Greg: Indeed it is always Spring or Summer in your neck of the woods. You guys have it too easy out there! I may live in the Arctic, but I'm a tropical guy at heart. And this horrific winter has sealed the deal, I'm moving south this year, come hell or high water. I would love to be surrounded outdoors by lovely plants like yours instead of a five foot mountain of snow outside my window, and the dull brown and grey of leafless trees. Good job on your plants, all looking great. Christopher

Cyn - I just remembered to come look for your photo - love the touch with Daffodils!! We still have a little snow, where the big banks were, but it is dirty and almost gone - now it is allergy season!! Yea. I have done a little bit of cleanup in our new yard. Dear god, how much crap the last people left under the snow!! Kids small toys everywhere and garbage and recyclables under the deck!! What a mess - also hundreds of cigarette butts!! We have a postage stamp-sized front yard, which I raked, as I wanted to get the crap out of the way of anything that might come up - tulips noses coming out through the ice!!! Yea. Hopefully they have enough oomph in them to bloom. Love this time of year, despite the allergies!! Nancy.

Tsuga junkie, you’ve got a nice garden. Do you open it up to tours? I frequent nurseries in the region, but rarely do I see the plants you have. Do you primarily source them via internet mail order? Edited after noticing this: “I'd say 80% of my plants came from the usual mail order spots (Coenosium, Porterhowse, Girard, Greer, etc) in 1 gal. pots or less”. Never mind....

Yoyobon, a "shape" is a dessert called a blancmange. Here's the Wikipedia definition: Blancmange (play /blÃÂÃÂmÃÂnÃÂ/ or /blÃÂÃÂmÃÂÃÂndÃÂ/, French: [blÃÂÃÂmÃÂÃÂÃÂ]; also known as shape) is a sweet dessert commonly made with milk or cream and sugar thickened with gelatin, cornstarch or Irish moss[1] (a source of carrageenan), and often flavored with almonds. It is usually set in a mould and served cold. Although traditionally white, blancmanges are frequently given a pink color as well. Some similar desserts are Bavarian cream, vanilla pudding (in US usage), panna cotta, and haupia.