Michelle, i just emailed you. Here is what I am bringing. They are all small but grow fast in my garden: -Jacobs Ladder - a few of small plants -Sedum Autumn Joy - 1 small plant -yellow Stonecrop (the ground cover kind) - 1 tiny plant -Strawberries -Chives -I hope to also pot up the Lamium tomorrow. This one really spreads but it is very pretty and makes a great ground cover even for full shade. Would anyone want some lawn fertilizer? I bought it but could only bring myself to use one application before going organic. I lugged it to a local swap in the spring and nobody wanted it so i had to lug it back!

Yes, hills make a lot of difference!! I am in a low spot in Nashoba Valley and I woke up to 22 degrees this morning!! On the Worcester radio station they were reporting upper 30's. I wish the weather folk would have alerted about that last night. They only predicted "around 30". Probably too excited about Red Sox! I might have brought in a few other things if I knew it was going to be that cold. My impatiens were gone a few weeks ago, but some of the tougher stuff hung on. I'm sure its all gone now. I love the cleanup phase. Its so low-key compared to the hustle and bustle of the growing season.

Further thoughts.... Do you know what kind of wisteria it is? I'm guessing Japanese wisteria based on the extent of leaf development at the same time as the flowers; the green - as opposed to bronzy - new leaves; and the flower racemes where it looks like the florets at the tips are not fully open. But, since I can't see the stems to see if it is twining clockwise, I can't tell for sure. The reason I'm asking is that the spurs indicating mature stems ready to flower look somewhat different on the Japanese wisteria vs. the Chinese wisteria. If you're going to take cuttings, it'd be best to take them from stems that are giving visible indication that they are mature enough to flower (either have already flowered or will be ready soon...) Look for stems that have spur growths that look like the ones here: The stem in that picture is probably too thick to easily root - you'd want to take the cutting nearer the end of the stem. If you are still thinking of digging the plant(s) up and moving them roots and all, I think you probably wouldn't have to try to get a huge amount of the root system. They're pretty tough hard-to-kill plants so I'd think that if you got mature - but not too old and thick - stems with, say, 5-6' of root attached they would probably survive, although perhaps take a few years to recover from the shock. I'd still be inclined to try to root some stems to to give you a back-up option if the rooted sections didn't survive. You said you are not a gardener... I hope you realize that wisteria are VERY vigorous plants that are beautiful if well controlled by are monsters if not kept under control. I would never grow them on a pergola like your late friend did - that would involve way too much climbing on ladders to prune the vines! I grow mine as 'trees' in an area where they are accessible on all sides and where they can't grab onto anything to climb on other than the provided support poles (which must be very sturdy (angle-iron works well for a tree form....) And then prune! prune! prune! Pruning can be an almost daily task when they are in their most vigorous growth period! Get a long-arm pruner tool to make pruning easy - and never let the tree get out of reach of the pruner or you'll be spending a lot of time on a ladder!

I used DiFlumeri tile in Everett. They are wonderful...I got the tile super fast, and it was not expensive. They have a nice showroom too. Therefore, you can buy the tiles from them, and they install them too. I actually have the same backsplash that one of the owners has in her recently remodeled kitchen... I was explaining what I was interested in, and then she showed me her kitchen...and voila...I just picked the same. They are knowledgeable...it is a small, family business. They also do granite, but I got my granite from somebody else previously in my kitchen project. In my previous search for a backsplash, I had gone to a fancy tile shop on Route 114 by the purple light store(Light & Leisure), and the tile costs there were over the top. Really, you can spend a lot of time looking at backsplashes and go crazy in the process. I am very pleased with my choice, and get complimented on it quite frequently too. Check them out.