awww, so happy about everyone's bees! And bless you, Rita and Iris! Yesterday I only got through the 1st 3 posts and as soooooon as I read Rita's borage, I immediately googled because since my last post on how to balance a garden organically, many had recommended several herbs and borage was a completely new one...and then I dropped everything and drove like mad to the all! the nurseries and garden centers near me to try to find Rita's and Mr. Bumblebee's borage... I haven't been able to find any yet and sites say to plant in early spring but I am definitely going to be ordering seeds for next year! And the whole day yesterday I was doing a happy bumblebee buzzing dance. After I got back from 3 borage searches at various garden centers, I planted my herbs, verona, meadow sage/salvia until 9:00 p.m.! (all that's left is my bee baum, have to transplant my 3 lavender because of the gladiolus, and my catnip and 3 lilies) Then when I visited my parents later that evening to share some cake with them, every word out of my mouth was bumblebee, bumblebee. And the hilarious part is that besides roses I love gourmet cooking (am a real fan of Iron Chef of America), but I can't bear to eat any of my herbs lol! I want to save every single leaf and flower for Mr. Bumblebee... And look what a tempting treat this borage cupcake would be... and would I ever eat Mr. Bumblebee's flowers????? no way! Rita, I can't even begin to tell you how excited I'll be once I get the chance to plant this flowering borage for fuzzy-wuzzy koochy-woochy super Cute-to-the-max Bumblebee....

OK, we'll work on it Mike, and you can post pictures. Ecologystudent's will be easy. Get your new containers ready with a good, coarse, porous mix in the bottom and a pile ready for backfill. Remove the tree from the container and gently shake out as much of the existing potting medium as possible. You can poke and prod at the root ball, it won't scream. Some suggest that you wash all of the soil off, but I don't do that. Lay the plant down on a cutting surface and remove at least 1/4 to 1/3 of the roots from the bottom. Watch out for all the blood! (just kidding) You might find, when you shake them up a bit, that you can simply hold up the plant in one hand and take a pair of sharp scissors to the bottom most roots. This will be more like a quick trim off the bottom rather than the slicing that is required for a more developed root system. Repot immediately into the new container with the fresh, porous mix. Water thoroughly. Watering should always be done on an 'as-needed- basis, as Mike says. Even in ground plantings shouldn't be tied to some sort of arbitrary calendar schedule. Container grown plants will vary in their watering needs depending upon lots and lots of factors, such as type of container, type of potting medium, size of the plant compared to container, health and vigor of plant, time of year, temperature, humidity, blah, blah. Use your fingers to judge when watering is required. When it is time to water, do so generously. Little sips are detrimental to the root/soil system. Don't let newly root pruned plants dry out too much between drenchings. Give them a few weeks to get caught up.

Thanks! Good question about the bulbs, Oceanna. I had the same issue with the last one and it was impossible to clean as well. This one should be easier to clean. I should be able to change the bulbs using an 8 foot ladder. They needed a huge a-frame 12 foot ladder to install it. Kitchenkelly, thanks. I absolutely love the floors. Of all the things I've done it is my absolute favorite and I never have doubts about them at all - pure joy! It's funny how the look of the house has developed. I like the richness of it, but it probably wouldn't be my first choice. I think it is the best look for the house and working with the stained woodwork. I did tell my DH the other day that in another house or with painted woodwork, I probably would have gone in a lighter direction. Overall, with what I am working with, I am pleased. Thanks. I assume you still love your floors as well. I just saw the pictures on the Before and After thread and what a transformation. The change is amazing in your house! Gorgeous!

1. Your house has great bones. It would look beautiful in any color. I'm advocating preserving the brick, though, because using that brick color was integral to the design of the house, is more appropriate for the era, and also because you can't get that brick anymore. It's historic & perhaps even rare. It's a golden color with a lot of depth & character, looks good no matter what the season, has a natural earthiness to it, and makes the house fit in with the land. And when the sun shines on it, it exudes a warm glow that's just so homey and lovely. 2. The Great Painted Brick Debate: caroleoh brings up a controversial post from last year about a house with gorgeous brick that the owner wanted to paint. The issues with that house were different though. The brick was only on the front, with vinyl siding on the rest of the house. The house looked nice...from one angle. The house looked disjointed from all other views. Also, the windows on that house were awful: unattractive vinyl windows, placed badly too (a lot of tiny windows on a massive facade). The owner especially didn't like how the windows were so prominent. The dark brick, though lovely, just made the bad windows jump out at you. She wanted to paint the entire house a soft, light color to unify the sides and downplay the ugly windows. She did, and it worked. There was a lot of heated argument about painting that brick, though. It was beautiful brick, but it's like the builder tried to cut costs elsewhere by using lots of vinyl, and the house ended up looking awkward for it. That pretty brick juxtaposed with all that vinyl didn't work. 3. Your example, snagd, is gorgeous. Your house could probably wear those colors & accessories very well, and I really can understand why you'd want to "update" the look of the house. In lots of cases, that works for the better. But I feel strongly that pretty old houses like yours are a dying breed. People "update" them or tear them down merely because of fashion. Here you have this exquisite historical home with authentic colors and design, all of which are still fabulous & beautiful. But you want something else, and want to make superficial changes that will destroy the historic character of the home, and perhaps the neighborhood too. (I'm saying all this without anger, btw, just trying to present a reasonable case for historic preservation.) Besides, if you clean the brick instead of painting it, you'll have more $$$ for the interior & landscaping :)