On a topic like this, newbie posters sure would benefit by using latin names. Following is from Seeds of Woody Plants in the United States, Forest Svce Handbook #450 Metasequoia glyptostroboides - "seed of M.s. does not require stratification. Seed sown directly on soil begins germinating within 5 days." M.s. is a deciduous, Chinese native. On East Coast it grows as far north as Massachusetts. Does fine in ordinary, well-drained soil, readily available, sometimes used for windbreaks. Wholesale plugs run about @ $1.50 Sequoia sempervirens - "seed requires no pretreatment to induce germination. ....seed sown in April may start germinating in 20 days". I have lived in the mid-Atlantic all my life and have never seen the tree. Further quoting from Handbook 450 "Redwood thrives in cool, moist places". It is native from SW Oregon to Monterey Co., California. Perhaps it could exist from Williamsburg/Richmond south on the East Coast? The evergreen needles similar to hemlock. Sequoiadendron giganteum - "optimal constant temperature for germination was between 60 & 70 degrees F. Stratification in vermiculite at 35 degrees F for 28 days improved germination". 'Hazel Smith' is a popular blue form, I've seen the original tree in Northern NJ, where it overwinters fine. S.g. is somewhat of a novelty on the East Coast. It is found in Botanic Gardens and conifer collectors who have plenty of room. Squirrels peel off the thick, spongey bark to use for bedding, that is a problem. For me, the only value of green seedlings would be to use as understock to graft the blue form onto. Evergreen, remotely similar to Cryptomeria. It is native to the western slopes of California's Sierra Nevada. So you see, three distinct species with variable traits and cultural requirements. They should not be lumped together into one query. BTW, citing an old thread from the Conifer Forum hardly qualifies as research. It is nothing more than a series of anectdotal observations, just like all GardenWeb forums. Sam

When we were looking sears carried nearly all the amana fridges. They may not have the ss on in stock but they would most likely have the same fridge, just different color for you too look at. My MIL has an amana bottom freezer. I like it and would have bought it if it fit in my kitchen. I don't think that the interior is any better/worse than my maytag. The amana is actually set up better, but that is probably because it has a bottom freezer, mine is a top freezer. I think they are a great unit for the price. Make sure you are getting SS though and not SS "look". We saw a lot of fridges that had SS "look" and it is plastic coated with a SS paint. I think Amana made a fridge like that. So I would just double check. It actually looked very nice, but if you already have SS in your kitchen it will not match. -renee

Yeah, the ones from the '70s were the worst for energy consumption. They were being built with thinner insulation than earlier models, and the '70s were when they got the idea to install heating wires around the door edges to keep the units from sweating along with heaters in the freezer. A good clue when gaugeing the age of appliances is to look at the color trends they have. When was the last time you bought anything new that had dark, fake woodgrain as part of the look on an appliance? A BF I once had recently, went out and bought a W/D set "that were only four years old" he said, but he did not think it was odd that they came in Harvest Gold. True story. I told him they were at least 30-40 years old and he thought I was nuts judging an appliance by the color. I can't believe that even a guy, would not know color trends by manufacturers over the decades, even taking into account that guys are not into 'decorating'. Harvest gold. Four years old. Hhahaha. Here is a link that might be useful: '70's color scheme

I have one with the 'stretched-out arms', your first picture, is called Cupressus nootkatensis 'Pendula'. It is about 25 ft tall and grows well. I have also one of the very slim types, is Cupressus nootkatensis 'Van den Akker', is only 6 ft and looks OK, but is growing only very slowly. Another slim one with the name Cupressus nootkatensis 'Strict Weeping' lost its top possibly at its graft the first year and is growing very slowly from its base, but still looks interesting. I thought my zone 5 is too cold, but published limit is -30 F, so who knows. I have none of the round compact ones, but why would you have one of those when you can have one like your picture #1 shows? Bernd