Suzi please keep us posted!! Pistachios are amazing. I know they are quite picky about where they can thrive even in native climate in Iran. They are so beautiful though when the nuts are turning coloring... greens, yellows, reds... Eating them not only roasted, but alo fresh is quite a treat. I would love to hear how different varieties end up doing for you. I understand the commercial variety grown in CA is Kerman which sounds like is a seedling from Kerman, Iran. Commercial pistachios from CA are a few notches below the ones in Iran in quality but I think one of the differences is not just in the nut quality but also in the roasting technique. I would try to learn as much as I could about roasting/seasoning them too if I could grow them as I think that is big factor in the end product. I would grow them in a heartbeat if I lived in a nice climate like yours. If you go to a local Persian supermarket, they may have the pistachios often sold by weight you can scoop up and will have em separated from different parts of the world including California and Iran to see the differences in seasoning/roasting.

Here's some info on pruning. It was written by venu209 on that DG site (hush, we can't say the actual site name here lol). So I am officially giving them the credit for this article. Maybe it'll help: I saw some crocus blooming today. What a wonderful sight after a long and snowy winter. Living in the USA this winter seemed to mean living Under Snow Advisory. So with the perky crocus blooms ushering in spring, thoughts of pruning ran round my mind. Just how had my clematis fared through the cold blustery winter? After a few initial inspections, I smiled and headed to the garden shed to..get....my .....PRUNERS. Feared by some and loved by others ( I fall into the latter group) it was tme to wake the pruners from their winter slumber. So you may have heard about the group 1, group 2, group 3 pruning techniques. Some would like to befuddle us more by referring to it as groups A,B,C. I'll stick with 1,2,3. I remember reading about pruning when I first started growing clematis. The advice was to prune to the first set of buds. Okay, great, but what did that really mean? Flower buds? There were no flower buds in March! The first set of buds? Did that mean the first set from the outermost end of the stems or closest to the ground?? The advice should be written as such: Cut just above the first set of leaf buds closest to the ground. That sentence sums up group 3 pruning. When your clem breaks dormancy, live that sentence. You may ask, how do I know when my clems break dormancy? Well, that can be determined by those leaf buds. You will see small, fat, fuzzy things on your vine, similar to pussy willow. That's the sign that your clem is waking from plant hibernation. Now, you may notice that during this pruning process you will be cutting away many leaf buds growing along the stems. DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT. REALLY!! So there you have it folks, group 3 pruning. But wait, what about groups 1 and 2 ?!? I thought I was done, shame on me. So let's talk about group 1. This won't take long......don't prune it. That was easy! Too easy perhaps? No, it's true. If your group 1 clem gets large and unwieldly, then prune it judiciously for shape and to keep it contained. Otherwise, leave it be. This can be done anytime during the growing season. So that leads us to group 2. I didn't do that in order, did I? Group 2 is pruned after it's initial and most stupendous bloom period. In my experience, I find myself pruning the group 2 clems in midsummer. They seem to enter a semi-doormant period in the height of summer. That's when I prune them by about a third or half. I also take out any stems that have browned out due to wilt or heat. Those I take to the ground and send out with the garbage rather than the compost bin. So now I'm done...well almost. Just a couple of tips and tricks. Not sure what Clematis you're growing or what group it falls into? Watch it for a growing season and record it's bloom time and flower type. If it flowers early with a large bloom, it's probably a group 2. If it blooms later in the season, it's most likely a group 3. If it seems to bloom whenever it feels like it, but not big blooms, it might be a group 1. But we know all about group 1, don't we? In any case, even if you use the inappropiate pruning technique for your particular clem, the chances are slim to none that you'll kill it, you just might have to wait a bit longer for blooms. If patience is a virtue, then gardeners are incredibly virtuous. Here's another scenario you might have thought about. The Clematis growing through your shrub. Yes, sounds nice. The weigelia that puts out an awe inspiring spring bloom but is just another green shrub the rest of the season would be beautiful with a clem blooming in it. And it will be, but, and this is a big but, make sure the shrub is mature and large. If you plant a 2 year old shrub with a 2 year old clem, the clem will outpace the shrub 10 to 1. Trust me on that one ;) A group 3 clem might best suit that circumstance as you can prune and yank it before your shrub has leafed out. Okay, I'm really done. I hope I have helped anyone that was stuck knee deep in the clematis pruning quagmire, Oh and by the way, if your Clems are babies, throw out all the group 1 and 2 pruning. Just do group 3 pruning for the first year or three. You will be rewarded. Remember that virtue thing. Can't remember the 1, 2, 3 ? Here's a little poem: One, for the pruners, means no, nada, none Two, for the pruners, means only cut some Three, for the pruners, means lots to be done

Don't be too discouraged if you don't get blooms this spring, either. Irises often take a year or two off of blooming after their roots are disturbed, and since you just replanted them again, it may be next year or the year after before you see blooms. Of course sometimes they can surprise you, so it's not beyond the realm of possibility that they might bloom this spring. Laurie

kmcg85 - omigosh, that floor mirror IS stunning and would be lovely but for two things, the $700 price tag and the 75 pound dog that would chase her ball into the room and run headfirst into the mirror. :) teacats - good point on the gold in the painting. The candleholders look better in the picture than they do in person and may not stay in the room. My bronzes will likely go in there though. justgotabeme had mentioned gold METAL and there isn't much of that around at all. Shiny brass doorknobs that are going are all I can think of. My rug for the sitting area should be here on Saturday. I am in love with it on the computer. Hopefully I will love it in person. :) And I just walked out into the garage and saw the black cabinet we used to have the TV on in the library. I think it might work in the sitting space for now. There are a couple of coffee tables on craigslist I'm going to go look at today. I am getting antsy. I hate having to wait for men with muscles to be here to move the big furniture back into place. Wah!