I think it just depends. You might get lucky. Over the last 6 years or so every garden mum I have selected from my local nursery (not a box store) in the fall has overwintered for me. I plant them in pots in the front in early fall and transplant some of them in late fall to various parts of the yard. I have yellow ones, orange ones, cream-colored ones, bright wine & deep burgandy ones, and even a pink one (gift) that doesn't fit with my orangish brick. It's getting to look like a circus here. One year I bought 2 large yellow ones for pots in the front yard and added 2 small matching ones for my tiny porch. At the end of the season I transplanted one of the large ones into the yard and pulled out the rest. The following spring I found that the 2 small ones had been overlooked in the fall cleanup and were lying on the ground with their bare rootballs up in the air along the side of the front walkway. Both of them had fresh green growth at the base so I planted them in the ground and still have them to this day. Obviously my local nursery only stocks really hardy mums!

Pieter, Nematodes do travel through wet soil and hibernate in soil. They do need plant tissue to live. This is why I suggest that when hostas are determined to have a virus that "nematacides" be used in conjuction with killing the plant (removing the required source of food). Perhaps a better way to approach the problem would be to perform the nematode testing to determine whether they are evident first. In many cases Nematode damage is readily determined by characteristic elongated brown streaks. If there is no nematode infection then using an insecticide would still be a good idea as it would be difficult to determine the thrip or other insect population and spraying would be "cheap insurance" to prevent transmission to other plants. In any event a combination of a non-HVX virus with nematode or thrip infection would be a difficult situation. I think these are the only practical ways to approach the problem. Extensive and expensive laboratory testing may or may not determine the virus or other disease involved, but that still leaves the problem of treating it when the plant is in a bed which you are trying to preserve. I don't know of any other prudent next step other than killing the plant, in situ, and ensuring it is completely dead. Killing it before taking steps to address nematode or thrips first or concurrently will speed up the spread as we know that nematodes or thrips live on tissue and killing / removing the plant alone will simply cause them to go elsewhere. If the action where taken with ground freezing immenent, then your suggested scenario of hybernating nematodes infecting new plantings may be possible. I think this would be a very unusual and improbable situation as hostas would be dying off before any real ground freezing. There are no over-the counter approved nematacides, however cholinesterase, the ingredient in Bayer Systemic is listed as a nematacide and might work as well as anything available to the homeowner. Of course bleach and ammonia will kill them undiluted, but the problem of how much to use and preventing damage to neighboring plants is a big problem. Spraying with a 10% solution of ammonia is done for slug control, so this might be an option to help. I simply don't know of any sure-fire nematode control other than professional treatment. Jon

What you have are oak caps. From the other side of the room, if you have bad eyesight, it will look like carpet going up the middle of a full oak step. If you are a perfectionist, you won't be happy. If cost is your main consideration, then be happy with it. Over the years I've seen oak caps installed with varying success. What would really help yours is a piece of wood, cut on a table saw, into a triangle shape, and nailed to where the nose of the stair would be, with the top sticking out further than the bottom. Does that make sense? Bob

I like your vanity, but also get an uncomfortable feeling about white tile with your sleek countertop and integrated sink. The issue is, I think, that the countertop and vanity are so starkly simple, and most tiles have a lot of geometry going on with the grout lines and all. What about a very large matte-finish rectified porcelain or stone tile in a dark bone color with minimal grout lines? Use that for the floor and tub deck to keep the ultra-simple thing going. For the sides of your tub suround, I'd do the same diagonal-veneer woodwork stained to match your vanity as closely as possible.