Sabrina, The best advice that I should give to you is contact your local agricultural extension office. This/these network(s) of local offices are usually connected with a state University or College with agricultural programs with experts who know your local area (and related diseases/pests) the best. Additionally, I have never been charged for their services. I'm not sure where you live in CA, but this is one statewide network that may be helpful(http://ucanr.org/), its the UC Davis center hub for ag extension offices. California has excellent resources in that the agricultural industry is huge, and many experts are in the area. What I did when I suspected fire blight on a new tree is take the best pics that I could. Then I suggest that you call up the ag office and speak with a specialist, master gardener, etc and if needed, send the pictures to him/her via web. I thik that even in certain special circumstances they send people out to look at trees. I think/hope this approach will end the guesswork for you as it did for me. Best of luck. http://ucanr.org/ce.cfm or- Type this into Google: university of california davis agricultural extension office

In case you missed this one via your facebook groups: They'll select 100 written essays that are from 1,000 to 3,000 words. A modest commitment for promotion following acceptance is required. Royalties are involved. Sounds like a fun project, too. I know a member for whom I'd love to be a ghost-writer. They wouldn't need do anything but approve. I'd take excerpts from this forum. Nothing for me. Just for the joy of it. If a gardener in the US searches for "how to grow [insert vegetable]" via the major search engine, one of ours is likely to hit the top of the search. In the world of Search Engine Optimizing (SEO), that's impressive. Here is the information for any that might like to add their contribution: "The Natural Growing and Small Farm Reader"

Sorry! Wrong forum, please ignore or got to conversations side, thanks!

Mugapoodle (nice name, I have a standard by the way): Do you have a photo of the antica with the beech? It appears to me your photo is with the cherry. I think the cherry looks great, but I kinda think the beech would look like it lost the war, compared to the intensity of antica. This is a guess based on the samples of beech I've seen. We went through a period where I was obsessed with the whites. Among the options: One of my favorites was at Cosmos called Glacier White and was quite reasonable in price. There's an Alaskan out there too. Emerald White was also reasonable and had some of the same palette as your choice. You may want to price the granite yards for some of these alternatives before deciding definitively. I started out with a smaller guy to save money, and people here made me rethink that option. Good luck!