Hi everyone. Peppers: Leave them alone. I used to hve trouble with them too and then last year I planted a zillion b/c I always have so much trouble with bell peppers. Well, I did not amend the soil this year and I really did not water as often. I think the biggie is that before I treated them like my tomatoes. I watered the same and fed the same. Last year it dawned on me that these are a southwest native. In other words, they LIKE a lot of heat and can be on the dry side. Let them be. Esp. if you are getting lots of lush foliage but not fruit. This means you are feeding too much or the bed is too rich. This was m exp. last year and when I planted zillions, I did not need that many. I still have baggies in the freezer of them. Carrots. I have trouble with them too. I can gro beats and radishes like a magazine picture. But for some reason my carrots don't tend to do much of anything. Last year I actually had long skinny root but they did not grow like supposed to. But that was better than previous years when they sprouted nd then went kaput.

Congratulations, Turquoise! Our local weatherman won't commit to any definite forecast either, but the latest I've heard is that central WI will get the most snow between tonight and tomorrow - aren't you lucky! However, that all depends on how the wind currents flow coming out of Canada, and from the prevailing Westerlies, AND temperature. The different computer models our weatherman is looking at seem to contradict each other. We could get anywhere between 3 and 6" or more of snow, depending on so many variables. We're hoping for more rain down here (SE corner of the state) - not that we need it, but we're tired of shoveling snow! Stay safe! Julie

I've used a lot of the freebies. Softhome was my favorite since I prefer using POP/SMTP over webmail but the ones I use primarily now are all Yahoo. Never liked Hotmail, partly because I'm pretty anti-Microsoft, but there's other reasons. Gmail I find clumsy and it's been problematic with email checkers. The best spam filtering has been with Yahoo. I've had a lot of experience over the years with different accounts. For a while I had to change accounts about annually because some people who wouldn't use bcc but I've been using Yahoo now trouble-free for probably 10 year without having to change accounts. Try different ones and see what you like. I still use email checking programs for some of them so I don't have to use the webmail accounts other than occasionally I check the spam folder for something that went there erroneously.

Sharon, ramblers generally are once-bloomers whereas climbers will bloom throughout the season but there are exceptions. It would be best to read the data on HMF to be sure. Or call Pam of Angel Gardens and ask her. Pam steered me away from Lavender Lassie, saying that she doesn't bloom much here. I am in Gainesville. My most prolific hybrid musk is Prosperity but it is on R. fortuniana. None of the hybrid musks are on Dr. Manners' recommended lists for Florida so they might all be risky in your area unless grafted on R. fortuniana. Pam's own roses are all own-root but she does sell some Weeks grafted on Dr. Huey. PS I am the proud mother of 3 collies--2 roughs and 1 smooth. That makes 3 of us--Carol in Oregon, myself, and you. I wonder what it is about collies and roses. We like to surround ourselves with beautiful things!