When my daughter was approximately 6 years old we were out in the yard making a map of my gardens and putting the names of each plant on the map, she looked at me mid way and asked "Mom when you die will I get your hostas!" I asked her if she wanted them, and she answered "yes". I assured her she would as long as she wanted them! She is now almost 11 and she knows alot of the names, hopefully when the time comes she will still want my hostas and I hope she gets as much pleasure from them as I have. I too moved into a house that had a much neglected yard after the wife passed away, and sat as an empty house for a couple of years. The yard was overgrown with black raspberries, violets, elderberry and crazy ground cover that I would never wish on anyone. I started in one area very slowly removing unwanted overgrowth and found one small hosta, not very big, basic smaller round leaves with white edges. I split it up in several different clumps and it was the beginning of my hosta interest. Now I have over a 100 and can't stop! I grew up with a Mother who had a love of flowers and a Dad that grows an awesome garden. I can only hope it carries on!

I also get my supplies from BrambleBerry although I am an East-coaster. I like to put my bars into deodorant tubes, which I buy on eBay. Since things are being shipped, it's probably good to look for oils with long shelf lives and order in cooler weather. If you want to make your bars in molds, my favorites are silicone baking molds. They come in a variety of shapes, you can get them at local stores and it is easy to pop your bars out.

AnnPann - I have read that book Go the F*** to Sleep, and laughed out loud about it. It seems to sum up the desperation that new parents may feel when their lovely little darling won't sleep... However, I read an interesting article that asked if the book would have been so funny if it had been written by a mother/woman. Would people still think it was funny if the mum had written it or would she (the author) be considered whiny? Quite interesting to think about, really. It seems that a lot of new fathers in this day and age are patted on the back for being "involved" and taking their kids to the grocery store, when, in fact, this is an everyday occurrence for many of the mothers. Just an interesting point to think about. I still liked the book tho.

jjpeace, and anyone interested my first 3 Pomponella from Palatine where huge for my zone also. Buy the 3rd year many thick canes would reach over the top of my head ( 5'5" ) then fountain out making her anywhere from 8 to 12 feet across. The grafts eventually rotted out. She had gone own root so I was able to save a good hunk of her own root and replanted else where. She's making a come back as an own root. I also planted a new one from Palatine just in case. hcarnevale, I really miss those beautiful blooms. Yours is gorgeous. Bonnie I don't think I've ever seen a warm zone photo of Pomponella but I have visions of a disappearing home.