Hi Adam and everyone, Hmm. So it was not just me having little success with Minnow. Someone had problem with his Thalia earlier this year. I forgot where he got it from. Sun Disc/Sundisc didn't live long for me either. Just too crowded in my garden. Craigford is a mid season bloomer. Much earlier than Geranium. Looks almost like Geranium. Smells good too. re Leucojum. LOL. Amanda is right. Way too many leaves. Stay green longer than narcissi too. :-P But I love them. Planted only 25 the first year. Loved it so much I added 100 the next year. A mistake, because they multiply like rabbits. :-) I suggest that you plant no more than 25-30 and quite far apart, say 2' to give them room to increase. I like mine right in front of the border between Alchemilla mollis so I can admire its delicate beauty and Alchemilla can hide the Leucojum later in the season. Since it is white, it goes well with everything. I have clay soil. I learned that large size narcissi don't mind it one bit, but miniatures don't like it at all. I planted a couple hundred of N. bulbocodium on my lawn that had not really been cultivated hoping to get a drift of it. Didn't work. Only one bloomed then totally disappeared. Nell's reading suggestion is good. My soil is heavy clay. I have amended it over the years. In fact, I add leaves in the planting hole as I go. Here is what I actually do when I plant blulbs: Dig a deep hole, place a handfull of leaves and a pinch of bone meal at the bottom- a bit of soil-large bulb-a bit of soil & bone meal-a handful of leaves-a bit of soil with bone meal-minor or small bulb-soil-leaves-soil-another bulb-soil-leaves and a bit of soil. I call it composting in situ. LOL. My own invention. Works like charm. My garden beds is quite loamy now. Still rather heavy, though. I may plant 2 or 3 bulbs in one hole, depending on what I have. When I have mulch and/or compost I dump the whole thing on top of the beds whenever I clean them up.

Just planted my cukes, hubbard squash and melons - durned skunks already found the nice cool damp soil for digging, but I think they missed the biggest areas. As luck would have it, I harvested some promising dill weed a few weeks ago, as I didn't notice any promising new dill sprouting. It hung in the kitchen corner on a nail, and this morning I took scissors to it, as it was nice and dry. The smell was mouth-watering, and I think it will be strong enough to flavor cukes, in case I can't find any later. Still prefer fresh tho. Also harvested some horseradish the other day. There was some talk about harvesting at certain times, but I've never noticed any difference. Whenever its done, it smells and tastes just as pungent. (and don't put your nose in the blender when grinding - huh Ken?). I usually add a bit of white vinegar when I do, and then refrigerate. Seems to stay fresh-tasting for long time. This year, I planted some red type garlic (from grocery store - where else?), and though it was smaller than my usual growth of soft neck types, I thought the taste was much more pungent - and garlicky. It may be hard neck - couldn't tell - which usually doesn't like our climate as well. This deserves a bit of research, however, as I really do like the flavor of it. Will harvest some thyme and oregano today - to dry hung in my kitchen corner along with the other dried stuff. So festive - my corners are with the garlic, dried peppers, mints, and dill weed, all on their respective hooks. The thyme and oregano were both planted as ground covers - under my fruit trees. Not sure if they will eventually rob the trees, but with our water problems (and the city looking over my shoulder - to conserve, conserve - or else!), I like the idea, cuz it helps preserve moisture, and they take little water as well. We have had some very dry winters - and I note also that the water smells more chlorinated all of the time. Wonder what effect it is having on the more susceptible plants. The new peppers seem to be a bit more yellowish than I'd like them - although weather is foggy and cool too. Zabby - that Sauvignon Blanc sounds like fun - my only attempt at wine making was a simple balloon type - not especially outstanding - and I figured it was so expensive and bad tasting, that almost any box wine could have beat it by a mile. But then - considering my amateur standing, I wasn't expecting it to be for the connoisseur crowd. Just my 2 c's. Bejay

Thanks

Thanks! I seldom use a tripod, but since I was in the car, I just balanced the Canon 400mm lens against the window. My Canon EOS 40D needs strong light from behind and to be close to work well, so I was glad the Buffleheads came as close as they did..about 40 feet away while fighting. As to why they were fighting, Buffleheads are monogamous, at least for a few years at a time, so apparently the newcomer male was defending his mate of choice that year. Perhaps she'd not yet made up her own mind because she kept approaching the single male, bobbing her head, and he'd bob back. Whenever he noticed this the first male would attack and drive the single male away, even though the single male kept trying to continue his foraging dives between attacks. These sea ducks are among the last to migrate to their breeding grounds in Canada, where they use Northern Flicker and Pileated Woodpecker holes by small lakes (link to Bufflehead pdf files http://seaduckjv.org/infoseries/buff_sppfactsheet.pdf ) For the Wood Ducks, I crawled into an old slab wood lean-to blind and balanced the lens against a cross bar. They are very jittery and I've not been able to sneak up on them since