My 'Incense' has been blooming prolifically for weeks with no fruits, but I noticed this evening that there are two fruits coming out of some spent flowers. About ?4 weeks ago, I transplanted a puny little p. incarnata from the totally shady spot where it had been trying to grow to a spot right down the fence from where the 'Incense' and 'Lady Margarets' are. I added a good bit of chicken manure in with the planting mix, and that, plus all the sun it's now getting caused it to grow prolifically. It's been blooming for about 7-10 days, and the bees and other insects travel back and forth, I've watched them. It'll be interesting to see if these fruits continue to grow and make mature seeds, make hollow fruits, or just abort. By the way, the p. incarnata that I transplanted came from some seed that I took from local, roadside maypops. The leaves on this p. incarnata are a little thicker and more serrated than those I've got planted in my garden that I ordered from a nursery in Tennessee - the flowers look and smell just the same. I've been enjoying my two new books - the beautiful pictures are eye candy! :) Sherry

Incense is reported to be hardy to zone 6, but I really don't know for sure. Mine over-wintered outside last year, but it was relatively mild, only getting down to 8-10 degrees F a few times. It was not mulched much at all, so I suspect it could take a lot more with a heavy mulch. I would definitely leave one outside if I were you, with a backup indoors just in case. ~kiwinut

"I'd love to stick with all stone but doesn't work into our budget." A big portion of your budget is going to the 3,800+ sq ft first floor - because you have a 3,600 sq ft basement. The total of your first and second floors is 5,710 sq ft. If you built a traditional 2-story house, you would have about 2,800 sq ft on the first floor (this does depend on garage, though). The cost of a basement foundation for 2,800 sq ft vs. 3,600 sq ft is significant. We are also building on 4 acres (in PA). Have just signed a contract with a builder - but spent months and months on research, looking at plans and driving around looking at houses within 3 counties. We considered a first floor master/first floor guest BR/"1 and 1/2" story house - these make the basements large and not cost-effective. As part of our "research", we bought this book: Get Your House Right by Marianne Cusato. It's an eye-opener. The book explains proportions and elements of classic house styles. You may not want a traditional Colonial or Georgian style house, but the book shows you the concepts of how everything should fit together. Just a thought, may not be large enough for you, but much better proportions without being too "Colonial": http://www.dreamhomesource.com/house-plans/dhs/dhsw55092.html If you are wanting the first-floor master, along with first-floor guest BR, this house is amazing and more proportional: http://www.dreamhomesource.com/house-plans/dhs/dhsw52333.html Good luck!

My dad has always said burning incense was for druggies. It was never allowed in our home. I still can't stand it as an adult. We discovered sage when we went to New Mexico several years ago. I don't like that smell either. Dh and I picked some of the fresh stuff and brought it home. The smell took over our car. I think dh tied it onto something to get it home. We let it dry in the outside storage. As a joke, we we would light some in the bathroom and see how long it would take the other to discover it. I ordered a smudge stick and had it sent here. My house has several fire alarms in a series and the smoke from the sage set the fire alarms off. My joke backfired. No sage or incense for us.