Thanks, both of you. Yes, her husband is very interested in keeping the garden up. He's an avid vegetable gardener, but since Terry did the flowers, he was afraid of getting overzealous with weeding and pulling the wrong thing. He's a hard worker by nature, but he really poured on the energy to help get the garden ready for the tour. All that perfect edging...... Except for some trees, none of what you see was there when they bought the property (which includes a pond) many years ago. All those plantings are in raised beds that they created. They did an extraordinary job. I don't know how long the friends will help to maintain the garden at that level, but they seem to be a dedicated bunch.

Dan, Thanks for all the great photos. It's always fun to see how you are building your garden. I really like some of the conifers posted in the gallery. The Abies lasiocarpa is excellent, although I was surprised at the slow growth rate that you are getting with it- I wonder if it will accelerate with a little more age. Also love the 'Gebelle's golden spring'. Totally agree with your opinion on Ginkgos- I find them somehow fascinating, can not wait for mine to get some more age to them. Please excuse me for not popping up some pics right now- I would rather wait until the candles have stopped extending and new growth has fully pushed. shannon

Wow. It's been a long time since I've been on the forums here and Dave's Garden. It was an e-mail I received from Foxfire that led me to look for something on DG where I found sanannie's note about dear, sweet Papou's passing, which absolutely breaks my heart. I have spent a while now here reading through all of these threads with the kind thoughts and special memories so many of us have of Papou and his hostas. I, too, have fond memories of my short visit with Papou, Therese, and Brenda (wholyhosta). It seems that I was one of the fortunate ones that got to meet him in person, and it was a delightful visit! He and Therese were on their way back home from Florida. There are quite a few hosta nurseries in my area, so he had contacted me to set up a stop here in North Carolina to meet me and acquire some new hostas to take back home. Brenda drove up from Georgia to participate in the fun! I have a Liberty and Choo Choo Train in my hosta bed that were gifts from Papou that day. We got them at Hosta Farm, which is no longer in business. I am going to move those hostas both to a more prominent location and change the names to remember Papou. I know that Papou has a special place in Heaven, and I look forward to seeing him there one day. Angie

I found out why Julian Lennon wasn't there. "Well, let me see here. IâÂÂll do a little roundabout. So there were talks about the whole Grammy thing, being involved or being part of that. It was all a bit mad and trying to get information out of that scenario was like blood from a stone. WhoâÂÂs playing what, everybody was keeping schtum about whoâÂÂs doing this, that, and the other. And I live in Europe anyway, not that I canâÂÂt get on a plane, but it was like if IâÂÂm going to be involved in any way, shape or form then I need to come out there for rehearsals. Like I said, blood from a stone. At the end of it I said, âÂÂYou know what, IâÂÂm just gonna wish you all well. Have a great time. I love you dearly, but uhâ¦â Another thing I wanted to do was stand in the audience, you know, clapping with the audience (laughs), watching other people sing Beatles songs (laughs)? For me it would be Celebs Do Beatles Karaoke Night. I donâÂÂt need to see that (laughs). IâÂÂm not being rude. That whole thing is not my cup of tea. IâÂÂm just not wired that way. Again, I wish them well. I just think events like that can be�"not saying that it is because I havenâÂÂt seen the performances yet�"can be a little on the cheese factor side. I prefer to know The Beatles as they were, when they were. There can never be a reunion anyway so I just thought IâÂÂll send them my love, wish them well, hope they have a great time."