I am with those that find it reliable- depending on species. In my mind I've always separated Polemonium into two classes, those that flower enthusiastically, seed abundantly, and are short lived (pretty much bloom themselves to death it seems, though likely fall into the short lived perennial category). My P. viscosum 'Blue Whirl' is like that. Then you have your longer lived ones (least they have been for me). I've had P. caeruleum 'Brise d' Anjou' for six or more years and reptens 'Touch of Class' for going on three now. I believe both of those last cultivars are sterile. The first gets mildew sometimes, but has always come thru it. PS. and before someone jumps on me saying I don't count since I live in "the temperate PNW".... the side of WA I live on is quite different from say Seattle- over here it is semi arid and snowy/cold in the winter. :-) CMK

Thank you bob414, birdist, & BN for your responses! I found a site that explains some differences between Ladder-backed and Nuttall's Woodpeckers. They have so many similarities that it will be tough to tell. I may have to go by their voice/call. I will try and find a site online where I can listen to their calls. Below, is a link to the site describing the Ladder-backed & the Nuttall. Artist sketches are shown here, too. Here is a link that might be useful: Ladder-backed and Nuttall's

i live just outside of Durango Colorado and i have gambel oak brush outside the door. The acorn woodpeckers like the small acorns and pinyon nuts but also carry off corn and sunflower seeds. The Lewis Woodpeckers don't come often but i got a photo of a male this week. The flickers come through in the fall and spring back and forth to the mountains, and the downeys come in the snow storms of winter. I had a pair of scrub jays nest in the oak brush this year and they had 2 young ones whoi are regular visiters. Since we got a few snow showers i have dozens of Juncos and finches and sparrows daily.

I would respectfully disagree with Linda. The classical 'shaker tilt' was actually an evolution of a true shaker chair. I know what most folks envision when they think 'shaker', however, it's a bit limited of what some Shaker communities were putting out back in the day. To qualify the use of 'shaker' a bit as well, to me it's not referring to a particular style so much as the community as a whole. Some of the original chairs they produced actually had fully turned vertical posts and stretchers. They were boxy little devils and a real pain to sit in. lol cslambert - To tell you the truth, I really don't recall where that little tidbit came from. I'm a fourth generation woodworker that started at age 4 pushing a broom and shoveling sawdust around the shop. My great grandfather started our family furniture business shortly after coming to America and handed down from father to son since the later 1800's. I don't know if it was from a book, from one of our family excursions to check out designs to incorporate into our own furnitue, or one of those times when a chair came in for repair and I asked, 'grandpop... what the heck kind of chair is this?' lol I did a 'very' cursory search and came up with a brief that referenced mass production done out of a Mount Lebanon community that you might find interesting. I've run across folks from time to time that look at me like I'm crazy to even suggest that there where Shaker communities that turned to mass production to 'outsiders', so to those... please forgive me. I've been hit with a hammer more than a few times ;-) http://www.artcomplex.org/shakertext.html Here is a link that might be useful: Brief history