I usually leave everything until the spring, but last spring, I promised myself that I would cut down as much as possible in the fall. I find that I had too much to do in the spring and it all looks so ugly until I get it cleaned up. I am wanting to try for the best, prettiest spring garden that I have had so far. Plants that I have and will leave until spring, are what has already been mentioned. I have lost Buddleia in a year I cut it back in the fall. Perovskia, lavenders, ornamental grasses and anything that is only hardy to my zone 6. I used to leave plants to overwinter for the birds, but I watch the birds all the time and never see them go near the dead perennials after the fall anyway. I don't think we have that much that interests them. I have no experience with cutting back plants that are still green/growing. I did however purchase a Hardy Hibiscus last year from Mahoney's in the fall and they had already cut them all back to ground level in their pots, before a freeze. pm2

Pennys2006, I hope your bulb will be successful. I also buy new bulbs all the time to make sure I get nice, big flowers... Though I must admit, I overdid it, so I am full of bulbs now, and there is not enough day in the calendar to plant them all, and enjoy. :o) But I just crossed Benfice with Milady, and it seems like other crosses were successful, so I am getting a lot of seeds... Where is it gonna stop? I guess, I will start selling bulb kits on ebay in a few years. :o)

Thank you so much for your responses. Everything is so much better now that our Christmas decorations are down, and we have carried out the coverings that we had on the doors and windows. Graywings, you are correct about the colds and allergies. I teach Spanish in a high school and feel like I have to talk, especially to prepare my students for finals. That means that I push a cough to its limits, then get upset when it won't go away in a couple of days. Graywings, jenathegreat, jcrowley, and lindac (I love your names), I thought I would give a try with the dog thing. I belong to three golden retriever sites, and that is a hot topic on each one. The dogs are about 80 pounds, and love to dig. They are loaded with fur even on their paws. I don't know why it is so hard to cut on the under side of the paws, but it is. That means that they dig, play, dig, play, run inside and track the mud on the tile. Our yard is fenced, and they come and go as they please. If I were a good housekeeper, there would be no problem, but I think that once a week is enough to clean the floors. Besides the dogs we humans also play with them in the yard, and walk with them. We all end up tracking in mud and dirt. After I sweep the floor, it is really dirty. I have stopped carrying big buckets, so I have gone to the towel thing. We do have a steam vac, but I have to pour water in it, and change it constantly. I just thought I would ask. Lindac, that is interesting about your white pan. I often chip off the black residue from our logs. Our fireplace is vented, and there is no problem with the gas line, but the artificial logs are black if I don't take off the residue. The candle wax was odor was on all the comforters and the flannel sheets we had over the windows and doors. I can still smell it, but it isn't as bad as it was. After I posted here, my daughter looked up candle soot, and told me how potent it is. We burned every candle we could find, and even bought some more. I kept setting votives in containers that had burned down, so I have no idea what I was burning. I was so angry and frustrated that it would never have occurred to me to cut a wick. I will remember that. I appreciate your taking the time to post, and you have given me some helpful information. Thanks. Sammy

I got a very nice 750gb serial ATA drive for $60 from Amazon in Feb 2010. A place called JDMadera on ebay sells a removable drive carriage for it for $13. Buy the two and you can put in and out that or any drive (serial) or get one each, serial / parallel and pop in / out any drive. This will give you free space and help you manage your data , safely, with a way to store it if you want it safe. Look on gogle for any 'file I can delete safely'. Don't take it's word for it. read and undersand before you do anything. However anything with a tmp at the end of the filename is OK to delete. If you're unsure do this: RAR or ZIP up all of the files that are .tmp files from any one directory so that when you later unzip them they can all go back to that same directory. Makes housekeeping easy.. Then after zipping or rarring them delete them (not the rar or zip file of course). If after a month or two you don't seem to need them of course then delete them. That's a method to help you save space. But I'd spend the $60 or $75 and get the peace of mind of having backup, safety, and anew thinking process to help you manage what will ALWAYS bea a constant problem Good luck. Andre