I only grow two Austins and one is a dog who despite the fact that his flowers are to die for (all three or four of them in as many years) has a shovel standing right next to him - so the only first hand recommendation I could make would be for Windemere - the color is very delicate, the blooms are lovely, the bush has filled out nicely in the same period of time that the other has languished and she is not stingy - the down side is the blooms seem almost like day lilies in staying power. However there are lots of them coming on all the time to make up for that. In defense of the other rose it is own root and my Windemere is grafted, which should initially make some difference but not as much I would think as I am seeing. I believe the slacker is just a dud - so I don't want to mention his name and cause his brothers to suffer, perhaps undeservedly.

Once and for all: How to stop the iVillage ad onslaught. First we need to understand how it's done: iVillage doesn't bother to try and buy ads directly from all the various companies that show up on the pages of GW. Instead they use large ad-service agencies like doubleclick, akamai and pointroll. You can visit some of these sites if you'd like to see who's behind the ads. http://www.akamai.com http://www.doubleclick.com/us http://pointroll.com This makes it easy to block out all or almost all of the ads very easily, just block the originating sites. Right now all the ads on GW come from: http://amch.questionmarket.com http://a820.g.akamai.net http://iv.doubleclick.net http://i.ivillage.com http://m.2mdn.net http://tste.ivillage.com http://img-cdn.mediaplex.com http://ads.vmirror.com http://cmhtml.ivillage.overture.com http://ads.pointroll.com The Universal Solution.This will work on Windows systems for all browsers; IE, FireFox and Netscape. The Windows operating system provides a system-level method to block specific IP addresses before they even get to the browser. To effect this solution you need to edit a Windows system file called hosts. This file is located in the directory: Windows XP: C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\ETC Windows 2K: C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\ETC Windows 98: C:\WINDOWS Open the file in Notepad. Cut the following from this post and paste it to the end of the file. 127.0.0.1 amch.questionmarket.com 127.0.0.1 a820.g.akamai.net 127.0.0.1 iv.doubleclick.net 127.0.0.1 i.ivillage.com 127.0.0.1 m.2mdn.net 127.0.0.1 tste.ivillage.com 127.0.0.1 img-cdn.mediaplex.com 127.0.0.1 ads.vmirror.com 127.0.0.1 cmhtml.ivillage.overture.com 127.0.0.1 ads.pointroll.com Edit each entry so that there is a tab between the IP address 127.0.0.1 and the URLs. Save the file and you're finished. Close and re-open your browser and all the ads will be gone. Unfortunately, iVillage may in the future buy ads from a new source. In this event the new ad source will have to be added to the list. The IE solution.Most of the ads are placed using Java$cript. You can remove the more offensive ads in IE with the browser settings. You can't however remove them all. To improve GW using IE do the following: From the menu select Tools -> Internet Options -> Security and click on Custom Level. Scroll down to the end of the list and you'll see an entry for Scripting. Disable all the sub-entries. Now select the tab labeled Privacy. In the bottom of the box that appears check on the option to block pop-ups. I recommend you also click on the button Advanced and select the option to block Third-party Cookies. NOTE: By disabling Scripting you will also effect the way other websites behave. You may need to get used to switching scripting on and off as desired. That's why this is the least desirable of these various options. The FireFox solutionThis is an excellent choice -- it's the fastest...

I have lavendar growing in a very well drained flowerbed. It is thriving there. I'm attaching a link to Lavender Hill Farm here in Oklahoma. The following advice came from them: Growing Lavender in Oklahoma Always keeping in mind your particular growing conditions, here are some tips for successful growing in our region: Adequate sunlight - all day is good, but at least 6 hours/day is necessary. Soil - loose and well drained. Lavender does not like wet feet. Try to mound the soil and adding lime is good. Fertilizer - I use fish emulsion one time/year. No manure please. Mulch - Pea gravel is very good. It helps drain and keeps the plant clean. Irrigation - Think dry. When you water, drip irrigation is best. Try not to plant where there is overhead sprinkling. The biggest cause of plant failure is overwatering. Pruning - Do prune back every year. I prune in early fall and cut back by one third. If you get too far into the woody center you may kill your plant. Choose varieties that grow well in our climate. I like Grosso, Provence and Hidcote. For more information on lavender, check out these websites: www.foreverlavender.com www.norfolklavender.com www.museedelalavende.com Lisa Here is a link that might be useful: Lavender Hill Farm

wow sorry I had never seen that I was asked a question and never answered it. I bought my pandigital novel at bed bath and beyond they can be bought at many locations which are listed on their website including Radio Shack and Kohl's. Mine ran me right at $100 with their 20% off coupon and a rebate. The one I have is the 7" white tablet. It is a full android tablet now with their latest update so you can access apps from the android market, you can surf, email, play your music, watch videos, youtube etc, pretty much everything you can do on a laptop. If you are familiar with any of the android phones it is very similar. I thought if I was going to pay over a hundred dollars for something I wanted it to do as much as possible not just be an ereader which is why I went with this PDN. The ereader part is excellent also and since you can now use android apps you can use the kindle app to read kindle books and the nook app, lots of ereader apps are available so you can choose the one you like best gives you lots of flexibility. It of course does have wifi connectivity which works great. We have had several very long threads about the PDN and ereaders over on the computer help forum, you can search the topic there and find much more. There are a lot of people on GW that got Pandigitals too. the lookbook reader I got at CVS pharmacy when they had them on for $49 it only does ereader functions and does color and have wifi and is linked with the kobo bookstore. http://www.pandigital.net/