Uh, my kitchen. I don't think so :-(. You have no idea what I have there. The cupboards fell off, I wasn't well, and couldn't stand the thought of even dealing with the ins co, screwed myself out of more, let alone having it all torn up. I'm going to have to face it sometime. I have shower stall boards duct taped to the wall so the cold air doesn't get in so bad. I wish I could move to an apartment for a couple months and get it done, but that costs more money, too. I've been down that road and cannot stand to have the house torn up and pounding, people coming and going, actually ended up in the emergency room over it several years back. Now a whole wall needs to be redone because the studs are rotten from a roof leak for years I didn't know I had until water started dripping down the wall, that means the countertop has to come off, the sink, garbage disposal, bottom cupboards, ugh! That's why I'm escaping by making the outside better first. If I had a "normal" kitchen, that would be a really cool idea. My kitchen is cute if it were fixed back up. Thanks for the suggestions on the primers. I took everybody's suggestion and am definitely using it upside down. I simply do not have time to do all that with all the other work. I have the rose planted that may climb on it if it does ok, but I can't risk putting the rose on that hot brass finish. The stakes for the ladder are so thick, got them for 10 cents apiece, treated, painted, and the way the ladder legs splay out, drilling and putting in two screws which I was going to do originally just was too much to make sure the stakes were on straight. They could be crooked, but what I do do, it has to be as right as I can get it. Let's see, I have the baby crib, the trellis I have to pay somebody to do, my iron plant stand is still in the shop to be welded, better check on that, and that rack. If I can take my time, I can do it, but I'm really feeling the pressure. Habitat Restore just called to say they have a bunch of register covers in, my friend wants me to come see her roses, my other friend wants me to run an ad for her, I made a huge cherry pie I didn't want to do but didn't want the cherries to go bad once I had thawed them out. And I wanted to do a lot with my plants today . . .I'm feeling really stressed. I wish I could be like other people and go, go, go, but I pay a price for it and have to slow down. Sorry. I just feel like everything is closing in on me. It will pass. That's how I cope. Pretend it's not there until I find the strength to deal with it.

Yes, thank you somuch for holding another great swap! Rick and I really enjoyed it! Dessa ~ Please let me know of some extra goodies I can bring to you at your fall swap for the great trade yesterday! It was so great to see youngin's so into gardening. There is a great pleasure in it, and you will learn so much more than just plants. We had a wonderful fime. Thanks to you all for such wonderful treasures to soon be put in my gardens! Tina (and Rick)

Hi all!! I mostly hang at other gardening sites, namely, the microherd with the old SCM convo folks. (But did I mention I have been to MD6 to meet Alfie and the small person! So that's gotta count for something, right??) :-) Anyhoo, Beth, we must be swapping places! lol! I am coming down from Syracuse to attend a wedding in DC that weekend. I was NOT looking forward to this trip (in fact, I was looking for ways to get out of it) until Alfie casually mentioned the swap and I realized I could go!! So, if anyone has plants that don't do well in MD/VA 7 and you think they'd be suited better for the frozen north, bring 'em!! ;-) I will be bringing blondies, and possibly some garden variety (ha!) hostas. The hostas here are j u s t starting to poke their eyes through up here. We don't even have tulips blooming yet, for Pete's sake! And did I mention, frost warnings this week??? Will I have missed cherry blossom season down there by May 6?? Looking forward to it!! Jen who used to live in MD7 but now lives in CNY z5

