A bunch of Lens hybrid musks from europe. Sibelius was a most surprising little purple, Pleine de Grace, Matchball and Jaqueline Humery are healthy and delightful (had a white thing going on) My new rose hedge (well, post and wire between 2 allotment plots) has Nastarana (still very small and delicate), Goldfinch (think I may have to move this as it is going to be far too widely bushy), Leontine Gervaise and Ayreshire Splendens - very promising with trainable canes and an ability to grow almost horizontal - the most successful in the hedge, I think) Climbing Iceberg, and a rescued rugosa complete the hedge. I also have Aimee Vibert - slow, no flowers yet but healthy, paired with a softly cream hybrid helenae which is also quite small still (am expecting a lot more growth to meet Aimee over a long, high timber structure (currently doing duty as pea and bean pole supports). A couple of Austins, Crocus rose (being mugged by a large clump of cornflowers and thalictrum) and Summer Song - a great colour but terrible growth habit and not very healthy. The other duff rose is a Poulsen rennaissance rose, Lilliana/Claire Rennaissance - awful BS. Jasmina (Kordes), Perpetually Yours and Penny Lane(Harkness) and Nahema (Delgard, I think)are a healthy bunch, propping up various veggie posts and the like about the allotment - all work well, are healthy and good choices. Another early yellow, R.cantabridgiensis, a little spinossissima and R.pomifera duplex/Wolley Dods rose are perfect roses for my sandy soil and and open, windy plot - they are unblemished and beautiful with enough blossom to promise much more in coming years. Most disappointing is Hot Chocolate, which has languished next to Summer Song doing nothing - annoyingly, Liliana is also part of this vignette along with zinnias which are also rubbish (this weather!). The imagined glowing scenario of paprika and peach is gappy and splotchy - I avert my eyes. The most surprising is Crepuscule, a make up the numbers choice, bounding into flawless healthy beauty in a tricky but fertile spot (side of the compost bays). I expect the compost mountain will be prettily disguised next year. Most vigorous and fastest is, unsurprisingly Darlows Enigma - I think this rose is going to take to a UK climate with vim and vigour - a truly delicious rose, perfect for the rampageous allotment. Oh yeah, a couple of oddities, another hulthemia Alissar, Princess of Phoenicia (what a name!) and Pomponella - love them both. Finally, my failure rose - Pauls Scarlet Climber - done in by a vicious bindweed and an uncaring owner.

The NJ State Forestry Nursery has native conifers at a cheap price. You get a 100 bare root seedlings for $30. They have white pine, short leaf pine, pitch pine, Virginia pine, loblolly pine, pitch X loblolly pine (hybrid) Norway spruce (non-native), and Atlantic white cedar (more expensive - larger size). They don't deliver by mail. Instead you have them pick it up at one of their drop off locations around the state. I bought from them last year for my first time. I got pitch X loblolly pine and they were in excellent condition. I will definitely buy seedlings from them in the future. If they don't have what you are looking for then you can look around at some other state nurseries. Many sell to out of state residents and you can have them mailed. One nursery I've always had good luck with is Cold Stream Farms. http://www.coldstreamfarm.net/c-10-conifers.aspx They have lots of conifers that are native to NJ If you live in Sussex Co. - eastern larch, black spruce, red pine They also have hemlock, white pine, red cedar. I'm in Hunterdon County and I bought eastern larch and black spruce from Cold Stream Farms 3 years ago. All are doing well. Some of the larch are already over 8 feet.

When we did our kitchen remodel 4 years ago we bought a Fisher Paykel double oven from Gauchenaur's in Pennsylvania and saved "THOUSANDS. I called FP to inquire about the warranty and they assured me that warranty was covered anywhere in the world. So I bought it and had it shipped to Lloyd's Electronics in Lynden Wa.(we live in Langley so its convenient and have used this depot for many items over the years) As it turned out we did have trouble with the ovens and they had to be replaced but had no trouble at all with the warranty aspect of it. If you wanted more info on the shipping/border etc. just ask. My daughter bought her FP dishdrawer and farm sink the same way but has not required warranty on either. Fred Mc.

I'm sure one of the ways they keep down the price is by foregoing the number of salaries they'd have to pay for more customer service and the technology updates that would let them pass more info to the customer. I have to admit for a prejudice for independent dealers. My dealer did a lot of research for me before I spent a penny. Research with the actual manufacturers' reps, well beyond what I could find online as a consumer. She then continued to advocate for me when I had some issues that need resolving. And that's with a significant contractor's discount (and, yes, they've been the go-to dealer for my contractor ever since). Besides the buying experience, however, there's also the fact that the dealer has a good repair fleet. One feels well taken care of from start to finish. Not all independent dealers are that good, but many are. This one also has a significant online business. I don't know if their online business is equally good, but I feel better knowing that they're not just a boiler room and a warehouse. :) I wouldn't hesitate to buy from Eurostoves, because they have a giving and accessible online presence in the form of Trevor, as well as many glowing reviews from satisfied customers.