Maybe it's 'Black and Blue', Pat? Or maybe 'Victoria' (a.k.a. 'Victoria Blue')? My officinalis has never bloomed for me, but maybe this is the year! :) Geez, you must have really messed up your knee Westelle! What happened?! (I have 2 bad knees, so I feel your pain! :D) Not sure about cutting back the butterfly bush now, Leslie. I usually whack mine back to 18" in late winter/early spring. My pansies are pretty thrashed, too. Farewell, happy darlings! I'm excited about planting some more Portulaca this year, since mine don't reliably reseed. Talk about a happy plant, especially in full, hot sun with little water! The last few days I've planted a Berberis thunbergii 'Crimson Pygmy' (Japanese barberry), Callistemon viminalis 'Little John' (weeping bottlebrush), Calylophus 'Southern Belle' (sundrops), and Caryopteris x clandonensis 'Dark Knight' (blue mist). Today, I need to get a couple more things in the ground - Coreopsis grandiflora 'Early Sunrise' and Juniperus sabina 'Buffalo'. Then I'll only have about 8 or 9 more to deal with. LOL I love getting my nails dirty, though! Most of the Salvias you'll find at Lowes will do great in full sun, I think. I'm hoping they get some 'Black and Blue' soon, so Mom can pick one up! She always leaves drool trails on mine when she visits. LOL Brenda

Forgive me if my message is a little disjointed, I just lost my second baby and had to have another D&C and am not quite "with it" yet. I know someone who refused to do the HRT thing because of concerns over the risks of it, and I seem to recall her mentioning the cream form of progesterone. She recommended it to me to help w/ ovulation and it really worked, and she told me that she had used it too, but I think it was during menopause that she used it. (The dr had given me the pill form of artificial Progesterone to help my body ovulate and I hated the very harsh side effects. The natural form cream had none of those side effects, was very easy to use, and the container was still not empty after the few months I used it. My first D&C seemed to jump-start regulating my ovulation,making the cream unnecessary.) (I am unsure of what one needs to replace during menopause so I apologize in advance if I misunderstood what she was telling me and progesterone is not needed then.) I paid a hefty price at a health store for the cream but recently saw it at a WalMart in the vitamin section. I didn't look at it closely so I don't know if the quality was the same as what I had used or not. The same woman recommended the book "What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Menopause" by Dr. John Lee. (Yes, I wrote that down; you never know when info like that may come in handy for someone. Case in point--this message!) Hope this is of some help.

Dirtygardener, Your Pond Branch Community that you left is exactly like it is here, same miles, I'm 7 driving miles from Floral City (lots closer as the crow flies) and 15 miles plus from everything else. All the neighbor land plots are 5, 10, 15, & 20 acres or more. There are a few grandfathered 2.5 acre lots, but very few. I bought my 10 acres back in the 70's thinking to retire here. We had a Doublewide MFG. Home put in here as most of the area is MFG. Homes. We also have a house in Apopka on a postage stamp lot which was my wife's daddy's home. She inherited it when he passed a few years back. There is no way I could live there in a HMO with no yard whatever and nosy neighbors. When I go to check up on the house they descend like mocking birds all squawking at the same time at my minimal maintenance. They just fuel my rage for HMO's. Amberroses, I'm finding 10 acres is a heck of a lot of land to manage for an old guy in his 70's. It seems to be taking forever to accomplish what I have in my mind for here. I cut a few trees and clean undergrowth each winter and push the jungle back a bit each year but it's taking longer than expected because I cannot work in the summer's heat. I haven't even started with floral plants as yet due to their maintenance would cut into my land clearing time. The only plants I've put in is my orchard trees as they need time to grow and fruit. Corar, I hear you on the economy keeping us limited on our endeavors. I wanted to build a real house here but settled for a MFG. Home because of the cost difference and I was able to build my barn with the savings. I also bought a leftover 2 year old unused FEMA trailer for very cheap from the Govt. and I use it as guest house for when the kids come to visit. The grand-kids love it and think they are camping at grandpa's farm. Lou

I feel better today,but I also have dialysis today sooooooo its never ending it seems.It seems theres soo many here with health problems. Thank you for thinking of me. I amnot on the list yet.But if a family member or someone else were to donate a kidney I could have transplant now.No one in Immediate family can donate.So I wait.The dr said if no family member donates its a 3-4 year wait for a kidney,just not sure I can wait 3-4 years,Im having anxiety attacks at dialysis now.I lose my breathe and they need to put oxygen on.Its tough.Ive been there now it will be 9 mo.