown!! Laura, And all this time I thought Serissa's were slow-growers. One month later, and your babies are tall and full. How much pinching will be done? Also, are you planning on seperating or allowing each plant to grow in the same pot? You mentioned you wanted Serissa to resemble a tree. Laura, people are never satified..One might feel a family/friend gathering having fun is a wonderful event while another will call the police and claim their neighbor is distubring the peace. 'Their' nosy peace. Aw, son wants a ski trip. Actually, I don't blame him, but I agree, a trip is expensive. If he contributes, it'd be a lot less stress on everyone. Congrats on your sons graduation...you must be one proud mom! I guess, if you plan on buying him graduation and Christmas presents, the ski trip would account for both occasions..plus his contribution, of course. :) Oh God, Laura, your Orchid is absolutely gorgeous! Bi-colored flowers are striking. I can't really see foliage; which variety is the orchid? Oh, before I forget, and if I didn't mention this before..one time dh and I built a model plane called Black Widow...P-61..Are you familiar with P-61, kit plane? Actually, it was dh's project, he did a fantastic job. Well, the plane was set on top of a nice shelf, centered in the middle. About a year later, for some oddball reason, our cat decided to jump on the shelf. Down went the plane..no, it didn't glide, it broke. I've never seen dh so angry! For a second I thought he'd kill our poor cat, but thankfully, he didn't..he did yell at him though..lol. Laura, do you fertilize orchids in bud/bloom? JoJo....awww, Goober is sooo affectionate..He's aching for your attention..:) 'mom, don't play w/that machine..I'm more important.' lol. I think Goldfish tends to bloom more in summer, but since mine hasn't even put out a bud, maybe someone else knows the correct answer. lol Oh JoJo, your dh made the mistake of his life, opening the door, thankfully to your advantage. Woohoo! ") Sales, sales, where are the sales??? lol. I love Clydesdales..They're most beautiful..the horse posted in a real stud. Love Cyldes legs and feet... JoJo, you're a very attractive woman. Your son is so cute..He'll make one handsome man in the future. After a third browse, I just realized how huge that plane is. Oh, you're going to move Goober? lol. SS. I love your sense of humor..In fact, funny people are great talking to..happy and care-free..Well, most of the time anyway..It's too bad life wasn't care-free.. As long as you don't mind people discussing plants or other topics on your thread, we'll continue chatting..planes, trains and automobiles.:) Thanks for allowing me to set the bar...lol. Hey, so far so good. I swear, when misting plants, I check Jades..and each day more new growth appears. One Crassula is in another room, 'warmer/south window,' as an experiment...Don't inspect that guy as much. It's up high. Seems when I move a plant, it's like Domino's. One plant knocks down another, which turns into a bloody mess. Or is it muddy mess. lol. Wait, I thought you trimmed your variegated Jade? Now, I'm clueless..lol. I used to visit C&S's daily, now I check once in a while..even though I think I have more succulents than tropicals.. Every so often I'll post a thread, 'ask questions,' or look at pics..I LOVE MeyerMike's JAdes....Those colors! But, you're right. I got the idea cutting Jade/s back when someone ordered a huge Jade trunk on Ebay, then posted on C&S. There's so much to learn on the forums..you know? Yep, we can sit down, relax, 'you drink coffee, I'll have tea,' then you can tell me the story about your sink. lol Is it plugged up? I hope not..it's a pain unscrewing pipes, then trying to remove dirt, stones, whatever. As careful as I am when showering/soaking plants, it never fails..leaves/stones/soil ends up down the drain. I love ST, but did the price increase? I usually buy pints..It went from 20 to 34.00.!!!! Don't know what to do..In my case, it's uneconomical buying 2-4oz bottles. If you're serious about the scoop, I'll take it, but please let me know the price of postage.. Hoarders. lol. I save all types of valuables, 'some would deem junk,' for plants..Especially trays, plastic domes, and jars. Buying a brand name or even generic item would really shrink a wallet, so why not stock up?? lol. Have a great wkend...Toni

I've been MIA this week, dealing with heating issues. It's too bad GW didn't follow up on Nan's suggestion for a regional calendar for the New England forum. One of my goals was to have the info here on GW so we wouldn't have to remember to check elsewhere. Searching the existing GW calendar by state produced a bizarre result: all the same ads which previously had shown as located in New York, Moscow, London, etc. now showed as being in New York, NH, Moscow, NH, London, NH, etc. There do appear to be a few authentic event listings, but so much garbage to wade through I find it useless. If nothing else good comes from requests for a regional calendar, I hope GW wakes up and cleans up the existing calendar. I agree that Katy's idea of a moderated post is brilliant. Doubt that a standardized email would fly  probably spend as much time reminding folks of the format as actually gathering information. Nan's blog seems like a reasonable alternative. I've checked out http://newenglandgardenevents.blogspot.com/ and you've done a great job! Did you get a sense of how much work is involved to maintain it once the learning curve has been climbed? My only experience with blogs to date comes from following a link to one when someone posts it, but am willing to learn, am comfortable with techie stuff, and help if I can. Will continue the discussion on your new thread, Ana Here is a link that might be useful: thread re: New England Garden Events blog

It's not the number of beds but the large loss of planting bed area that got my attention. Yes, there are some new beds, but they don't come close to making up for the loss. Also, the teeny tiny seedling trees planted way to close to other stuff don't come near making up for the large beautiful trees they chopped down and threw out. I'm all for progress, but adding concrete "art" and planting grass where full beds once stood isn't even close to my idea of progress. I know many others also feel this way. Maybe there is a long term plan that will make the garden better in the long run, but I don't see much sign of it currently.

The more the merrier. I'd love to have everyone from here participate. I also like the idea of posting here, too, so everyone can see all the pretties. I am doing pretty generic tables since everything is all packed up except my snowmen dishes. I am not pulling out my china for a special Christmas Day type table until the real season. Deb, thanks for the link. What is your address of the blog? DD, glad to know you have started a blog, too. It does get easier. I like to play on on the weekly things, but that is so time consuming. To me the hardest part of this CIJ Tablescape Party is keeping track of all the comments, people who are following, etc. for my weekly drawings on my Christmas blog and the names for the big July 25 tablecloth drawing on Playing Dishes. Sheesh, it is work! Jaybird my blog Playing Dishes is at: http://playingdishes.blogspot.com My holiday blog Christmas Memories in My Heart is at: http://printersdevil72.blogspot.com I am posting frequently on Christmas Memories this month, but will just post on Rudolph Day on the 25th of each month after July until Thanksgiving weekend. I'd like everyone's blog address, too. Can they be added to our info on the profile here?