I am soooo confused. Exactly what is a sport? A sport is a spontaneous genetic mutation that has some quality distinctively different from the original. For example, someone in Chicago spotted a flower on their 'Peace' rose that was dramatically different in color than the original--that person rooted that bit of the plant, named the variant 'Chicago Peace' and it is in commerce today. Another mutation besides flower color would be growth habit--an example of a climbing sport would be 'Climbing Peace', which has the same flowers as the original 'Peace', but which has longer, "climbing" canes.

I have three Cosmic Couriers that are about to bloom if we get a couple of warmer days. One of the three has one bloom half opened. That's about it. Most of mine were planted this season, so they aren't blooming. Next year ought to be fun! The others I have are Primal Scream, Marietta Magic, Bahama Butterscotch, Carefree Peach, Bertie Ferris, Imperial Elegance, Flying Tigers, and Ocean Drive Sunset. None are now blooming though. Marietta Magic Bahama Butterscotch First bloom Primal Scream, can't wait for next year Primal Scream is situated in front of a May Night Salvia, and next to a Sunny Border Blue Veronica, so the combination of the oranges, purples, and blues should be nice. Darn, too bad winters coming!

DTD: I see I spelled Epigaea wrong again - I keep doing that (aea, not aia). I bought 2 of them last Saturday and then went back Monday after calling them and bought 4 more. Frankly, I got all the blooming ones, and the ones I left looked kind of straggly. There's a good thread on the Natives forum which explains their care. One poster, northeastwisc, quotes: "An acid to moderately acid sandy loam soil, rich in humus to a shallow depth, and with a sandy soil below providing good drainage. I use a soil with a pH of 6." "... grows well in a cool open woods where it is protected from the hot summer sun but where early spring sunshine filters through leafless branches. Choose a spot where the forest floor is covered with decaying leaves or evergreen needles. Also, woodland soil contains the mycorhizal fungi that are beneficial to the plant." "Except for the taproot, the plant feeds on the first few inches of soil. Feeder roots develope where the vines are covered with damp humus." "... mulch by scattering a mixture of evergreen needles, birch leaves and soft maple leaves. Keep the plants moist until they are well established." "... thrives best in association with mycorrhizal fungi. Including soil that was collected near healthy wild plants in soil mixtures will introduce the necessary fungus ..." Obviously not a plant for an immaculate, well manicured garden, but if you don't mind a nice casual setting of pine needles and decaying leaves, they may do well for you. The indigenous mycorrhizal fungi seem to be essential. Southern Plymouth is pine barren country and they belong here. Claire Here is a link that might be useful: Epigaea repens

Just a quick update on the builders I'd originally mentioned. (After consideration, we've recently decided to request quotes on a larger pool than we'd originally looked at.) Presidential: I submitted a dimensioned drawing on Tuesday asking for an updated quote & haven't heard back yet. I think I can deduce the extra cost based on some of the line items from the original quote, but would certainly like to know for sure. Dolphin: Good quote, weird experience. Has anyone else worked with these guys before? Curious if your experience was anything like mine, or if this was an anomole? They came last night (an hour late, due to being hung up at a previous appointment, but whatever... figured I'd forgive it & see how the actual meeting went.) Even though I had already very carefully measured the yard and access, he spent the 1st 10-15 minutes re-measuring everything. I guess I can understand that; some people probably aren't as obsessively careful as I was. While he was doing that He gave us some ziploc bags full of pictures to look at (though we'd seen just about everything we could possiblly hope to see by now online), and we waited for him to finish. He then proceeded to take the next 2 hours to meticulously draw the exact same pool dimensions I'd already given him onto a larger piece of paper. (I gave him an actual CAD drawing I did with full dimensions, placed in the yard with required setbacks, summed perimeter ft, surface feet, etc.) He sort of messed up his drawing and we had to go over it and have him re-do some things. He used a bunch of architectual tools & a calculator to come to the exact same dimensions I'd already given him, and finally quoted me a pretty decent price. Of course, I was able to ask him a bunch of questions along the way, but it was still a pretty weird experience, and he wasn't a good multi-tasker, so it really stretched out the time he was here. (I already had my questions before he got to the house, so I could have easily asked them via phone or email, so I didn't see any real value-add to having him at the house.) I sort of get the "old-school" approach, but honestly, the only real thing that scares me off a bit from using these guys was the lack of technology involved in their pitch. Maybe I am not the norm here. Anyway, when it was all said and done, he gave me a price, but left without giving me a quote sheet or 2D/3D renderings of the pool. The latter was less of an issues since I'd already done all that myself, but I literally had to snap a cell-phone picture of the quote that he penciled in on his drawing before he rolled it up and took it with him. So right now I feel a little conflicted by these guys. I do believe that, at the end of the day, they build a good pool with a lot of the add-ons you want packaged in, for a fair price. But would have been nice to see this company had stepped into the 90s (let alone the 2000s or 2010s!) California Pools: Still haven't heard back from these guys. Maybe Cliff is trolling boards here at GardenWeb and decided that my calling him a turd didn't warrant a response from them! LOL... anyway, i sent a follow-up email to him today. If I don't get a quote by end of day, they're out of the running. I might call one or two of the smaller guys to see what they have to offer, and we'll make our decision within a week or so. That's all for now! Dan