Hi Heidi, Plant corms when the native deciduous trees begin to leaf out. Here in the Upper Midwest that was last week. We're not big in gladiolus; but, we've planted a little over 5,000 gladiolus corms. We started last weekend, and finished this morning. We planted dahlia tubers during the week, sowed seedling trays, bumped plants up into larger trays, planted crocosmia corms and other bulbs, and watered greenhouses -- You know the drill. At the moment, we've a two man operation; and, sometimes feel like a dog chasing his tail. Days to bloom can vary from 60 to 120 depending on the variety and size of the corm. I'm assuming with 500 corms that you have mixed. If that's the case, and it was me, I'd plant all of them at one time. But, it isn't me. You may want to do two or three plantings to extend your season a little depending on your market. In the mixes they usually do try to give you that 60 to 120 day window. BTW: The larger corms bloom at least 5 days sooner. In heavy soil plant the corms only 4" deep. Deeper planted corms flower later by a few days; however, the spike is better supported. If you have sandy soil, you'll want to plant 6 to 7" deep. Our field has all the above: clay, sand, and then some really nice loomy soil where I just want to plant everything; but, I can't. Our gladiolus are planted in sandy soil. Some of the largest gladiolus growers in the country are here in Michigan. They do start planting around April 1. However, they cover these first plantings with greenhouse plastic to protect them from frost/freezes. The plastic actually does two things: it heats up the soil and speeds the plant along while protecting from frost. If the corms are planted too soon in cold soil, they will rot. Trish

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I change recipes, too, because for the most part I know what I'm doing. There were a few I used for the holidays this year from CF where I held back some salt and sugar, adjusted for slightly different ingredients or whatnot, and I mentioned my changes when praising the recipes, because I didn't make them exactly. But I did use the recipes more than not and do consider that I "made" them. No butterscotch, though. :) OTOH....if the recipe didn't come out nicely (which didn't happen...they were all great), I wouldn't blame the recipe itself if I changed it! But there's also the problem of ingredients and basic methods. Like people don't know that they need to use butter (not the kind with oil in it) or baking sticks or that if it's not said, recipes mean size large eggs--unless it's an amateur recipe and the author doesn't know to specify if they're extra large--or that beet sugar might ruin your baking. They don't know that the "beat butter and sugar" step is for whipping in air and shortchange or omit it. They don't know that oven temperature is the number on the thermometer (that you put in the oven) not on the dial, or even that opening the door can affect the baking. A lot of people who think they're following the recipe as written and having failures, still may be doing it all wrong. I would never review a recipe that I hadn't made, though in certain situations I might comment "sounds good" or "do you think it would work with peaches rather than pears?" but I don't bother reading the ones that didn't either. You can tell from what they say. A useful comment is like for the GF pie crust that says roll between layers of plastic wrap because it's more like a sticky batter than a dough. A skipable comment, true or not, is the family liked or hated it. Somewhat more useful is "this is my new go-to". Re reviews in general, you can usually tell by the details whether they're authentic. Paid reviews, unless it's a real reviewer who's just being paid for the writing, can't know the specifics. Most are farmed to foreign countries, and the workers are chosen for their ability to write decent English rather than their knowledge of what they're speaking of. Speaking of which, a family member asked for pizza for dinner way too late for me to make it. I googled best pizza nearby and most of the listed restaurants had pictures of the dining rooms (and they all looked the same--trendy post-industrial charcuterie chic). One place showed a pizza (a tasty looking one). I looked up the reviews. On Yelp, the average was only 3.5 stars. The negative reviews, however, were about whether the delivered sandwich was cold, the waiter surly, the GF choices limited (they have GF pizza!), or whatnot. The five star reviews all praised the pizza (in long, detailed, multiple paragraphs telling all about their visits and experiences), and many praised the service and attention to customer satisfaction. We got the pizza. It was really good. Much better than many from "better" (i.e., more expensive, more established) restaurants. Reviews can be revelatory if you read them well and look for the things you want to know, rather than just accepting the things they want to tell you.

nickel_kg - I used to have a garter snake who lived here for three years, from a baby about 8 inches long to a big boy about 5 feet long. I don't know what happened to Henry. Hopefully, he just found happier hunting grounds and a mate. When he was little, he liked hanging out in my potted plants, and he'd scare the beejeezus out of me when I went to work on them, but he was never aggressive.