My grandparents were mostly born not only in the US, but in Chicago before the turn of the century, unusual for our tribe. Before the Depression, my grandfather was very wealthy, and his young bride had a number of "Depression glass" pieces. They lost every penny in the Crash, and my mother grew up bewtween that and WW2 rationing. When grandma died, I asked for the glass candy dishes and crocks in ruby red and green, plus her 1920 Deco dishes. I have carried those keepsakes with me for the past 20 years, over international water, moving to new countries, new houses, you name it. I also have my paternal grandmother's soup pot, which I still use all the time; it must be at least 60-70 years old. But the most missed thing for me are the stories of my great uncle, grandma's brother. As a young Jewish boy in the 1920's, the story goes that 6 months before completing dental school, he upped and left to be a hobo and ride the rails. The family was so ashamed that they never allowed him to tell the stories, especially to us kids growing up in the 60's. He died never having told any of the family of his travels. My sisters and I always felt that this was a huge loss.

She wants an alba rose? Get Great Maiden's Blush, K�nigin von D�nemark or Felicite Parmentier Peonys are no maintenance. All you have to do is put out a peony cage in the spring and then after frost clean up foliage. And sometimes a little lime/ I don't even put up a cage. If your aunt is now in charge of your grandmother's property and doesn't want something fussy- I'd do the Bernice peony! Or FESTIVA MAXIMA, 1851, that a favorite of mine, I like the perfume. More peonies: 'Raspberry Sundae' ' Rasperberry Ice' 'Garden Parfait' 'Pink Parfait' 'Bowl of Cream' 'Candy Stripe' 'Madelon' (bred in 1922) 'Blanche King' (bred in 1922) 'Alice Harding' (bred in 1922) 'Laura Dessert' 'Suzanne Dessert' 'Candy Heart' 'Chiffon Clouds' 'Chocolate Soldier' (If she loved chocolate...this one...) 'Hot Chocolate' 'Lemon Chiffon' 'Raspberry Charm' 'Sugar 'n Spice' 'Pink Lemonade' Bleeding hearts are okay, but they die back during the summer, not that peonies are that useful during the summer either, I just like them a lot....they'll probably outlive both your aunt and yourself. Thus in a way your grandmother will live on in that house that way. All narcissus/daffodils are deer/critter resistant because they are POISONOUS. As are hyacinth and fritillary. Alliums are left alone by critters as well. Unfortunately many of the spring blooming bulbs you have to wait until autumn (you probably know this) so places that have interesting cultivars, may not have them in stock anymore....I like the white daffodil 'Thalia' Also here's a nursery that sells "chocolate" plants as in platns brown/chocolate colored or with candy/chocolate names! Here is a link that might be useful: chocolateflowerfarm

I don't like the idea of moving a Japanese Maple in summer. If you live in Texas, you are in a location that is somewhat stressful for Japanese Maples (which are native to the mountainous, alpine areas of Japan). In their native habitat, they are used to living in areas with lots of water, fairly quick-draining soil, and fairly cool temperatures. I live in the Pacific Northwest, which generally is a great climate for these trees, since we have two of the above (quick-draining soil and fairly cool temperatures) in abundance here. Ironically, what we don't have here is a lot of rain for about a 3 or 4 month period during the "dry" season (at Seattle's airport, there hasn't been measurable rain in 25 days). Living in Texas, the stresses you are going to have on a Japanese Maple are 3-fold: 1) heat 2) excess sun; and 3) wind. In siting your tree, you are going to want a location which gets a partial but not total sun exposure. It's especially important to protect the tree from the hottest sun of the afternoon. Also, ideally you want some type of "windbreak" (the house, a fence, even natural hedging or other plants) that can protect the tree from at least 1/3 of the winds it can get, preferably the strongest, prevailing winds. I have 6 different Japanese Maples in my front yard. I water them, generally, 1x a week, with a hose. They are flourishing (I have acquired all of them in the last 4 years and they all have seed pods, except for 1). I don't fertilize them. They are flourishing because they are well-sited--none of them get significant afternoon sun, and they have good wind protection (two of them have about 300% of the 360% of wind protection, for example, my house, the neighbor's house, a fence, and neighboring plants protect them from all except NE winds). Good luck. My personal preference is not to move plants in the summer, particularly in an area with a continental climate (I used to live in Wis. & Maryland)!!

in photobuck... copy the HTML code.. paste it where you type.. and on preview.. it will show up... rather than your way which takes me to your album ... otherwise.. that is a tiny pic.. and i cant really see much [and now there is a nose print on my monitor] .. in other words.. i thought it was a thumbnail.. but it wont enlarge for me ... maybe it personally hates me ... lol .. there was a recent post about this.. i will look for it.. but one thing for sure... you do NOT root a 2 to 3 foot piece .... review the link.. and see what questions you have from there... good luck.. its nearly foolproof .... ken Here is a link that might be useful: that wasnt hard.. it was less than 10- posts down ....