Oooh! Very pretty, Maria! I do like the faint little red markings... another keeper! Yes, we do get exactly what we pay for... although, every once in a while we get surprised! I broke down and bought my Evergreen from Edensblooms, through Ebay. It's currently pushing two scapes, so I think it might be one of those surprises that costs us less! Wayside wanted an exorbitant amount of money for theirs, and they were constantly sold out. After I got the actual bulb, Larry looked at it and said I should have bought at least 2 more! I don't where I would have put them, though... I'm crowded! I haven't ordered bulbs yet from Park's or Gurney's... I've been really tempted by WFF, though... they have such a wonderful selection! You guys will be getting the snow after it's done here, I'm sure... last night, and all day yesterday, we had snow and high winds. Today is sunny, but cold. It's actually supposed to warm up a bit here shortly. Pax, my pink French Pussywillow shrub has little catkins trying to grow... well, up until yesterday, that is... talk about goofy weather!

LL, I have had Goldmound in zone 5 and Goldflame ( a sport of Goldmound) in zone 3/4. I think all of the small shrub spireas are pretty much the same. In zone 3/4 the Goldflame winter kills. It doesn't loose it's branches like a perennial flower would so it simply looks like a deciduous shrub. It still gives plenty of winter interest. The branches of that one are red during the winter. In the spring, it shoots all new branches up from the crown of the plant. I never have cut back the old branches and the new ones completely encompass the old ones so one would never know that the previous years growth is within the shrub. I imagine if there comes a spring when they don't fill in well, that I will have to go ahead and cut them back. They have been in my garden out at the ranch for five years now. The Goldmound seemed to be a much more vigourous grower but it was in a warmer zone (5). That one is a bright chartruse green with pink flowers. In spring I always cut it back into a little ball shape because if I didn't it would spill outside the bed and make mowing difficult. It recovered and filled back in with a week or so and looked as wonderful as it did before had cut it back. I could then let it just grow at will the rest of the summer. I think the smaller shrub spirea's are the perfect size for mixing into a perennial bed and they also make very attractive foundation plantings. I'm sure that Neon Flash would work out fine for you in your zone. Hope this helps. MeMo

The only way I have done it is by taking cuttings of current years growth in late fall or winter and just sticking them in the ground over winter. This is the easiest way for beginners or lazy people like me. Keep the cuttings short...like 6-8 inches long and bury them about 2/3 their length in the ground. You can put a 2 liter soda bottle over them or just some loose mulch pulled up close, but not over. The soda bottle will protect from rabbits if that is a problem. Freezing is not a problem, but you might watch to see that they don't dry out if there is a shortage of snow/rain.

I actually agree with the painters on #'s 1,2 and 4....well, sort of. There is no reason to prime when changing colors. This is a very common misconception that homeowners have. The only time you may want to prime is if the new color is a deep red or some poor covering color. For something like that you may want to use a grey primer. Or, since Aura has arrived, you can just use that. Two coats of Aura will cover anything 95 percent of the time. The rule is primer doesn't cover and that's not its job. It's job is to seal and provide a good base for your topcoat. Primer actually can be more expensive than paint. I use primer sometimes that retails for $45 a gallon. There are plenty of paints out there that cost less than that. But, if you are using a high quality primer, it is likely that you are also using a high quality paint as well so most times the primer is cheaper. I never prime over patchwork. The reason is that it is a complete waste of time. If I am using a washable paint, then I can just use that washable paint as a primer. I see no reason to actually get out a seperate bucket, roller, grid, brush, etc because I can accomplish the same thing with my finish paint. The key is to put enough coats of paint over the porous patching compound so that it 'catches up' with the rest of the wall. If your paint is soaking into the patch and not soaking into the wall around it, then it will flash. I'm sure this is what your painters are missing. Most paints these days look fine with two full coats over everything to avoid flashing. Now, if you are using a flat paint as your finish, spot priming patches is the absolute last thing you want to do. Again, primer seals so if you spot prime a patch, the wall will be sealed there so that when you come along with your topcoat, the paint will not soak in over that sealed spot like it does on the rest of the wall so you will get a flash. As for your painters, I believe that you should go to great lengths as any type of contractor to please your customer so they are certainly failing there. I also believe it is our job to educate the customer so that they know what we are doing is the correct procedure. We should supply our own tape and we should know that good paint cannot be bought at Home Depot or Lowes. I honestly think that ANY washable coating usually looks splotchy after one coat so that is normal and patches are usually still flashy after one coat. That second coat should even everything out. This is really why most real pro painters bid everything for two coats...it's pretty much an industry standard.