Believe it or not, we DO get frost here in the little corner of Paradise called east Central Florida. I've been battlin' spider mites, drought...you name it...have several cuttings from Karyn that are doing well, plus three cuttings that I took from my own NOIDS (aka Christine, Breezy and Debby...my own names!)...today I repotted the three...hoping to salvage the plant from all the ravages. Spring WILL be coming! Honest! I've been seeing robins (they're still discussing going back north...) and was a beautiful day here. ...realize that we do have more chilly weather to come, but the 'itch' for the digging has arrived.....it tends to travel north at warp speed in the months of February and March....think about sticking seeds into pots...you'll have the jump start on tucking them into the ground right after mother's day! :) (Just think....all of those northern gardens just burst with color and bloom when the weather warms! There's nothing quite like watching the crocus and daffies give way to lilacs and peonies.....something that we don't get to see here in the Sunny South.......) and the snow? Well...it just gives you and extra punch of nitrogen, yes????? Anyone want to send my pussy willows???????? *smile*

You know damn good and well that nobody sleeps this time of year :-) We've got the small greenhouse crammed full and ALL the tables in the big one are loaded, mainly w/ over 600 baskets that need to be hung up before we can start filling more flats--starting on some of the veggies now, mainly peppers. We got busy planting and now have to catch up on putting the hangers on the baskets but I don't lack many now. Got 2000 strawberry plants coming by the end of the month so there is another little planting job. We've decided to start a pick your own to go along w/ the blueberries. Had a slight disaster in the big g/h when four large tables that were hooked together crashed [loaded w/ plants, of course] so we lost a few hours rebuilding them. They are NOT hooked together now :-) We've gone 3 times [I think> to your neck of the woods for bales of dirt. Picked up 30 on a Friday and went back for 30 more on the following Monday. The guys at the FB couldn't believe we'd gone through that many so fast but it was even more than that counting what we had on hand. So, as you can see, at least "I" am awake. The other 2 houses will fill up quickly enough. Hope you can make it over sometime. Best, Tom

I need photos of the houses in Old Hickory! :) That's what I'm after. I'll publish the photos at my website, to contrast and compare the houses in Old Hickory with the houses in Norfolk. Plus, I know there were EIGHT designs of "Dupont Houses" and I only have images/photos of TWO of these designs. We have many of these Dupont Houses in Norfolk, but I can't begin to identify them, because I only have photos of TWO of the eight designs. So, in short, I need photos of those houses in Old Hickory that were built by Dupont. I do have addresses in Old Hickory. Rose

it will need to be hardened off ..... moving from indoors.. to outdoors ... you can not take it straight into sunshine ... you could un pot ... separate.. repot in separate pots... and keep them in dark shade for a week ... light shade for a week ... then filtered light .. perhaps sun at dusk or dawn ... the time lengths also take into account the disturbance of the roots from potting .... and then into the sun ... and you could always keep one potted.. in case you kill the others... you will have a fail safe ... eric.. if you cool the grass around a house ... wind will bring the coolness into the house ... your roof and insulation ... are supposed to take care of what hits the roof ... and with the trees further away ... what will not hit the house.. is the leaves falling off and choking your gutters... seed pods ... roof rats who use trees to get up there.. etc .... ken