The newer editions are useful (the ones with the color drawings of the plants), but what has struck me is how little some of the plant descriptions have changed over the years. I have some old editions (like the one with the sprial binding) and the wording of some plant descriptions has not changed since that time. Of course many more plants have been added along with new information and I just point this out as an interesting sidelight in general. The book is a valuable resource for gardeners. My copies usually have dirt smudges on some pages.

I got the seeds Heather! Thak you so much! Sorry it has taken so long for me to get back to you! I thought I had sent you an email when they arrived. I'm planning the winter sowing and early starts for next year's garden already. Will start winter sowing soon!

Marilyn, we were in Tucson in 1979, the Sonora Desert Museum was incredible even back then. They didn't have their Hummingbird exhibit then :o( but we thoroughly enjoyed what they did have, I could have spent all day there. We also saw part of the filming of 'The Gambler' at old Tucson, went into the caves, that was an eery experience when they turned the lights out for a minute. I thought I saw a Anna's this summer when the Rufus were here but couldn't say for sure as it was here and gone so quickly I didn't get a good look. The Anna's for a very long time were only found in a very small area of the city but now seem to be spreading out into other neighborhoods. These little gems don't migrate so now that we have them we will make sure there's fresh food for them at all times...Annette

I've been waiting for my contractor to come back from his other "small" project for 10 days now. He left for a week while we were waiting for the cabinets to arrive, one week has turned into almost 3. We have had our kitchen ripped apart and have been living out of boxes with no progress on our kitchen. He's supposed to show up tomorrow morning - we'll see what happens. Not to rain on your parade sumnerfan :) I hope you get to come home from work and see some progress!