Though I prefer the neutral Ms. to Miss or Mrs., I have a strong preference to Ma'am over Miss when addressed by strangers (though "no title" is equally polite (and sometimes more so) up north). This preference came about after I studied the history of the words Madame and Mademoiselle (precursors to Ma'am and Miss) in French. During the Ancien Regime, all women (married or not) of lower class were addressed as Mademoiselle. You could marry a baker, but he didn't have the clout necessary to make you a Madame. All women of the aristocracy, married or not, were Madame. This custom is one of the many that changed after the French Revolution. These days, it's customary to vary the title according to perceived age or presumed marital status, both of which are dangerous assumptions to make. Though French actresses tend to favor Mademoiselle all their careers. Sara's news of the change is interesting (and welcome.) Me? I'll just take "ma'am" and be happy with it. But one must be careful throwing out "ma'ams" in Wisconsin. "Hey you!" or "Excuse me!" are usually safer bets. Not every salutation is received with the same perceived respect with which it is given. But then much of the point of this thread is that women today prefer to be respected for who they are, and not who they marry. It seems there was not always a distinction between these two concepts...

You know what's funny--I thought the picture I posted was just similar to the house I'd seen, but today I was in Cambridge and drove by the house in question, and it is the SAME house in the picture! Can't believe I didn't recognize it as the same. I didn't see it at its peak with all the flowers blooming at once, so it looked a little different. So I can confirm as of this afternoon that the border in the picture alternates lady's mantle, salvia, and catmint. You can see a little catmint behind the salvia. Since some of you say that you have had success with May Night salvia in part shade, I'm thinking I might try the lady's mantle, salvia, catmint combo with some variegated hostas at the shadier ends, and maybe some campanulas and balloon flower to provide extra color.

It's interesting how all this information gets distributed :-) First, English lavender isn't English at all - it originated from the Mediterranean area, just like all the other species. It is adapted to a maritime, mediterranean climate which England has - cool summers with low humidity and mild, damp winters. And like all other forms of lavender, it should be cut back at least annually. Not doing so does not increase hardiness but it does allow the plant to become leggy and splay outward, developing that gnarly, woody interior. Like heathers and other woody-based subshrubs, the more regularly it is trimmed, the more compact and dense the plant becomes and with the production of more flowering stems. The lavender fields of Provence are indeed lavandin, the common name for Lavandula x intermedia, a cross between L. angustifolia and L. latifolia or spike lavender. This hybrid tends to produce tall flower spikes with very high concentrations of essential oils, which makes this type of lavender very important to the perfume industry. Generally, dividing lavender is a risky situation. Since it is technically considered to be an evergreen shrub (or subshrub) rather than herbaceous perennial, it forms a woody trunk, usually just a single stem emerging from the root crown. And while I'm not saying it cannot be done, division is not a guaranteed successful means of propagation for any woody-based plant. Cuttings are the more accepted means of propagation and are generally the most successful method. Success in growing lavender outside of its typical climate range is variable. It is more cold hardy than many suspect, with the exception of a few very tender species but it does have certain requirements that will increase winter hardiness - extremely sharp drainage, lean soil (not overly organic) and as much sun as possible. Snow cover during winter is actually an excellent means of winter protection. And I would avoid cutting back too soon and beyond where new growth shows in spring. It is very easy to prune an established lavender too hard and it will generally respond by not growing back well, if at all. Very young plants (typically less than 3 y.o.) can appear to die back to the ground in winter in colder climates, much the same as some other woody-based subshrubs do (caryopteris, petrovskia, etc), but provided the above cultural conditions are met, it will be root hardy and re-emerge in spring. And if you are wondering why I appear to be such a know-it-all about lavender (lol!!), I did a thesis on it in college and the Pacific Northwest is the largest commercial lavender growing area outside of southern France :-) Here is a link that might be useful:

Salvia coccinea has naturalized in so many parts of the tropics and sub-tropics, it is hard to tell exactly where it first arose. The best guess is somewhere around Sao Paulo or Rio de Janiero in Brazil. Its only close relative is Salvia subrotunda, found near Belo Horizonte further inland.