I wouldn't worry too much about tainted produce especially if you line with plastic. Most, if not all soil has trace amounts of arsenic, among other things, in it naturally. One of the things that prompted the discontinued production of treated lumber containing arsenic was the danger of the dust produced when building things with it and using it as play ground equipment where small chidren might tend to put there mouths on the wood or cut/scrtch themselves on the wood. The newer produced treated lumber allegedly does not contain arsenic. But it probably contains alot of other nasty things to preserve wood. I would not be suprized to see red flags out on the new stuff in the future. The best alternative I have seen is the railroad ties that are made from re-cycled plastic. They need to come way down in price though to make them affordable for the home gardener.

Dulles Airport is _really_ cold, it's at the base of a valley though this is only fully apparent if you're far away from it, at a location like "Mirror Ridge" in Sterling. Its record low is -18F! And that's only since the 1960s, it doesn't even account the incredible cold spell at the end of the 19th century, when the Atlantic froze as far south as Virginia Beach (think about that for a second) and central London had its coldest temp. in modern history of 9F. I wouldn't necessarily compare it with all suburban or rural locations outside DC though. Certainly the all time record lows for anywhere to the N or W of DC are -10F or below - and of course DC's all time low is -15F in the 1920s but Baltimore's is only -7F, but I don't know if it actually got that cold everywhere in the 80s or 90s. Closer to bodies of water or urban areas, and probably on certain ridges, there are places that haven't been below about -6F in a long, long time. In 1994 my garden in western Fairfax County was around -10F which was quite devastating, an 9' Quercus myrsinifolia with almost a 1" caliper stem was completely killed to the ground, for example. I remember 96 also being cold but not as damaging for whatever reason. For example Colonial Beach, VA, had its all time record low of -6F in 1996; they probably benefited somewhat in 94 from the still open waters to their north. Agree with you generally though, that people tend to plant too optimistically, based on the recent mild winters we've been having. No Trachy palm, and very few camellias, would have survived 1994; though at least the camellias can in theory sprout from the base. For a camellias I intend to be rock solid parts of the landscape, I'm only planting the C. oleifera hybrids, in case it ever goes below 0F here. (I'm w/in 1 mile of the Bay) For others that I'm just planting because they are beautiful, they will just have to come back from the roots if it gets that cold. Even in a mild winter here - and they all have been for the past 10 years IMHO - something like a 'Red Jade' was totally burned by having morning sun hit it in winter. It recovered from the roots, but then the deer chomped that whole recovering shoot off. Bastards! That was too much for the poor thing. Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.erh.noaa.gov/lwx/Historic_Events/DC-Winters.htm

There's nothing quite as cool-looking(temperaturewise) as BLUE flowers. I grew Phacelia a few years ago, best blue i ever saw, next to cornflowers. The bell-shaped blue flowers with icy-white anthers were beautiful, and stirred up images of cooler weather. They do have a short bloom time, hot weather just about stops the show, cutting back helps somewhat. Give 'em a try, i believe there are 2 or 3 varieties. Good luck, and enjoy.

