Hey Moonie. I would HOPE someone would bail me out, otherwise, I'd end up back in the slammer with a much bigger charge..lol..j/k. Moonie, what size are the pots your Plecks are in? They look a little too large. I can't/ID see the leaves. But your Maranta looks fine. Its leaves are nice, big and vividly colored. Moonie. Why would you kill your Maranta? How long have you had the one you posted? Hello Purple. Sorry about your Waffle Plant..they are difficult..Lots of water, just the right amount of sun, and pinching. Purple, I grow Cleome plants..It wasn't False Aralia/Dizygotheca either..The house plant nick-named False Marijuana. Sp?? lol We're not too far from the woods. Teens, 'at least I think it was teens,' grew pot in the woods.. The police found the plants, and destroyed them.. I bet the 'farmers' were suprised finding nothing but ashes. lol. Crime isn't high here, but every so often, things happen. But, guess it's the same everywhere. Yesterday, my 3 Plecs got a shower..they're still in the tub, lol. 3 different species..One has tiny-tiny leaves, a second variegated/fuzzy, the third smooth. There's a Plec that grows upright..when mature, it grows tree-like and the main truck thickens. I forgot its species name, but a nursery, Garden World, used to sell it. I haven't been to Garden World for ages, so I don't know if it's still available. But it was a beautiful plant. Toni

Thanks, Josh. Art always had time to talk. The garden had gotten shabby and weedy, with most labels missing, but he knew exactly where any hosta was. I wanted American Halo, and he wandered back to a section of the garden I didn't know existed and found it in five minutes. I'll miss him. It will be hard for anyone else to ID all the plants. BTW, all the plants from In the Country are safely in the ground except for Tom Terrific. Still have some weeding to do in that corner. Like Pinani Splash better every time I see it.

You have too many thoughts, JB! :) I think your move to the wild white north is like when you're new to gardening. At first you fuss and worry over every sprig and seedling and later on you crop and move and amend like you were born to garden. Here are some thoughts: Don't worry about oil or windshield fluid or gas. Like buying hardy plants at your local nursery, what you buy locally for your car is meant for local weather. Some folks buy special winter tires used only in cold weather. I do, because I drive a fair bit to work (with way too many greenhouses and nurseries along the way..) Digging your car and driveway out: make sure you're physically up to it or hire someone. Great exercise but it's easy to overdo it. I like the ergonomic shovel with the big bend in the handle. The moment you finish shovelling your driveway, the city plow will come along and build a plow-berg along the street and you get to start over again. If your condo-people do these things you don't need anything more than a good scraper and brush. Your car would have to be BURIED for you to have to dig it out with a shovel and, in spite of tales told around the campfire in Tennessee, that only happens a few times each winter :) You'd be surprised how much snow you can actually drive over to move your car (plow-bergs excepted - NEVER try to jump one of those) When I lived in an apartment I kept a small, collapsible shovel in the trunk. Used it twice, once for trying to dislodge my car off a plow-berg. My car's been parked outside in all weather condition for years. Never once had trouble starting it. Covering the windshield is something invented by people who sell windshield covers - it's generally a pain since you then have a frozen, wet windshield cover that you need to leave somewhere. We use ice scrapers. Get the kind with a brush on one end, rather than a squeegee. Remember to clean off ALL windows, every time. Snow and ice creates nasty blind spots. Let car warm up for a few minutes before driving off. Warm the engine, not the interior - wear a coat if you're cold :) Any more than a few minutes of idling is a waste and environmentally unsound. Your car will be fine. But what about you? Be sure to find a snowy, slushy, icy and empty parking lot and PRACTICE your winter driving. Your critters will have a blast. They'll know when to come in from the cold. Don't leave outside overnight. There are no best kind of winter clothing. That's like asking what the best plant is for your garden. You're going to be cold - dress in whatever way you need to stay warm. Do get one of those car floormats that keep your trouser cuffs from soaking in all the snow and salt that'll run off your boots. I'm a bit north of Syracuse but I'm sure the winters are relatively balmy, compared to 'true' northern regions. Sub-zero, unless you're talking in Celcius, isn't really the norm. Below freezing, sure! Embrace it! Snow is fun, cold can be bracing. You can use snow as mulch in the garden! Get a huge parka (people will snicker, but you need to acclimatize!) build a snowman, skate, have snowball fights and roll around in it. No sense fighting it (this is actually more of a pep talk for myself....) C.

I've been enjoying watching my garden come back to life too. Crocuses everywhere, iris reticulata a pool of blue and purple, daffodils in bud, and today my first extra early tulips and "February Gold" daffodils are blooming! My dicentra eximia has ferny baby leaves, and my sedums are covered with tight clusters of little rosettes. My asiatic and oriental lilies are up, and my Star of Bethlehem is oh so green. I was thrilled yesterday to notice that one of my clematis ("Warsaw Nike" I think) has new basal growth. Today my neighbor's honesuckle shrub (amur?) has real LEAVES opening! A ratty, ugly shrub, but I sure treasure those first leaves. . . . Oh yes, praise the Lord indeed that SPRING is really here! Laurel