Pat...Thank you for great information about Dahlia with your favorite grower and Colorado Dahlia Society. I cannot believe they grow so many thousands of Dahlias. How they can digging up so many thousands Dahlias for storage? I quess they have a great place for storage. I have been looking around my tiny house to find a good storage for dahilias. I do not have basement. I understand the storage temp. would be best between 35-50. My loft room may be good place for it, but it sometime went higher than 60's. I am tempted to buy Dahlias from Park's Seed Co. They are so beautiful and great for cutting too. Jeannie...The American Dahlia Society is so awesome and very intersted to surfing with Dahlias grower collection their many pretty Dahlias. I have been trying to find Arkansas Dahlia Society, however it seem not have one in Arkansas. I found one nice webiste in Bristol, Indiana where my family lives in Indianapolis, IN. I like to stopped by to visiting their Dahlia garden. I have been trying to find some more information about how to cut Dahlias for selling? How long the Dahlia blooms last long? Thank you very much! Kat

Irish Rose Grower: Since you wish to know all about the world of Peonies, my first suggestion is to obtain a copy of "Peonies" by Jane Fearnley-Whittingstall. Obviously, you can find copies at your public library or through their inter-library loan system or you can purchase the book through various new or used book dealers. Two excellent sources of used/new books are http://www.abe.com or http://www.alibris.com These two sources, which are links to a very wide array of used and new booksellers, which often offer books in new, near new, fine, very good, etc. conditions. With regard to the book itself, "Peonies" provides an excellent history, overview, and an good discussion of an extremely wide variety of different types of peonies with various lists - including those suitable for cut flowers, fragrance, etc. Information from Amazon.com about this book: "Jane Fearnley-Whittingstall's Peonies is a ravishing book--the sort of book that you covet from the moment you see it--but it isn't just lovely to look at, it is also a wonderful read. It tells the long and fascinating history of this most beautiful of flowers, tracing its origins in the wild to its cultivation in the Imperial gardens of China and Japan and its journey to the West. The characters encountered along the way include an empress who arranged for the planting of many thousands of tree peonies, yet murdered her baby daughter and in her 70s took two brothers half her age as lovers, and a French missionary who spent most of his life in China collecting over 1,500 species of peony, most of which were sent back to France. As befits its subject, the book is lavishly illustrated with paintings and photographs that are both informative and appealing. But this is not just a wonderful story well told. It is also a serious work of reference giving comprehensive information on peony varieties, how to grow them, where to find them, and where to see them. It's written with the international reader in mind, so references include information relevant to the U.S., Australia, and New Zealand as well as Great Britain and Europe. --Stephanie Donaldson" An Amazon.com customer gives the following review of this book: "If you are a peony lover, you will treasure this book. Jane Fearnley-Whittingstall not only knows her peonies and traces their fascinating history through the imperial courts of China and Japan, but she interweaves this with a history of how peonies have been used in paintings and porcelain. The beautiful pictures included not only show the various peony cultivars, but show the peony as it is used in Asian porcelains, paintings and European paintings. This book and its photographs are so lovely, that I expected to pay much more for it. It's a bargain, if you are a peony lover. Al Rogers "Peonies" is a bit more explicit about growing and cultivation, but this book compliments his, because of the romance it brings to the peony. It is also practical, listing the cultivars, showing many pictures, and recommending the more successful cultivars. If you love peonies and want to know more about their place in history, I heartily recommend Jane Fearnley-Whittingstall's "Peonies." " Once in a while you may also find this book at either at overstock or http:www.bookcloseouts.com or http://www.daedalusbooks.com With regard to the selection of additional peonies, you might try the following source, which is the direct link to the Paeonia lactiflora 'Duchesse de Nemours' http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/Plant.asp?code=Q260 If you scroll down a bit, you'll find their listing of sources and then click on it for further information. The next listing will link you to further sources, most of which will be web sites which will lead you to additional sources and price comparisons. Obviously, if you book mark the link below, you'll be able to search all sources of plant material at the extraordinary Missouri Botanical Gardens in St. Louis, MO. http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/Alpha.asp Additionally, if you click on "Search", you'll be taken to their unique search engine - the best that I've seen to date. FYI - when I was living in central Illinois, I visited this absolutely delightful and extraordinary garden quite frequently. Now that I am living in northwestern Michigan, there is nothing that I have seen in this neck of the woods to compare, but then, I haven't yet explore all of the garden areas in this state. The Meijer gardens in Grand Rapids is young and doesn't compare to the extent and maturity of the Missouri Botanical Garden, but they are headed in a good direction. As for excellent, but not necessarily cheap, sources of Peonies, I placed my first order with A & D Nursery: http://www.adpeonies.com/ and was greatly impressed with the quality of their rootstock. One of the peonies that I ordered was "Chestine Gowdy", whose roots were nearly 8 inches long. By linking to the web site listed above and scrolling down a bit, you'll find some information on this peony as well as a link to "her" unique photograph. I was so impressed by "her" unique coloration, fragrance, etc. that I made her the center piece between two red peonies: "PHILIPPE RIVOIRE" that I obtained from them as well. Both of "his" roots were extensive as well. The fourth peony that I purchased from them was "FLORENCE NICHOLLS", which was going to be the "center piece" in my original garden design. Now that I've changed the planting plan of "Florence", I will have to place an order for a second one to give some "balance" to my patio garden area. For an added addition to my garden, I've decided to plant two Phlox paniculata 'Mount Fuji', which is planted slightly in back of and just between "Chestine Gowdy" and each of the "PHILIPPE RIVOIRE"'s. Here's the link to some information at the Missouri Botanical Garden with regard to this Phlox. http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/Plant.asp?code=E600 Another peony that I may eventually add to my garden is the known as the "Memorial Day" Peony. It's official name is Paeonia officinalis 'Rubra Plena' My mother had this peony in her garden for decades and it usually bloomed close or around Memorial Day (central Illinois). She treasured it and often used it as a cut flower. Now my daughter, Heather, has this plant in her garden and thus a tradition lives on. You will find more information on the "Memorial Day" Peony at this link: http://www.hirts.com/cgi-local/catalog.cgi?cat=1,41,&item=3079 So now you have additional sources of information with regard to peonies and other plants. In addition to the sources mentioned above, I would also recommend the reading of two - still - excellent books: "Green Thoughts: A Writer in the Garden" by Eleanor Perenyi and "The Fragrant Year" by Helen van Pelt Wilson and Leonie Bell. Both are out of print - I believe - but should be available at or through your public library and/or through the two sources of used books listed above. They are books to be treasured!!!! I do hope that you and others will find this discussion and sources of information more than useful in your gardening endeavors. Bill

