It would be nice to "support" my local nursery when it comes to Clematis..but around here..I can't hardly find any...Lowe's, Walmart have those itty bitty orange pots of them from Roseville..I've had success with those but they don't even compare to the Ones I've bought from Dan,Debbie,Murray or Chad..I would rather pay $16.00+ for a well rooted clematis from any of them for something I really really just gotta have!!..It's really strange when I go to the nurseries for they call me the clematis lady..from all the times I've asked if they have any or when will they get some or can I talk to the manager to ask if they'll add them to their inventory..I was SO SHOCKED this year...I saw Lowe's had ONE-GALLON clematis but to my dismay..they were one's I had...I did pay 10bucks for a one-gallon "Snow Queen" that my climbing rosa "Don Juan" asked me to pick up for him..I think they shall be divine together!!...Jeanne

I was going to put my blood type on the helmet too, but an EMT told me he would never pay attention to what someone claims their blood type to be, he uses universal plasma and at the hospital they use a quick blood typing test. The risks of infusing an incompatible blood type are too high. Medical insurance information sounds like a good idea. Although [rant] have you checked what your "insurance" actually covers, lately? Our family of four pays about $16K/year in employee contribution. And our total family deductible is around $12K/year. We have not consumed over $12K/yr of medical care in at least ten years, probably not since the last child was delivered. Basically we pay $16K/year - and my company pays at least as much - for catastrophic coverage. On a day-to-day basis, every doctor visit and every prescription is coming out of my pocket. I'd rather we had the system they have in France. Everyone, rich or poor, has basic, no-frills medical coverage. Those who want nicer, fancier, more sophisticated treatment - private rooms, cutting-edge technology, $100K/yr drugs - have the option of buying commercial insurance policies, if they can afford it and want to. But everyone, rich and poor, has a basic and decent level of care. We may get a version of that in the US, starting in 2014. Maybe. "There's many a slip, 'twixt the cup and the lip." Who knows if it will actually happen. [/rant] After reading this http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/21/technology/bicyclists-using-cameras-to-capture-accidents.html I got interested in wearing a video camera, so you see on the helmet my initial experiment. It is not the $300 GoPro that a serious biker-recorder wears, but a $38 micro-cam from a Hong Kong mail order hobby shop. Meant for use in radio control aircraft, helos, etc. After experimenting with this cheap camera, I'm putting a nicer videocam on my Santa list. Aside from the "evidence" aspect, it is instructive to view a recorded ride and think about what dangers I did and didn't perceive at the time. I've been riding in traffic since I was a 7 y/o boy riding in downtown Vancouver B.C. on my Peugeot ten-speed, but I still make mistakes every day. Just like we all make mistakes driving, even though we've been doing it all our lives. I'll post a link to some video later. Here is a link that might be useful: NYT Story

As someone who doesn't like design shows, I'm really looking forward to a new cooking channel! I can't tolerte most of the cooks on The Food Channel. I don't like how they use film for the shows instead of tapes, it makes a big difference. Paula Deen's show uses tape, the others are film, I think. The Bark hotdog sounds like fun...coming from a hotdog girl! Just no low talkers like the Contessa or whatever her name is. lol

I have Broadway Sparkler here and it is probably one of the few short scaped and small bloom daylilies that I own but it always opens perfectly here. Increases great. Your photo of Get Jiggy is probably one of a few that shows it opening fully. Nice pic. Aaron Brown looks to have many buds yet to open. Is it short scaped or just the angle of the photo?