elleni, what lovely shots. i've never seen that azalea before; so special! Well, i think ken is right as almost always he is. his exact staking and burlap method is what we use for our hydrangeas tokyo delight and mariesii. works fine. here are words of wisdom from a local nursery here. best, mindy Winterizing Your Garden from Stonegate Gardens, Lincoln Ma. USA Watering One of the keys to plant survival is the overall good health of plants as winter sets in. Most plants continue growing until the soil temperature falls below 40 degrees F. It is important to keep plants well watered during this period while the soil is still warm. Deep infrequent watering is ideal. A general watering guideline for new plantings is two to three times a week when there is no rain. Make sure to begin watering again in spring as soon as the ground begins to thaw (this may be as early as the beginning of March). Protecting Bark & Foliage Deer and rodents may damage trees by feeding on twigs and bark in winter. Even small rodents can cause enough damage to the bark of a young tree to severely stress or even kill it. So a little prevention goes a long way. Plastic trunk wraps are available to help protect bark from nibbling animals and sprays such as Deer Off, Repels-All, and Shake Away (granular) are also quite effective for deterring animals. Winter winds, cold temperatures, and bright sunlight can cause bark to crack and foliage to scorch and desiccate. Broadleaf evergreens like rhododendrons, mountain laurels, and hollies tend to suffer particularly in winter. This can be avoided by spraying an anti-dessicant such as Wilt-Pruf on foliage to help preserve moisture in leaves. Spray Wilt-Pruf once in autumn on a day when temperature is above freezing and once during a midwinter thaw. In extreme situations where plants are unprotected and/or exposed to high winds wrap shrubs with burlap to create a windbreak to help ensure plants survival. Heavy snow should be knocked off evergreens to prevent branch and foliage damage. Please feel free to stop in or call with any questions you might have. Sincerely, The Team Stonegate Gardens

It's real hard to give spot on advice when far removed from the subject matter. A hands on 360 evaluation is a must. Without that we shoot from the hip. I suggested cutting the 2nd branch back to the foliage line with the bottom branch blocking the cut off. My thought was it would regenerate new foliage for better balance. With the bottom branch gone by all means remove the stub. My Ginkgo b. 'Princeton Sentry' limbed up to 12 ft. It had a few wayward out of character limbs. It took me a long time to muster the courage to get out the saw and go for it. Glad I did. It was planted in 1988 with no thought of conifers needing light or for that matter anything needing light. Now my conifers receive the needed light and the Ginkgo remains the yards stalwart protector commanding all the attention it deserves. Barbara. in time your ginkgo will sort itself out. Just be patient Dave

I doubt we can have our cake & eat it also with regards to our food supply. Due to many reasons but including genetically modified food, pestisides, herbicides, fertilizers, & what we all agree are deplorable living conditions for chickens, hogs, & beef combined with antiobiotics & hormones food yields are higher today than 50 years ago. That results in lower food prices here in the US & across the world (yes, I know we also have the government subsidies but that's another topic). Also, many of our agricultural practices contribute to runoff that polutes rivers & streams making fish unhealthy for consumption. It's possible now to purchase food from growers that practice sustainable agriculture, free-graze their animals, do not use pesticides nor herbicides. Their animals are hormone free. Of course, their products are costlier because their yield is less. Are we all willing to pay more for our food to have the quality? DH & I purchase organic dairy & produce whenever available. In fact we go out of our way to seek it out (largely due to Annie's preaching - lol). We're now also buying 100% grass-fed beef, we don't buy poultry nor pork that's been injected with some type of "flavor enhancers". We're purchasing now organic produce & putting it up for winter consumption. Some products we've not switched to organic. For instance, I still buy KA regular flours. The organics are so expensive I've not yet pulled the trigger & made the switch. With the increased costs of what I hope are "healthier" foods we've had to substantially reduce the quantities & varieties of what we consume both in order to stay within our budget allowances & also because some products are just not available organically. We also maintain a food storage program. It's going to take some time to get that converted to more organics. We're doing that via new purchases & rotation of older items. Sometimes, it's not even about the food product itself being healthier grown via "organics". It's just about knowing we're buying from somebody who's doing something to reduce the amount of chemicals going into the soil annually. Or, fewer pesticide sprays. dcarch is right about feeding the world's population. There's no more large land areas to be converted to food production without seriously jeopardizing the ecosystem (cutting down rain forests) more than we've already destroyed. So, the only way to feed the ever increasing population is to increase yield per acre. Are we all willing to make the sacrifices necessary to, so to speak, put our money where our mouth is? Everybody complaining about current mass-agri business already buying all organics, free-range, etc.? Or, driving all over town trying to save $1.00/lb. for chops? Are you still feeding your family the cheapest butter available? Good quality, hormone/antibiotic free, etc., butter is between $5.99 - $8.00/lb. here. Obviously, we don't eat much butter anymore. That translates into much less baking. If you don't like mass-agri business there are lots of alternative choices available. You'll just have to seek them out...and be willing to pay the provider of those products a fair price for their labors & costs. It took us over 2 years to source many of the products we're eating today versus shopping at our local chain store. We're blessed. We can afford to buy organics still putting enough food on the table we're not going to bed with our stomachs growling. Most of the world cannot. Should they go hungry? I think it's a very valid question. We also can't ignore food preparation methods in looking at today's food health issues. Sure, chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, & gravy is good but it's not healthy. Pasta can be good, especially if it's whole wheat, but it's not healthy to eat pasta 10+ times/month...especially with today's serving sizes. IIRC, a serving is 1/2 cup cooked pasta. So, how many of us only eat 1/2 cup? What happens when the sauce is cooked with chicken, pork, & beef? Food & health is a large issue both in the US & around the world. There's no one single answer. And, there's no one single reason for the problems. /tricia

I've been on two trips with EH and had a wonderful time. One in Nogales, southern Arizona & one in Utah to a golf clinic. There were pros & cons to these trips, depending on YOU! If you're traveling solo, you may not be compatible to a room mate, so you pay extra for a single room. There is a certain amount of regimentation, which is necessary when there are groups of people to contend with. Accomodations are not Sheraton=Hilton quality, but I was always comfortable. They generally had some classes going on with resident speakers describing the history, past, present & future & talks about what you were going to see first hand so you pretty well would recognize what you were looking at. If your picky about food, you may be disappointed. We ate most breakfasts and some dinners where we were staying, a fixed menu, a couple of choices or buffet style. Food good, wholesome, certainly not gourmet!Taking long walks, lots of pictures and a "sack" lunch which was good. I traveled alone, had good roommates,met them & decided who slept in which bed, one would shower at night, the other in the a.m., enjoyed what I saw & did, but depending on what trip it was I also prepared myself physically for long walks, spent more money on shoes that were comfortable and somewhat broken in before I went. I also travel light! Read the brochures and study them, they are pretty explicit as to how you can handle the ups & downs of a trip. But most of all, maintain a postive attitude, be prepared to adjust to the people, both those on the tour & wherever your visitng. A sense of humor is a real asset too! Oh yes, I also took a deck of cards for some of the evenings when we would get together in our rooms for simple no brainer card games. Some of the people I met had been on many, many tours & it was interesting to hear their views.