ooh, Baileycat! Gossards..*goes green* Hurrah! I'm trying out more of his things and am willing to pay the $$ (within reason) because I'm trying to go for things with high bud counts and great reblooming to get more outof the season...and I need the winter hardiness (it gets depressing to lose so many over the winter when I worked so hard for "flower spending $$) I splurged on "Supermodel" and "Tornado Bird" and also got on LA "Lemon Parchment", Primal Scream, and Broadway Charmer,Westbourne Easter Egg Hunt and Westbourne Snow Cream . I really want Snake in the Grass, Boo! and Shark Attack ..hope they have some left! I'm trying to hold back as I also have a ridiculous amount of seedlings from last year's thinking "wow! I can buy millions of seeds for the same price as daylilies".. butmost of them are buried in small containers feet deep in snow, so I guess we'll see what survives the winter :)

Completely out of space so no newbies for me this year----previous ones are establishing nicely, although I think I may have lost some of the (luckily cheaper) ones that I tried in the ground due to our unusually cold winter. Mainly I grow in very large pots as the ground where I live is VERY poor---dry and stony and only a few inches deep on top of a stone shelf so only especially hardy ones go in the ground for lanscaping alongside hardy geraniums. I have LAKE EFFECT, the first year I was not impressed at all, I thought the colour was FOUL, but last year it was really nice and is coping well with British weather (much better than I am) so it is one worth keeping for a few year even if you don't like it initially.

Good Morning and Thank Goodness its raining again! The game was like sitting in the middle of the Artic - 28 degrees with a slight wind and 1 snow flurry that lasted all of about 5 minutes. Did we win you ask? 68 to 0, everyone was rooting for the other team by the end of the game. And the coach had his 2nd string in from the 2nd quart on. The cheerleaders were doing jumping jacks for each touchdown by jumping the number on the score board. 61 times was a tough one but then after the next play they had to do 68. By the time they were done they were no longer together and a couple were laughing so hard they couldn't jump at all. Our DGS stayed over and just went home to get ready for church. We watched movies last night, had pop corn and root beer floats. Hard to believe he is almost 18... Joan...I live in S. W. WA., and this is really early for snow here! The ski resorts don't usually open until after T'day..rarely before, they are now up and running. We live at about the 700' level and are just high enough to be hotter in the summer and colder in the winter. Luvs...My DS and his wife gave me lots of books last year for Christmas. They hit every TS between here and Tacoma to find them, but, and I won't let them know, most are not my style or nothing caught my attention or well you know! And as I don't have a lot of storage space, something moves in something else moves out and I have forgotten the "out" part. Ah! Birthdays for pets...I remember my DD baking mud cakes for our dogs...used twigs for candles and pebbles for M&M's. It was fun reading about your DGD! Such precious times! Anj.....your kindness shows through all the time but after reading your post....you are super! Too many times when people know that someone is dying they "back away," afraid of I don't know what or just not knowing what to say. When my DMIL was in her last weeks, she told us that she was tired of everyone "walking on egg" whenever the subject of her dying had to be addressed. She helped me understand that being forthright was much easier and helped her cope much better. The closeness we shared during her last weeks is something I will never loose and I now think of her fondly which wasn't always the case for as she said "She was the Mother-In-Law from Hell" And yes we to have Gift Tree's, stores and malls won't use the word Christmas... and our fraternal order always gathers food and toys each year. And this year the need is greater than ever. The unemployment rate in our area is at about 15% and rising. Punk....glad you are safe! My DH is so worried about the tires on the van. He calls them city tread so I know that by Friday he will make a trip to town and get some Country Tread. Ah! Well! Better safe than sorry! Today is pretty free so I just might do a canvas type painting of Halloween. Been putting if off because it will be a real challenge but right about know I think I am up to it and can't find anything else I want to paint, sounds like we all have the painting blues! Must be the light deprivations thing! So I'm off to make a cup of mint tea, light my Apple Cinnamon candle and paint! Happy Painting! Belle

but if it rings your bell.. dont let my opinion bother you ...to be changed every few years ... when you could do some root pruning ... i had a WH once ... when i moved i potted 1625 plants to take with me .... but i left the witch hazel because it was one of the least inspiring plants i had for the 5o weeks a year it wasnt blooming ... and who in the heck wanted to walk out in a MI winter .. to look at the minimalist flower show ... lol ... but if it rings yoru bell.. dont let my opinion bother you ... now.. all that said ... you might be better off buying a smaller plant ... perhaps mail order ... and growing it on to size.. rather than buying a bigger potbound plant.. that might not be ready to stay in that pot forever ... you dont mention how big the ones you are seeing are ... were they field grown and dug and potted ... etc ... there might be ... and there usually are.. many problems with large trees or shrubs in pot ... that are usually fixed when planted in other earth ... winding circling roots the usual suspect ... but again... if its your dream plant... go for it.. life too short ... ken