A word of caution: If you're planning on getting these bagged roses from Big Lots or anywhere else do it quick! In these stores they're thrown on shelf and left to fend for themselves. They get no sun so they grow all that sickly white growth from what ever cane stored energy they have using it up too soon and they get no water so they dry out super fast and die unless you catch them as soon as they show up and get them home to care for them. Even the seemingly better quality boxed ones like at Costco get NO CARE. If you don't catch them in the first week they're put out your chances of getting them to survive get slim. At least at my Lowes/HD/Wallyworld they're usually in the garden center and they may get some light and a little water once in a while but there's no guarantee. So I recommend checking them out very carefully before buying them and if they still look green and viable don't procrastinate. Buy the ones you want immediately and assume responsibility for their care.

Hi Sam, please get some bigger pictures out there. The tag at Oregon Garden says that this tree is Abies recurvata. It's definitely not Abies recurvata. Henk posted a pic in May which didn't generate much response. Larry Stanley was also growing and selling this as Abies recurvata. I rescued a gallon-sized plant and put it into my landscape. It's on the mend but still looks pretty rough. I also took some scions from the Oregon Garden specimen and grafted them last winter. My personal guess is Abies x vilmorinii. The English guys have already chimed in. Blue Yew thinks it's an Abies marocana cv. and Pineresin thinks it's an Abies pinsapo cv. Abies x vilmorinii is supposed to be a cross of Abies cephalonica x pinsapo. The Auders and Spicer Encyclodedia shows Abies x vilmorinii 'Rosemoor Form' which is a pretty close match to what we're looking at. Its parents are supposed to be Abies pinsapo 'Aurea' x cephalonica. Let's figure this one out, team. ~Dave Here is a link that might be useful: the previous thread on this fir (with pic)

Yes, Janice, I imagine you had to do a lot of research to find that one. Congrats and kudos! For those who don't have it (that would be most, I think), this is a fortunei sport, like H. Carol, mentioned by don_r. Iona is one of my favorites simply because she is so reliable. A lot of folks give up on the green-with-cream-borders after they get two or three. But this one has a more subtle green, and grows well for me in dappled shade (under an apple tree). Probably we all have one or two hostas that are not commonly found. Makes the collection more interesting. Thanks to those who gave this one a look and a guess. Steve