First let me say that storing the dough overnight is NOT a good idea, although I was still able to work with it. It seemed to have even more moisture, and I had to add quite a bit of flour to make it workable. Also, I learned that you have to store each gnoccho separately - if they touch each other before being boiled, they glue themselves together. Some of mine did that, and so I ended up forming them with a spoon and treating them as dumpling. They reminded me a bit of matzo balls, but that was okay. After I boiled them, I put them in pasta bowls and microwaved those to make sure they were done. Then I put grated Asiago cheese on that (it looks like bits of linguine in the photo) and then put tomato sauce over that. All in all, it was a laborious process, and I still have half of the dough in the fridge, for future use. I absolutely loved the kale salad and will make that again! I used Parmesan cheese and instead of lemon juice, I used a teaspoon of aged Balsamic vinegar (for sweetness) and 2 Tbsp of white Balsamic (for tartness). I increased the amount of garlic, and I used three cayenne chilies, seeded and minced, which I added to the garlic/salt paste in the mortar. I did not add black pepper, as the cayenne gave it just the right amount of heat. I used a very good olive oil (that I bought in Paso Robles), and that made a big difference. This is now one of my favorite salads! It is so much easier to make bread crumbs instead of croutons, and I used whole wheat bread that I baked myself for the crumbs. Kevin said he's had this same salad in Culver City but the restaurant sometimes adds broccoli and tomatoes to it! He thinks it is better without the broccoli, and he tells the restaurant to leave the tomatoes out! When I made gnocchi before, I made a smaller batch. They were a bit better this time, as I was more careful with the dough, heeding the warnings in this thread. While my potatoes were fairly dry, I do think that baked potatoes would work better. However, steamed potatoes were extremely easy to peel, once they cooled. The skins came off like very thin paper with no potato loss. Thanks again for the kale salad recipe! Lars

I'll share my experiences in those same places, it may shed light for you. In reverse order: Parisians talk fast. Faster typically than encountered in most (but not all) other regions. It's as if a result of too much caffeine. But as with our own counterpart, NY, not everyone in Paris is a Parisian. Ask a fast talker politely to speak more slowly and most of the time they will. Just like in NY, some people are harried and harassed by the huge city experiences and not always as friendly as others. But far more nice people than not, ESPECIALLY when you speak to them in French, it's a recognized and appreciated compliment you've made an effort to converse in THEIR language. French speaking Swiss tend to speak more slowly, so too do French speaking Belgians. An interesting thing to see - look on Youtube for speeches or interviews with French politicians. Not so much Macron, but find a speech by De Gaulle or older politicians. They speak VERY slowly. Same is true to an extent with local newscasts. I've been to Quebec a number of times and have enjoyed it, both in the cities and in the country. They have words and expressions that differ from standard modern French. There is a local accent that to my ear makes people sound like Gomer Pyle imitators, very back-woodsy and unworldly. Sometimes hard to follow. Many Quebecois speak standard French too, especially the better educated ones and in Montreal. They like Americans, better than they like anglophile Canadians, and most should always be friendly when you let them know you're not Canadian. Tahiti - beautiful place. Sunshine attitudes and vibe, things are slowed down. People speak more slowly there than elsewhere. Bonne chance!