I'd be guessing the 1950s during the craze for Oriental style decorations brought on by the popularity of the musical "Anna & the King of Siam." These gals have a 50s look about them. Great find and I love the colors too!

Gooseneck loosestrife (Lysimachia clethroides) is an aggressive spreader to be sure but it is NOT a listed invasive.........BIG difference. Personally, I love the plant and make the time to plant it so that it won't spread beyond its bounds (root barriers, container sunk into the ground, etc.) I have also found that planting it in hot, dry conditions limits its spread significantly. It has never popped up from seed anywhere I have seen nor does one find untended, unplanted clumps of it, so that likely why it is not a listed invasive species. I agree the fall color is striking and I would combine it with any other perennial that blooms about the same time and is also a vigorous grower and profuse bloomer. I like White Flower Farm's suggestion to combine with Monarda - that is also a very aggressive spreader, as is Helianthus 'Lemon Queen'. Plant 'em together and let 'em duke it out! LOL! I guess it depends on how much one likes the plant as to how willing one is to deal with its foibles............some aggressive spreaders do seem not to be worth the effort. But it's hard not to appreciate that sea of white curving blooms on a well grown clump of gooseneck loosestrife or what it adds to a cut bouquet and I choose to make the extra effort to keep it check for that reason.

No problem, maybee. If you don't want to read it - no one said that you had to. The reference to the high living related to students in Univ. that go to sleep at the beginning of the class that they paid expensive tuition to attend ... because they celebrated a bit too loud and long on the previous evening ... was that I would feel it necessary to help them get their money's worth! It was made substantially tongue-in-cheek, with regard to your situation. Anyway - what responsibility do I have to waken you ... you didn't pay any fees, here! Sorry if I offended you ... I do instigate some levity around here, at times. However - would you like to deal with the issue? Rather than shooting the messenger. I was checking my old copies of the financial magazine that I respect, this evening. I found a saying that I like. "Financial freedom is ... priceless! Pass it on!". Learning how money works is useful, and pays. And I've been offering my viewpoint regarding using money more effectiely for some time. To help people achieve financial freedom. Free ... here. Anyone who wishes to check it out is welcome, and if many choose not to, that's fine ... I wouldn't twist arms, even if I could. I don't appreciate others trying to live my life for me, though I take heed of their comments regarding it. I have felt for years as a counsellor that my task with others is to help them examine and deal with various aspects of their life that they invite me to do, in ways that will enable them to cope with living more effectively, on their own. It's not up to me to make others' decisions for them - they need to become increasingly capable to manage their own lives more effectively. I want individuals and families to learn how to run their own money. A local man who makes presentations about money management laments that there isn't more of it taught in schools, and I agree. Is it possible to buy a dollar's worth of value for 60 cents, as that mutual funds' manager said? Who knows. But I still think that it makes sense to do some buying, as time goes along. As many say ... trying to time the market is a fool's game. "What's the greatest risk in the investment market", asked one writer in the mag, "being in the market when it's going down?". "No - not being in it when it's going up!" was his advice. Good wishes for managing your income and assets with increasing skill. ole joyful P.S. I want to be able to fund what part of my future medical services which are not covered by the Canadian medical and hospital care system, for which I am mightily thankful, though I've made minimal use of it, thus far. Plus cover residential and nursing home care, as may be required. Plus pay for funeral and final income tax. I want to leave some assets for my offspring, for I feel that there may well be some troubled years ahead for our economy - and I'd like to leave as much extra cushion to enable them to cope with it as I can. And I want to support some charities at the end of my life, as I have during it. I lived for years where people had to scrounge what they could to build themselves a shack and wondered where the next meal was coming from. That has an effect. No way could I justify owning one home for year-round use, plus a second for a short stay in summer: millions have been able to (so far) ... I can't. Also - it takes a great deal of energy, which reduces the remaining supply, plus adds to both global warming and pollutants flying around the air and water, to build an automobile. It cost me more a few months ago to fix my 20 year old car than I paid for it less than a year previously, but I think that there's a good possibility that it will run for quite a few miles yet, so felt that it was the responsible thing to do to repair it. We should get on the backs of the builders of our appliances, requiring them to build appliances that will last for 40 years rather than 10, as it takes a lot of resources plus much heating and polluting energy to build a fridge. Soon after they began building fridges, 70 years ago, they were building ones that would last for 40 years. They won't do it now, for they want us to buy new, again ... soon. We can no longer afford such foolishness. They say that it'll take the resources of four planets like ours to serve the needs of our world with its present population, if most of them get to live higher on the hog, anywhere similar to what we've been used to. Further ... I grew up a few years after the Dirty Thirties, the Great Depression ... and during the six years of scarcity during World War II. o j

lkplatow is very close to me and I was fortunate enough to get to meet her this Spring! We both commented how none of our friends 'get it'. Unfortunately time and $$$ prevents me from going oout and about to the places I desire to go so much. We talked about a trip to Stoudts in Lancaster and all of those great flea-markets/ antique malls but it would torture me too muchn to not be able to buy and to get so many ideas that I can't do anything about at this time. Like dream about my own small shop (I would also sell cupcakes - inside joke!). DH is much better w/ it since he started working in the furniture biz and that's good Since I'm constantly repurposing what we have. My mom is great to go out w/ and she does work at an antiques mall very PT but she's 4 hours away from me and only gets 1 wknd off. My sister would be great but she's more of a 'Can you do something w/ my house while you're here?' kind of call. Not exactly a visionary. Everybody elses eyes just glaze over so I don't talk about it anymore. My boss just says 'Come over - can you do something w/ this? Whatever you want to do.' I confess to showing my magazines to my 6 and 4yr old boys and asking them their opinions. DD (2) is bound to be the next Kelly Wearstler the way she crayons all over our walls. Either that or she has a future as a grafitti artist. For now her art lives on our walls. Oh well maybe someday we can be decorating buddies. Or someday I'll catch a breath and lkplatow and I can really get together.