I can't remember the cartoon lady's name, Chloe, but we have a Christmas ornament of her with lights wrapped around her body. The first one is my favorite. "Bite me size", lol. And the two peas in their respective pods made me giggle again. I'll work on keeping my hairy chinny, chin, chin a little higher. It was a tough weekend and the week ahead will be long, full, and all I'm really looking forward to is bedtime on Friday night. How pathetic is that? (maybe my much needed haircut on Friday afternoon will prove a boost, too). Michelle, your arrangement is just lovely. I have a particular fondness for cattails, and always want to pick them early on... but don't really know how to collect them to prevent the seasonal, fuzzy explosion... what's your secret? The annual take-downs are arriving in the shop for cleaning and mending. I'm fine with the mending part of it, but I so loathe the cleaning. It's hard on my hands/wrists and it's so terribly boring. I have a solid month of it ahead of me, I reckon. More rote, and while it's not what I need on an emotional plane, it's does rather pay the bills handily! More sucking up is order, I fear. :/ The book sounds fine... assign it and I'll go for it. I'm thinking a diversion of any sort might just be a very good thing for me about now! Now it's time for me to tend to the dishes in the kitchen. And clean up the broken wine stem that belonged to my grandmother. Now only two are left... out of 10. My irritation at "frat. house carelessness" will subside, but today I didn't need to see one more pretty, "fun" thing broken. Maybe I should simpy accept it and use DixieCups? What is it Taryn says, "calm, blue ocean... "? I need more tassels, methinks. ;)

google images for pinus strobus pendula .... and ask yourself if is really all that different ....' when i googled angel falls.. no images.. which leads me to believe it is a new name ... if it is close enough.. try gee tree farm, girards .... or any of the slew of other sellers .... its common and easily trainable .... i am thinking in the 25 to 35 dollar range for a one gal .... and strobus grow like weeds once established... so go small ... good luck ken Here is a link that might be useful: CS database has pix of both ...

oh yes, cotinus! Thank you, Esh. I have been thinking about that shrub for days now as the leaf shape was so familiar but I just couldn't place it. I have a Cotinus "Grace" in my garden. Unfortunately mine is nowhere near this spectacular - the leaves have turned from blue/greenish to purple/plum, but have none of these wonderful reds and oranges. Maybe Grace needs a companion!

I would think the Austins would be fine in an unattached garage. Most are hardy to z5. The hybrid teas I might worry about, and the tea would be iffy. They night need a more protected area, or maybe a heater in the garage for the coldest nights. I've been known to use a utility heater set on low: LIKE THIS . Remember, HT and teas never really go dormant of their own free will. All will need occasional water. If the door were never opened when the temps are below 20-25F, you'd probably be OK with the HTs. As for the tea, at least, I've found the only SURE way to keep them alive in a pot is to drag them in and out depending on the weather, lol. All my teas, in ground or in pots, go into winter with new growth. So, for me, nights above 30F= outside; nights below 30F= inside. Never allow hard frost to touch it. The tea will need sunshine when it can get it, and sufficient water, but NEVER, EVER soggy. I'm assuming a lot here, such as the tea not being newly potted, and not pruned severely. If it is newly potted/pruned, that may force it into dormancy and you could leave it inside, just watching the soil moisture. The single MOST IMPORTANT THING is to get them outside in the Spring as soon, and I mean AS SOON, as they show signs of making new growth. Otherwise you'll be amazed at how fast they'll put on spindly, white, useless growth that just saps stored nutrients. And yes, that means dragging them in and out to avoid late frosts :P Sorry... Oh, and one more thing, the bigger the pot, the more likely they'll survive, but the harder it is to move them in and out, lol. John