Shamefully, we have not been taking very good care of it. We have in the past fertilized sporadically with commercial fertilizers. Once to maybe 3 times a year. We just put down the Scott's fertilizer with Halts. When the forsythia are in bloom, right? I will have to measure the mower height and I *think* I have DH convinced to mulch this year (unless we let it get too high). We also haven't watered it in the dead of summer ever, really. I guess it would be easy enough to measure rainfall (and water deeply once a week! See, I have been reading!) I guess I probably know enough to think if we just fertilize, water when needed, mow at the right height, try to keep the weeds away (which stronger turf will help with), and seed in the fall we could be in pretty good - or at least much better - shape. But I'll take validation on that or any further advice...websites, plans, ideas for how to transition to more environmentally friendly fertilizers. I guess I don't know where to go for that stuff - I imagine I would have to drive out to the farm supply stores far, far away for some of the things I have read about on here (which are escaping me at the moment, of course). Although I guess to do that 1-2 times a year wouldn't be terrible depending on the volume we would have to store and the storage properties. I'm open to ideas!

baymee-- Unless this Lawn-Boy has a DuraForce engine (identifiable by the above-deck muffler), the only way I can think of to remove the fuel from the crankcase (other than letting the engine burn it out) is to remove the muffler and let the fuel drain out of the exhaust ports. For a DuraForce engine, you can either remove the exhaust transfer tube to let the fuel drain out of the exhaust port, or you can remove the cylinder head and lift up the back wheels. The air vane governor on these machines (i.e., "the contraption connected to the carb") does make carb removal an exercise in patience. Hope this helps.

Thanks for the response, Thierry! I'll have to see what happens if we have another cold spell without as dry of air - maybe it won't react as badly then. But I still have the rest of winter to worry about, since temperatures here can go as low as -18°C or a little colder in a bad year. I have decided to take at least a cutting indoors as insurance. I'm not sure, when looking at a Parma and an odorata at the same time, if it would be possible to derive one from the other in a single mutation - there are enough differences that it seems Parmas must come at least partly from a different species altogether, although not too distantly related. The leaves of Parmas do look something like V. alba, but then that species must be much hardier given its range in Europe. I have my 'Feline' growing next to a 'King of the Doubles', which granted is sometimes alleged to be a hybrid of V. suavis but follows closely enough to straight V. odorata to me, and the differences are obvious. The Parma has an extra luster to its foliage which has a subtly different shape (narrower arrowhead-shape rather than a wider heart-shape), a much taller, domed plant shape (the odorata/Russian violet seems more flattened as a rosette), with the Parma also having longer petioles and thinner runners. Its wilting after exposure to 28°F in addition to stories of Arab violet cultivation guides demonstrating a long subtropical violet horticulture makes me wonder if we shouldn't be looking to the wetter places of southwest Asia such as the fertile mountains of Yemen for the Parma's wild relatives. I understand that the whole of North Africa and the Middle East had a wetter climate several thousand years ago, and it's possible that former ranges of plants without contemporary wild relatives have disappeared altogether - the musk rose, Rosa moschata, being another case in point. I doubt that every nook and cranny has been explored, though, given the long-standing political and social instability of that region. I do wonder, sometimes, if my double violet back home couldn't be some sort of hybrid of the two, since it gives off a strange aura that isn't quite like any of the other odorata types I've seen or grown, and some of its odd features seem somehow more in keeping with the Parma type (longer petioles, more domed habit, plus a sweeter scent - recalling my fragrance terminology, it lacks the "horse" note I notice in some others - but I don't know if there are no other odoratas with similar aromatic profiles because cultivars are scarce and expensive here). It must, of course, have a good dose of odorata to survive the harsh northern winters; although it does sometimes struggle with them, yet I had always blamed a virus or lack of thick snow for that. And yet to look only at the flowers, you'd think it was just the plain old Double Blue odorata of centuries ago, but that cultivar isn't around here in the U.S. to acquire for a real comparison. I'm not sure I could get violets from a British nursery easily, since for nearly every other nursery there I always run across very strongly worded statements that they do not ship to the United States. If any nurseries do send overseas, they definitely aren't saying so on their websites... The festival in Toulouse... oh, I would love to (even if I don't speak any French)! I will let you know if I can manage either the time or the money for such an adventure - and thank you for the invitation, no matter what happens. It's very sweet of you :-) Stefan

WiFi outlets are pretty handy, and at a good price point. I think you are even smarter, though, for thinking of alternating your side of the bed. As a creature of habit, that would never occur to me. Smart irrigation timers are great. Our yard is on an incline. In order to water the top long enough, the irrigation has to run so long that water runs down the street on the bottom side of the incline. The smart timer is smart enough to know that it needs to run for, say, 5 minutes, then stop for 2 minutes to let the water absorb, then run for 5 more minutes. No more run-off. I really like it.