OOH I love Rosemary. We are in the process of thinking out a new herb garden and you can bet there will be a number of rosemary plants. Probably my favourite recipe using rosemary is a Sausage and Rosemary pasta sauce. It is also wonderful in bread, cooked with lamb, pork, beef and chicken. Here are a few favourites. Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table ========================== Adapted from Robert Alda's recipe. 4 to 6 Italian Sausage, hot or sweet, or combination Olive oil 2 shallots 3 ounces of Mortadella 1/2 cup dry white wine 1 tablespoon dried or fresh rosemary 1 tablespoon dried basil 2 to 4 cans tomatoes (depending on number of sausages) . Par boil sausage for 2 to 4 minutes. Mince Mortedella and shallots in food processor. Heat in oil in large pot and add mortadella and shallots. Remove casings from sausage and mince in processor and add to pot. Cook until meat starts to brown on the bottom. Add the rosemary and basil and the wine. Simmer until wine has evaporated. Puree tomatoes but leave some texture and add to pot. Simmer for at least 1 hour. Remove any fat that surfaces. Serve over fusilli or Conchiglioni (shell) shaped pasta, to pick up the little bits of sausage. Options: I have made this without the Mortadella and it works. When I don't have good Italian Sausage I make this same dish using ground pork. Saute the pork and season with the shallots, couple of cloves of garlic, hot red pepper flakes, grind some fennel(optional) with the rosemary and basil, and then follow the above directions. (Tastes almost identical) Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table Beef Tenderloin - Kabobs ======================== 2 pounds beef tenderloin, cut into cubes (from 1 inch to 2 inches) 2 - 3 cloves of garlic minced 1 large shallot, chopped 2 tablespoons fresh thyme chopped/ and/or Rosemary 2 tablespoons fresh parsley chopped 1 cup red wine 1/2 cup olive oil salt Black Pepper - Coarsely Ground 2 Green Peppers cut into squares 2 large white onions- cut into 1/4's (option: Large Cherry Tomatoes) . Cut beef tenderloin in to nice size cubes. Mix together all of the other ingredients and marinate the beef for about 4 to 6 hours. Par Boil onions and green peppers for less than one minute. Drain and cool in icewater. REmove meat from Marinade and thread onto metal or wooden skewers, placing a piece of green pepper and onion inbetween each piece of meat. Grill on high heat. Turn a few times. Tenderloin should be served rare to medium rare so these do not take long to cook, depending on your grill. Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table ===================== http://www.thefreshloaf.com/recipes/potatorosemaryrolls?destination=node%2F423 Potato Rosemary Rolls Makes 18 small rolls or 12 hamburger sized buns 1 potato, cooked and mashed 1 lb (3 1/2 cups) bread or all-purpose unbleached flour 3/4 - 1 cup water 2 teaspoons instant yeast 2 teaspoons salt 1 tablespoon butter 1 tablespoon dried rosemary or 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary 1 teaspoon ground black pepper 1 teaspoon ground sage leaves Cook the potato until soft, either by boiling or baking in the oven or microwave. For this batch I chopped up and boiled the potato. I then reserved a cup of the potato water to add to the loaf, figuring it had additional nutrients and starches that would help my loaf. Mash the potato. Removing the skin prior to mashing is optional: if you are using tough skinned potatoes like russets I would suggest removing them, but with soft skinned potatoes such as yukon gold or red potatoes I typically leave them on. The chopped up skin add nice color and texture to your rolls. Combine the flour, mashed potato, yeast, salt, pepper and herbs in a large bowl. Add 3/4 cups water and knead or mix for 5 to 10 minutes, adding more water or flour until a consistency you are comfortable working with is reached. I added close to a full cup of water and ended up with an extremely sticky dough that was difficult to work with. I was only able to shape the rolls by repeatedly dipping my fingers in flour. The end result was wonderful though. (I encourage amateur bakers to push the limit of what they think they can handle, moisture-wise. More often than not you'll be pleasantly surprised with the results, though you can go too far and end up baking a pancake, which I've done more than once.) Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a moist towel and let the dough rise until it has doubled in size, typically 60 to 90 minutes. Remove the dough from the bowl, gently degas it, and shape it. For rolls or buns you can weigh them if you like or just eyeball them. I cut racquetball sized chunks of dough (larger than golf balls, smaller than tennis balls) then rolled them into balls in my well-floured hands. I placed them on a baking sheet covered with parchment, placed the entire sheet in a plastic trash bag, and set it aside to rise for approximately an hour again. While the dough rose, I preheated the oven to 375 degrees. If you have a spritzer, spray the top of the rolls with water right before placing them in the oven. Place them in the center rack and bake them for 10 minutes. Rotate the pan 180 degrees and bake them for another 10 to 20 minutes, depending on size. My large hamburger bun sized rolls took close to half an hour to bake. You'll know they are done when the bottom of the rolls is solid and slightly crispy. If you have a probe thermometer, check the temperature inside one of the rolls. When the internal temperature is approaching 200 degrees F, they are ready to pull out of the oven. Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table Italian roasted chicken (Rosemary Lemon) ======================================== Edited November 10th, 2006 This recipe is my version of the Italian Chicken we use to order in a Italian restaurant in Sault Ste. Marie. It can be made with small roasting chickens, chicken pieces or cornish game hens. 2 Cornish Game Hens 3 or 4 sprigs of rosemary 2 heads of garlic, peeled and cracked salt, pepper juice from one or two lemons lemon zest (optional) hot red pepper flakes 1/2 cup olive oil Kalamata olives (optional) chicken broth . If using roasting chickens or game hens, split the birds down the back and remove the back bone. Place the chicken halves or pieces in the roasting pan. Toss in the garlic cloves and the sprigs of rosemary. Season with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. squeeze the lemons over the chicken and drizzle with the olive oil. You can prepare the chicken up to this point and let rest in the fridge for an hour or two. Roast in a 450°F Check after about 20 minutes and add some chicken broth to the pan. This will stop the garlic from getting burnt. (If you are using the olives add them now) Add more if needed. When chicken is done, remove from pan and add a little more chicken broth, stir and serve sauce over the chicken. My favourite side with this chicken is Spaghetti Aglio E Olio