Well I'm NOT a blue person. Indoors I have NO blue. My husband doesn't understand this. I have no idea why I feel this way. Outdoors things are different! I have a blue/yellow/white garden bed which I love. Yes, delphineums, catananche, campanulas, baptisia and more, are mixed with trollius, coreopsis moonbeam, peony Claire de Lune and low growing white clematis and aquilegia. It is a big mix and wouldn't be any fun at all without the blue! There are loads of clematis that are purple or blue/purple, but also some very nice blues I think. You do get into the question of "what is blue?" My husband and I think this could well be a male/female issue! Also, by saying a flower is blue, perhaps a catalogue gains more sales? * Posted by: coolbeans (My Page) on Sat, Feb 2, 02 at 13:12 This is my VERY favorite thread, and I totally agree with all those who feel that there is just "something" about blue flowers; they ARE magical, they ARE very special; and they make me happier than any other color flower. Don't know why...I just started a flat full of Bluebird delphinium seeds I saved from my one lonely plant last year. A bunch of them germinated, so now I can't wait to have a huge stand of them! Maybe they won't bloom this year, but maybe they will. And also "true blue" penstemons, I'm trying for the first time. I can't get enough of this precious color. * Posted by: Anne_Marie_Alb (My Page) on Tue, Feb 5, 02 at 17:47 WOW....... Did anyone realize that this thread started almost 5 years ago... on Feb. 15, 1997!!!!! I am amazed it has survived that long. Probably, the oldest thread still on the top page! I wonder if "Clare B" (who started the thread) is still an active member of the Garden Web!!! I personally love blue flowers (I mean blue, and not purple, which I also like). I can't believe how many blue flowers I am starting from seeds this year... and that was just a pure coincidence! I also love RED flowers.. Maybe, I should start a "red flower" thread! I will first check the archives! * Posted by: Clare (My Page) on Thu, Feb 7, 02 at 20:34 Yes, Ann_Marie, I am still here! I will be a bit sad to see this thread fade away when it hits the 100 posts mark. After that, the threads are closed. I don't think I have any true blue flowers still. "Victoria Blue" Salvia is the closest thing. I use it a lot. It is such a heavy, long bloomer, and about one in twenty of them will survive winter here. Just wish I could predict which would survive so that I could save seed from those alone and perhaps work up a more hardy strain. By the way, the Hydrangeas in Memphis, Tennessee are incredible. Some are so saturated blue that I'd have to call them navy. * Posted by: Dswan (My Page) on Sat, Feb 9, 02 at 22:37 I'm going to add to this extremely long thread only because there really is something to true blue. I grow from seed a very difficult plant to propagate called Penstemon cyananthus or Wasatch Penstemon. I cold stratify and plant these every year in hopes of gettting one or two in my garden every year. Absolutely gorgeous. * Posted by: Rosa (My Page) on Mon, Mar 11, 02 at 10:24 Did no one mention Gentians-now those are blue! (along with my favorite penstemson of course-some are indeed blue). * Posted by: pineshade7b ) on Mon, Apr 15, 02 at 11:02 i agree with gloria mc coy. i love blue and green , they are my favorite colors in anything. just look in my house and closets. blue..ocean, blue jeans, my own eyes are blue and my husband's are green. many reasons to answer -why blue. although i do not "hyperventilate" , if i should go into a nursery and ask for a blue -flowering plant and the staff looks down their nose at me, i'll know now that they are only doing it because they think I'M a snob. until i adopted gardening as a serious hobby i had no idea that blue was a "snob" color. i just naturally began to look into flowers in the colors i liked personally. you learn something new everyday. i would have been hurt and confused to walk into a nursery and be looked at like a pariah, what did i say? now i know, thanks clare. * Posted by: DesertGardner (My Page) on Fri, Apr 19, 02 at 12:38 Wow - I never knew there was such a controversy over the color blue in the garden. After reading all the posts, I now understand why some gardeners prefer the color. And I have to say that I've never met any gardeners whom I would consider snobbish. Most of them are really quite down to earth! (if you pardon the expression...) I recently tried planting a red, white and blue flower bed, with 'Victoria Blue' Salvia being my blue color. It's a little too purple and doesn't look right as a "patriotic" design. I will probably tear out the red and white and keep the "blue" (purple) since it seems to like this desert heat. Someone mentioned black flowers, and I remembered seeing black pansies in the most recent Burpee catalog. They're a beautiful velvety black with a spot of yellow in the center. I think I'll plant some this winter, and start an obsession with black flowers! (just kidding Clare...) -Kara [* Posted by: yeona_sky (My Page) on Mon, Jun 24, 02 at 0:37 I just bought a blue poppy and am nervously watching its progress. My success with blues has been an up hill battle, but that hasn't changed my desire to spotlight it in my garden. Why blue?, again it's a passion with me. Clare, I hope you get the last word on this thread, and I hope you understand Why blue, a little better. * Posted by: Duster (My Page) on Wed, Jun 26, 02 at 23:56 I agree with the many others about getting annoyed when purple is referred to as blue. Maybe that's why I take up the cause of truly blue flowers! 99% of my Delphiniums are the true electric blue ones. I'd love one of the Himalayan Poppies but just not right for my little yard. I like the blue flowers, rather than the blue foliage plants. And no, blue is NOT my favorite color - I have nothing blue in my home decor. I just like the uniqueness of the TRUE blue and my stubbornness to get people to stop calling it purple!!!!