TRUE CONFESSIONS OF A PLANT AHOLIC OK Prairiemoon2 here is a slightly abbreviated list of what I brought home yesterday from Avant Gardens. Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Ceramic' A miniature Golden Hinoki Cypress. aka Golden Ceramic, and Lynns Golden. Tight undulating golden evergreen fronds slowly form a darling miniature sculpture. New! Chamaecyparis psifera 'Tsukumo' A miniature bun-shaped evergreen with fine textured fern-like blue-green foliage. Cryptomeria japonica 'Tansu' This miniature evergreen reminds one of a sea urchin with its textural spiny green foliage. Slow-growing, it ultimately forms a 15' mound, and therefore is good in troughs.New! Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Gold Fern' A unique form of Hinoki Cypress displaying golden fern-like juvenile foliage on a mounding compact shrub. We found the foliage color is best in part shade. Growth rate is slow, only 3" or so a year. Ultimately a shrub of 4' x 4' Ilex crenata 'Jersey Pinnacle' Valuable for it's upright, dense, yet irregularly branched habit and it's glossy dark green evergreen foliage. 6-8'. Magnolia grandiflora 'Edith Bogue' Considered the most cold hardy of the evergreen magnolias, 'Edith Bogue' has survived -24° F albeit with some defoliation. It has a tight pyramidal form, reaching 40' or more with a width of 15' and narrow, lustrous dark green leaves with brown undersides. In June and July, the creamy 9-12" blossoms fill the air with a sweet, lemony fragrance. Hydrangea anomeles petiolaris 'Miranda' Description: Hydrangea petiolaris 'Miranda' is a new variegated selection of the popular Climbing Hydrangea. Leaves have a gold margin in the spring that fades to creamy white as the season progresses. White Lace cap type flowers. Bark has an interesting exfoliating quality. Slower growing than the species. Zone: 4 Code: hydapm Exposure: sun/pt shade Sedum telephium 'Bon Bon' Pink flower clusters and chocolate colored fleshy foliage adorn tidy 16" clumps. Blooms Aug-Sept. Plant in poor soil and full sun for best results. New! Sedum sieboldii October Daphne. A tidy blue gray hardy succulent with rounded foliage on sprawling wiry stems. The leaves take on pink tones when the cold weather arrives, which compliment the clusters of rosy blossoms in Oct. Prefers lean well drained soil. 6"H x 12"W Regularly $6.95 Sedum cauticola 'Lidakense' This Sedum forms compact mounds of rounded blue to bronzy-red foliage with terminal clusters of starry budded pink flowers in late summer. Sedum telephium 'Red Cauli' A compact sedum, smaller than Autumn Joy with bright red flower clusters above blue-grey, purple tinted fleshy foliage. 12" Sedum platycdus zone 4 sun/pt shade A distinctive Sedumthat forms rosettes of fleshy-blue-gray foliage that has delicately notched edges. Pale yellow flowers in summer on 4" plants. Slowly forms colonies to 15". Euphorbia amygdaloides robbiae Grow this Euphorbia in a protected site with well drained soil in sun or shade. It will reward you with handsome somewhat glossy evergreen daphne-like foliage and airy sprays of yellow green flowers in spring. Mulch in colder zones. Cunninghamia unicanaliculata- Known as Chinese Fir. Leaves are steele blue. Huge triangle leaves to 2 ½ inches long. Can take shade or full sun. This tree is in question by taxonomist. They believe it to be just a variation on the species cunninghamia. Zone 6 height and spread in ten years 12ft 8 ft. Acanthus spinosus Tha hardiest of the "Bear's Breaches", this bold accent plant has large shiny green thistle like foliage and 3' flower spikes with soft mauve blossoms. We have found that siting it in a well-drained protected spot and a winter mulch encourages blooming. Orostachys fimbriata A curiosity for the rock garden or troughs having narrow gray quilled succulent leaves with a purple flush. Chamaecyparis lawsoniana Treasure Island A yellow, miniature, globe of Port Orford Cedar. Found as a sport from Treasure Very tight little ball with yellow foliage. Found in Southern Holland by Wiel Linssen. Height and spread in ten years 1ft by 1 ft zone 5 part shade. Chamaecyparis obtuse Golden Sprite a miniature bun form of Hinoki Cypress with tiny golden yellow leaves on twisted stems. Height and spread in ten years 4" x 1 Chamaecyparis obtuse Emelie a miniature variety of Jap. Hinoki Cypress. Nice green foliage on a small bun shaped plant. Propogates well and looks great. Plant named in 2005 in loving memorie of Emelie Snyder, wife of Marvin Snyder ex-president of American Conifer Society. Height and spread in 10 years 10inches by 10 inches. Chamaecyparis obtuse Leperchaun A miniature variety of Jap Hinoki. Leaves emerald green and very small. Plant is a squatty conical form. Leaves have a tuft appearance. Plant found and introduced by JW Spingarn of Long Island NY. Height and spread in 10 years 1ft x 14 inches zone 5 The beginnings of a tender succulent collection that I wont embarrass my self further by listing. kt