Also, peas (English peas, snow peas, sugar snap peas), parsnips, parsley, and alliums (onions/garlic/chives/leeks/shallots) will survive light freezes. Some perennial herbs like thyme and rosemary will remain green through light freezes, too. Actually, pansy flowers are edible, and they survive light freezes. That counts, right? :-)

First... let's start with the official registration... the link from hippienono... Paul Aden registered it as the product of the cross of two of his numbered breeders. Evidence suggests that there were no such plants, so we have no idea where it came from. Then look at the size... registered as 12" wide by 8" high. If you look at old FB plants in gardens you will see lots of them in the 30-36" wide clumps. The height isn't too bad - it is a lower, flat growing plant compared with other hostas. The registration does indicate it is not fragrant. Yet the registrant (Aden) didn't indicate a different "nominant" so it would appear he named the plant FRAGRANT Bouquet and indicated is is not fragrant. Pretty odd! He gave the flowering period in New York as a range of time of 3 1/2 weeks. That usually indicates somebody really isn't willing to watch the plant for a couple of years and narrow the time down. He did get it right that its a white (sometimes whiteish... with some of the lavender chemicals present and fading to white) and an earlier rather than later bloomer. Not sure where Fine Girl's extensive description comes from... noting the location as the Enterprise Rent-a-car Flower Borders is fun! They got the size wrong, like the registration... and "showy" might be a stretch on the flowers, but that's in the eye of the beholder... So... we don't want to ever get into disagreements based on either unofficial or official plant descriptions. It is sad to see this kind of mistakes on old plants - Aden could have gone back and corrected obvious errors like the size of this plant. We'll see what happens to this registration after the two AHS committees get done reviewing the Aden registrations. Unfortunately, we're continuing to see such errors... even more of them. It is all about marketing. I waited to register Polish Prince until I'd grown it independent of its parent plant for four years. I observed its growth and made sure it would remain margined and interesting. On the other hand, if I'd have wanted to market it, I'd have offered it to some of the bigger companies and let them name it for marketing. The could have put it into tissue culture five years ago. Of course, they wouldn't have really known what an adult looks like. This is happening all the time. People get a neat seedling or sport and name it and throw it in tc. They register it based on "best guess." In spite of how easy it is, very few registrants go back and correct the registration. The only thing we can totally trust on the registration is the name. Oh, wait... lots of people getting what are probably the same sport in different locations are naming them, so names are even suspect. And who knows about the naming on all the Aden plants. So... I still encourage people to register hostas and to make them as accurate as possible. You'll often hear me referring to registrations. But we do have to use a grain of salt. One thing about Fragrant Blue is undeniable. Some people call it fragrant. Of those, most say "mildly fragrant." The majority of people say they cannot detect a fragrance from FB. No joke, folks... I've been testing people on this from numerous plants... (I only have two left)... and only a few folks have ever detected a fragrance. These plants are FB in every respect except for that. I grew them from a tc batch I got, I think, in 1996. Now, Brandy... I think you are one of the lucky ones. Yours is fragrant. And I even believe that there might be an "original" strain of FB that is fragrant and a much larger group of FB that came out of tc without fragrance. The only reason I wouldn't lable it FB... because it was originally labeled Blue Flame. The most likely scenario, as we've discussed before, is that an all blue plant snuck through the culling process along with with the rest of the Blue Flames. Every batch of BF tc will have a percentage of these all blue plants. In the old days, solid colored plants in the tissue culture of a variegated plant would be culled - thrown in the compost. But there are some plants that give high percentages... like 30%... of solid-colored plants. It has become common practice for the wholesalers to re-label them or rename them. Examples... when they tissue culture June, it is common practice to pull out the all blue ones and re-label them Halcyon. On the other hand, when Q&Z got a bunch of blues coming from tc of Paul's Glory, instead of labeling them with the parent's name - Perry's True Blue - they chose to give it a new name - Wheaton Blue. Following their lead, a lot of retailers started doing this as well. The nursery Brandy's friend got the "Blue Flame" from could have avoided the serious confusion by putting in a tag for Fragrant Blue. And I know its become common practice in home gardens. Lots of people say they never had to buy Halcyon because they pulled a blue piece off of their June - or First Frost or El Nino etc etc etc. - and relabeled it Halcyon. There is a good chance that plant is genetically identical to FB... making it FB. Unfortunately, without genetic testing, we are only guessing. So I won't label mine that way. It doesn't really matter WHAT we call our plants... until we share them with somebody else. I know I'm in a distinct minority... but I remain a purist, especially because I might be dividing and sharing/selling the plant. I HATE the idea of adding any confusion to what is already a wild naming environment for hostas.

Raybo: First congrats on your awesome success. I don't mean to sound mean, but I would like your "problem". Mine in ground are only 3 feet tall and less than 10 fruit set total. I was going to post in another threat but figure I will try to make Tammy and Brian feel better. Here's a picture of my only NAR. I forgot I had hard water and used the "soft" water from inside to water them. As a result, they got stunt (I think). They grew about an inch in two weeks. All the leaves are rolled and semi yellow. Pull it ??? Keep those pictures coming Ray. Thanks.

We bought our land 4 years before we built our home. We wanted to build our dream home and were not in a hurry to rush into it and then regret decisions made too quickly. I was the designer on the project and honestly enjoyed all that it entailed. We also had a wonderful builder that made the whole process go seamlessly and stress free. After we chose a house plan and had it updated to include the must-haves on our list, I poured over those plans for hours and hours making sure each room was as ideal as possible. Now is the time to decide if you want an HVAC duct in that place or a light switch or outlet in that spot. Decide if you want floor outlets, special outlets in pantries or cleaning closets. Are the rooms the right size? Could a couple feet make a difference anywhere? I sure wish we had made our laundry room 3 feet wider. Choose as many products as you can before your builder gives you his estimate. If you want granite and he's giving you laminate pricing the cost will be more. Also, painting the interior all one color is less expensive than having several rooms painted differently. Are you going with pre-painted siding or having the exterior custom painted? Are you using brick, cultured stone or natural stone? Huge difference between brick and natural stone. Plumbing fixtures vary in price as do lighting and appliances. Make sure he's taking your choices into account with his bottom line. Think about any upgrades in insulation, soundproofing, radiant heating, etc. The best advice I can give from someone who's been there, done that, is to sit down and really think about how you want the house to look, function and feel....and cost. Are there things you can't do without? For us it was a 3rd garage, his & hers master's closets, a computer space off the kitchen area where we can monitor our son, and a particular type of kitchen layout. Break the house plan down room by room if it's overwhelming but KNOW WHAT YOU WANT. If you're unsure of that then you can be talked into a lot of stuff you will find out later you really didn't need or want. Almost all of us have to stick to a budget so the trick is getting what you want overall at a price you can afford. This website is a treasure trove of information that I'm sure will benefit you in the days to come. Good luck on your build and keep your chin up.