Look at all of your space and your wonderful gardens! I agree with you re: Liberty, it is my favourite this time of year as well. I have transplanted trilliums successfully, I have four clumps here in my subdivision garden. hostahosta - do you get plenty of the rhizomes and roots below that? That is the most important thing even if you don't get much of the 'plant'. The following year is when you see them flourish as the year of transplant they will appear to 'die' after transplant in the spring.

For small-medium plants some of the large 4 ring, 4 leg cages work for me. However, it is best if the legs are pushed in until the first ring rests on the ground. It is much more stable and usually doesn't need an additional stake to keep a mature plant upright. I cringe when I see people pushing cages only a few inches into the ground and usually see them tipped over a month later unless they have reinforced them with other stakes. The extra 6 inches of height is not worth the flimsy, tipping over cage that results. Of course sometimes I have to make several attempts to get a cage in far enough when there are rocks in the soil. But it is better to spend the time when the plant is small than attempt to fix things when it is larger.

Maggie, The kids are adorable. What cute poses! Have you recovered from Sandy? Your town sounds like it was hammered. Our library is built up on a good sized hill and is still standing. The town square was flooded badly. The post office and fire departments suffered damage but will recover. Our famous bascule bridge was opened during the storm and came through in better shape than we had a right to expect. So, all in all, our public infrastructure is wet, battered, but still in operation. Every week it seems we have one fewer "Closed Due To Storm Damage" sign around town. Progress is slow but is happening. A few downtown businesses are gone for good though. You are so right about the volunteers, agencies, faith based groups. We met people from all over the country here to help. Even Hawaii. Most of the FEMA people were retired and FEMA calls them to service during times of disaster. They are well seasoned in disasters and their calming influence was much needed. I was very impressed with how well all the volunteer groups buoyed the kids' spirits. They were scared and Mom/Dad were busy and preoccupied but it seemed like somebody was always quick to spot need and offer support, a Kleenex, or miraculously show up with a teddy bear. It does make you proud to be an American. I was also proud that there was no looting in our area so officials could concentrate their efforts elsewhere. Thanks for checking in. Hope you're okay or will be soon. /tricia

I saw this! Political stuff aside, I think if it were me, I would have been so stunned to see such an - IMO - incredibly easy clue that I would have thought it was a trick question, that it couldn't possibly be bleeding heart, and so I probably would have put down the wrong answer!