Laura, I've been meaning to write ingredients to rid Mites. Sorry, I didn't get to it sooner. Everytime I was about to, something came up. :) I've used this recepie so many years, I no longer measure. But, adding a little more of this or that won't harm a plant. That is, all but Fish Emulsion. I'll get to that. The night before spraying, I fill (about 3/4ths full) a 16-20oz spray bottle w/warm water and add 1-2 cloves of peeled garlic. Following Day: 1/4-1/2 teas Hot Pepper. 2-4 drops Dish Soap, 'Not Dawn.' 1/4-1/2 teas orange/lemon/lime or grapefruit juice. As a preventative or to kill Scale, and some other types of insects, 1 capful of Fish Emulsion. Mix thoroughly before spraying plants. Spray under and upper leaves, stems, and trunk. This mix can be kept for weeks, but shake the bottle so ingreients are even. Fish Emulsion: To prevent/kill Scale, in addition to above ingrdients, I add 1 cap of Fish Emulsion. WARNINGS: Leftover insecticide w/FE should be discarded. Fish Emulsion has a fishy odor. The smell can last 1-3 days. Although I'm not thrilled about the odor, I'd rather deal with it a few days, than find Scale on my plants. Since FE is organic there's no need to worry about inhaling or pores. It's totally harmless, won't burn roots/leaves. BTW, use a new or well-made spray bottle. Old bottles, especially when used frequently, don't work as well, or can drip. I used to use peeled citrus rind, but the peels clogged up spray bottle. In its place I use citrus juice. Mostly Lemon. The lemon that comes in a yellow plastic, lemon-shaped container. Preferably unsweetened. The same thing happened w/garlic. I used to chop 1-2 cloves, but pieces clogged sprayer top. BTW, before adding garlic to water, I squeeze each clove in water bottle so liquid blends in. Toss in squeezed garlic cloves, too. Hot Pepper. I've been using Cayenne Pepper powder, but any hot pepper will do...the hotter the better. These ingredients deter and kill Mites. Mites dislike the scents, so they steer clear. Eish Emulsion prevents and kills Scale. A friend who owns a Citrus nursery in Fl told me they use FE on ALL their citrus to keep Scale away. Not long after she told me about FE, I ordered an Olive Tree. It was delivered at night. I set it between two Citrus trees. While misting, I noticed a brown lump on a leaf. Taking a closer look, the entire Olive was Scale-packed. Not to mention the closest citrus branches. I phoned her to get the exact Fish Emulsion dossge. The Olive and Citrus were first isolated then sprayed. Within two days, all signs of Scale were gone. Since spraying, none of my plants had this awful bug. Ever. This happened, I believe, 1999. That's it. Spraying every other week should keep Mites at bay. (without FE) BTW, Fish Emulsion is an organic fertilizer. I spray plants w/the complete mixture before coming indoors for winter. Not only to keep insects away, but a last foliar feeding. If a plant is budding or flowering, don't spray, or refrain from hitting buds and flowers. Anyway, this recepie works for my plants. Considering the amount of plants I have, and each from diferent nurseries, I either have a Plant Angel or plain lucky..lol. Give it a try..can't hurt. I avoid chemicals, 'except a few fertilizers.' Let me know if you decide to give it a try and how it works..Toni

So many good suggestions still coming in--appreciate that. I won't be ordering until after Thanksgiving (or maybe after Xmas), so I'm open to any more beautiful ideas. I'm looking them all up. Some I kinda know. But I don't know much of anything about Mrs. Dudley Cross, cherrykist. Is it hardy in Zone 6? HMF say Zone 7--but I know it is sometimes rather conservative on hardiness. And I'm not sure about its height since HMF says 3-5 ft (or something like that). What is your experience--does it stay around 3 ft? It is a lovely rose, but not a type I have ever seen, so I'm not sure what to think about it. It's really cool looking at all the gorgeous pics--thanks everyone. Kate

you could make mint oil, add equal amounts of mint leaves and oil into the food processor and chop fine, Use this in your cake recipes, brownies, breads, etc. mix it with other herbs and make a pesto, you can strain it and make it into a bread dipping oil. refrigerate any leftovers, it keeps almost forever. steep mint and other herbs in wine vinegar, do not boil. my favorite is orange mint, orange zest, thai hot peppers, and lemon thyme, with a bit of ginger root. add a bit of sugar, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and concentrated orange juice and use it for a chicken maranade. mint is excellent with lamb. use it in a salad 3 tomatoes chopped 1 med onion chopped 1 bunch or large handfull of mint, chopped 5-8 green onions or scallions, thinly sliced juice of 2 lemons salt put all ingredients in a bowl and chill for an hour, serve with grilled chicken or fish Tomato soup with couscous 2 Tbs olive oil 1 onion chopped 1-2 carrots diced 14 oz can italian chopped tomatoes 6 garlic cloves chopped 6 1/4 cup veggie or chicken stock 1 1/2 cup couscous, or alphabet noodles 2-3 sprigs mint chopped 1/4 tsp ground cumin 1/4 bunch cilantro cayene pepper to taste salt and pepper cook the onion and carrots in oil of about 10 minutes until softened add the tomatoes, half the garlic, stock, couscous, mint, coriander and spices bring to boil add remaining garlic and simmer for 7- 10 minutes until couscous is just tender serve hot Chopped Veggie Salad 1 each red, green, and yellow bell pepper seeded, and diced 1 carrot diced 1 cucumber diced 6 tomatoes, diced, I prefer romas 3 garlic cloves chopped fine 3 green onions or scallions sliced thin 2 Tbs chopped cilantro 2 Tbs each chopped dill, parsley, and mint 1 hot pepper chopped fine 3-4 Tbs olive oil juice of 1 lemon salt and pepper to taste add all ingredients, toss, and serve chilled mint can also be added to any green salad

The trick to most Indian cooking is to have the masalas (spices) on hand. They can last a long time if kept in airtight containers, and only need a minute or 2 dry-fried in a pan before using. After that, it really is a quite simple cuisine to prepare. And you can mix and match various masalas, rather than follow exact recipes. Experiment! Lentils and beans, too, are generally interchangeable. No 2 Indian cooks prepare the same dish in the same way... And it is a surpisingly quick way to prepare delicious meals once you've tried it once or twice! Just took a pic of my masala shelf... This post was edited by shaxhome on Wed, Apr 3, 13 at 8:38