My most recent Vintage order is being shipped today and I am going to do yet another......One thing that encouraged me is that a friend and I went to the wonderful Naconiche Gardens in a town near me.....they have the most marvelous display gardens and every unusual plant you could imagine. It was a paradise - the people were knowledgable, friendly - and the display gardens you could walk around in and drool over for hours. Well......we drove up and the signs were taken down, the nursery closed, the stock sold and the beautiful display gardens neglected. I wanted to cry. I went to another local nursery that I like and found out they closed 2 months ago [2 hurricanes and a couple of horse shows kept me from going]. Everything went for half price. Another nursery closed in the same town. Vintage Gardens is a pearl without price. I cant imagine what rose lovers would do without this nursery. I am spending my rose money with them, building a garden just for Vintage bands. I am so happy to hear others are buying from them, hopefully it will be enough to keep them open. Who knows what will happen to the economy, but I dont know of another nursery that offers what Vintage does. Thanks to all who have stepped up to the plate and ordered. Judith

After buyong daylilies this spring, I swore I wouldn't get any more LOL. I just ordered 10 more from a local nursery that is having a 50% off sale. Most of these were now $4-8, I just couldn't pass that up. I ordered: Always Afternoon Belle Isle Bandit Best Kept Secret Chance Encounter Eggplant Escapade Mephistopheles Oliver Dragon Tooth Peach Magnolia Smokey Mountain Autumn Hush Little Baby. I've seen your pictures of most of these but does anyone have Oliver Dragon Tooth or Belle Isle Bandit? Would like to hear how it performs for you. Thanks. Marg

Hi PG! I don't feel so bad now. I just paid $35 & $20 for two carnosas, both were in 15 in hanging buckets, the larger was over 4 ft long I incorporated them both into the same pot with a rebar trellis it turned out really nice looking. He was asking $50 for the smaller and $65 for the larger. I told him the larger was worth easilly $100. Anyone want some carnosa cuttings off of a really old plant? I had to take quite a bit off to get them on the trellis and in the pot I wanted them in. Pictures coming soon :) With those deals I felt like I got took when I payed $20 for a hindu rope with one branch 3 ft long and two about 8 inches, and $10 for a 6 in pot of KP. I choked down $10 each for a rooted foot long stem of Rhipsalis edwaldiana and about a 4 in rooted stem of variegated hindu rope. I thought $95 was a good price for all.

If you're thinking Arts & Crafts bungalow, you can always look to some of the originals, many of which now have painted trims (though honestly I *wish* more of them still had their original stained trim, ours included!) It was also very common to paint trim and cabinetry (and thus use "lower grade" wood, which in those days meant redwood or fir instead of oak) in the kitchen, bath, and bedrooms and have stained trim and casework in the dining and living rooms, and that worked fine. That might be a way to manage costs while still getting the look you love. And I've seen some gorgeous kitchen remodels using cherry or fir cabinets with painted white trim and white built-ins that mix it up a bit in houses where the trim had already been painted but people didn't want white kitchens (and didn't want the cost of replacing original trim!) Fir in particular is one of my faves with soapstone, though it is a soft wood so it will ding. We also have a painted gray and white kitchen, which mixes it up a bit in a different way. There's no rule that painted cabs must be white---and honestly, a lot of the reason that listings for houses of that age have painted cabinets (especially white) is that it's a very easy way to clean up and "modernize" older cabinets for resale. (At least, that happens a lot where we live---people paint and put on new counters to sell an older kitchen.) Some of those were probably put in as stained kitchens, but had woods that aren't "trendy" these days and thus dated the kitchens. I love our painted kitchen, but if we'd had the resources, we would have seriously considered QS oak or fir (even the fir was far more costly than our paint-grade poplar). I'd be sure you're okay with the tradeoff before switching gears.