If you love Tropicana and live on a sunny property in New Jersey I know of no reason why you shouldn't plant it and enjoy it! I grow Fragrant Cloud in a bed that only gets morning sun ten miles north of Boston. It doesn't bloom as vigorously as it would in a sunnier spot, but the flowers really pop out against the shaded area behind them (that is the reason why the plant is shaded in the afternoon). (NO. Fragrant Cloud's NOT "coral red"! The upper petal surface color is more scarlet orange than "coral red" (at least in my climate!) The petal undersides are a bit more coral pink, but the overall affect is most definitely STILL scarlet orange!) If you also love the dark crimsons I also assume you're considering Mr. Lincoln (although you'll probably want to plant three of them close to each other to make the overall garden appearance of them a bit more bushy/shrubby), Chrysler Imperial, and New Yorker?

Glenda, Brenda & Janie, et al: Glad you took the tour. Thank you for being so kind. Come over for a stroll any time! I went out about an hour ago and pulled weeds that had taken over one of my new paths. All that nice loose, cultivated soil was a perfect bed for airborne seeds and those that had escaped from other areas via wind, water or bird droppings. There were Sunflowers, Dayflowers, Phlox, Coreopsis, various kinds of thistle type plants, & wild grasses, but most of it was Lamb's Quarters. Sheesh! They had run amok when we had all that rain. I sheared it back first with my ling handled hedge sheers so I could see there were no snakes hiding in it, and then began pulling it all out. Phew! What a job. I filled a wheel barrow full - heaping! The cats frolicked in and out, delighted with the new play area Marmie made for them. :] Earlier this morning, I wet down the lawns and the weed and feed was spread. Haven't done that in many years, but the weeds had taken over, especially the Goathead stickers, so it had to be done. It makes the prettiest clover like leaves and THEN, the dainty little yellow blooms turn into those horrible stickers! So painful. So, be gone demons! I don't have my roses all in one area, so it doesn't always show that I have as many as I actually do, but I am continuously adding more to the garden. Yes, I grow my flowers, herbs, and vegetables from seeds, starts (slips), and cuttings, including roses and shrubs. I bought this place in August 1996. It was just Bermuda grass, weeds, poison ivy and a few big elm trees and 2 ancient oak trees. There was one large clump of old-fashioned lilacs in the front yard and two small Colorado Aspens along the driveway. (the former owner was originally from Colorado). That's why I refer to this place as my "little house on the prairie", because that's what it was back then. Hot and dry and definitely NOT ME. The soil here is sandy with a dense under-layer of hard, red sandstone rock. In many places the pitiful soil was only 4 to 6 inches deep before I hit rock. What was here was struggling to survive. A few areas have red clay under the sand. The soil was so shallow that I had to use a maddox and pick-axe to chop out the rock deep enough to plant things. Not the best growing conditions. I began piling on oak leaves and manures from the neighbor's pasture to build up the soil level. Jeez! I got a wood chipper two years later, and that added a lot of chopped leaves and branches to the soil building, but I can't operate it anymore and it needs a new bag besides. I am an avid composter. I have a rabbit and that is great stuff - you can add that directly without fear of it burning. I have to compost the chicken manure for a year before it can be used. I use to hop the barbed wire fence to the neighboring pasture and collect buckets and buckets of horse and cow manure, then composted it all summer and added that in the fall. Can't hop the fence anymore. (Waaah). Then I started getting manure hay from 4-H barns and the county fair barns where they piled it outside for anyone to get. I even cleaned out someone's barn one summer for the hay manure. Never again! They hadn't cleaned it out in years. It was good stuff, but what a hot, itchy chore. And the snakes! Yikes! I also found a dandy place where a nearby city dumped all their wood chips and it was free for the taking, so I was able to go there and get loads in my little pick-up. They closed it two years later. Then I found a supply at a little garden nursery about three years ago and got one big load, but I cannot do that kind of work anymore. I did get a huge pile of wood chips from the electric co-op one year when they were out here clearing trees away from the power lines. That was great stuff too. I used it in my paths too. The next year I called and they said I had to sign up for it because there were so many people requesting it. So, I did, but it has been two years. I called them to see if they had forgotten me, but no, I was still on the list...moving up, but not to the top yet. Good grief! Two years ago I started adding peat to the soil so I could grow more varieties of plants and boy did that help. Great stuff Maynard! Now I mostly fight the weeds and grasses, but I have to continuously add to the soil as it depletes very quickly. This sandy soil leaches out fast, so I have to water every day unless it rains a lot. Even with all the rains we got this spring, I still had to go out and water. The topsoil would be dry within a few hours after the rain stopped. It has been a lot of hard work, but I love the results. ~Annie

I tried to take a pic, but darn it, getting the camera to focus on a fine, clear thread is impossible. PG, the "webs" are EXACTLY as you describe. Now I'm nearly positive it's not bug related, because when I blow on the "threads" they shatter and fly away. Spider mite webs won't do that----they stick like glue. It's weird though, cuz some of the string things can be up to 3/4 of an inch long, and it's enough to give a paranoid plant girl a heart attack!

You may be past the point of decision, but I thought I'd chime in just in case. I am also growing out my hair, and I was a hairdresser for twenty years. Growing out is almost always a pain. My suggestion is if you have gone this far, hang in there. You can always cut it later if you decide it isn't what you thought it would be. About style. I've done the short bob thing like you are doing in the past and this time I have been keeping it in long layers as the top grows out. I have found this MUCH easier to deal with that a really short bob, and as soon as I had a little ponytail I started clipping it up. For awhile I flipped it out and now it is long enought to flip or go under. This is in part due to the fact that I look rotten in a short bob and much better with layering. I just want to say I will never have short hair again. I'll be a little old lady with a bun :-) You can get a short look with putting it up especially if you have layers around the front...well, not quite the same, but I love the practicallity of putting it up. About those bangs... A small amount left long and swept to the side is in. No POOFY bangs. I add that because of your age. I am 44 and had "big" hair and it was hard getting away from it :-) All that being said...there are some people that just look great with short hair, and if you are one of them and it makes you happy go for it. I have to say I love feeling more girrly with it a little longer though. Everyone always told me my short hair looked great too, but I like it longer! As far as flattness, some of that may have to do with your style in the past and what you are use to. Kind of like when you stop getting perms! I have found that as my hair grows out I really like using velcro rollers and a heat set spray. After spraying get the velcros really hot with the hairdryer and then let them cool completely. This will give you MUCH more volume and may even be too big at first. You just have to play with the roller size and placement and see what works for you. This works great for me at this point, and lasts all day if I use a little Paul Mitchell Freeze and Shine in it (it holds but you can still run your fingers through it when dry to break up the frozen hair look. Heat sets sprays are different and you may have to experiment with your hair to find the best one for your style. Remember that when you set hair do it in a similar manner that you dry...for example if you hold the hair up in the crown, or pull the top forward set it the same. This will give you the fullness.