Oh my. What is a passionate rose lover like you doing in that glacial hell hole? Reading about your endeavors has exhausted me and I haven't even lifted a shovel. I admire your grit and determination, but would love to see you rewarded with thousands of blooms on your rose bushes for all your hard work. I bet they could use engineers in zones 7 to 10!

To moccasinlanding: I assure you it is Blue Mammoth I have tried in the past. To Ken: I have yet to find anything left at the door; although I had to adapt quickly back in 2011 when my mother brought to me BOTH T-Rex and Blue Mammoth. And yes I smiled and did say thank you very nicely. Having both WAS NOT my plan at that moment. She is threatening to "share" some of her Mouse Ears next summer (not sure what variety she is talking about as of yet. Honesty I do get nearly 100% sun for about 2 to 3 hours from about noon in my garden (working on eliminating that next year). 'Popcorn' simply dropped its green in August; it did have an intense gold yellow as it faded. I thought that moment was exciting. 'Vulcan' took off, and exploded into growth making every other hosta look bad last year. 'Gorgon' was a close second in that department. 'Frosted Mouse Ears' and 'Holy Mouse Ears' each seem to have settled in with polite growth. 'Xanadu Empress Wu' was planted in August, and that even tried to take off by growing leaves that were twice the size of what it came with. In short I am expecting a 86% (18 out of 21 plants) survival rate next spring with only three plants not coming up (as mentioned at my blog). Those being ... Blue Mammoth, Itsy Bity Spider, and Popcorn. Naturally they have the option of surprising me, and appearing on cue. Everything else looked in good shape when I cut everything back Mid-October for their long winter nap! Finally Ken, to be honest, I do have a few theories as to why my 2013 survival rate was 56% (from 18 hosta to 10 hosta). I can't discuss those until I see what happens next spring (2014; trying to be objective here folks). Hint keep watching my blog for a lengthy narrative on that topic there. Peter Kelley St. Paul, MN USA

we have lots of animals out here, I have seen the roadrunners- there are 7 of them, drink from the water trough. In fact every one of the animals come out to drink there. Stray dogs you name it. A wondering horse two weeks ago. It is very sad. My chickens are beyond the stage where they are laying eggs. They are doing alright but just like everyone else, trying to stay in the shade. My veggies looked so bad- the okra is still growing though, I have opened the garden gates to let the rabbits and other animals in to dine. I do have green beans growing on the porch. But nothing too exciting. We do have a pond in the yard as well that I fill, I think lots of people are trying to help all the wildlife they can

Thanks everyone..... wi-sailorgirl, thanks for the tip! I will check it out. Going to try to go over to the house today to compare windows to the White dove......sure does look like it would be close. dawnp, thanks for the confidence! I really appreciate it. You wouldn't happen to have any pics of your White Dove??? valinsv, I was thinking along those lines but thought that exact same thing.....that my pic would end up looking like a failed match. I thought BM Dove Wing (OC-18) would be great, but not sure if that's enough contrast. I really don't want to go any darker though. It seems perfect, but I can't help but be nervous. maybe I will get a few sample pots and test it out before I commit. I had considered all the same color, but think that large area needs broken up just a teeny bit. Did you end up painting your furniture? If so, i'd love to see. When I look at the BM color card that includes White Dove and Dove Wing, those shades look like a "grayish beige" to me. Am I correct in thinking that?