Hi Ingrid: Susan, or poorbutrichrose, was the one who solved my "beige", rather than supposedly "pink" daffodils problem. I was looking at Susan's pics and noticed how deep and gorgeous her colors are, such as Rhapsody in Blue and Inkspots roses. She informed me that she put bonemeal and compost in her MiracleGro Moisture Control potting soil. Bonemeal is high in phosphorus, which makes pink color deeper. Phosphorus is more available in my last house, with acidic soil, that's why my pink daffodils were deep pink. But in my present house with alkaline soil, phosphorus is not released, thus my daffodils are "blah beige". If you want the "blue" pigment to deepen your "The Dark Lady", aluminum sulfate is suggested to turn hydrangea blue as well. Check out this quote taken from the link below: "TED STEPHENS, horticulturist and owner of Nurseries Caroliniana, in South Carolina, wrote in his most recent catalog: Generally, an acidic or low pH will induce 'blueness'; whereas, a higher or alkaline pH will induce 'pinkness or redness'. Work in England seems to indicate that higher aluminum content influences blueness more than pH levels. We gave Dr. Jim Midcap of the U. of GA a number of plants on which to run "color changing" experiments. By applying aluminum sulphate at the rate of 2 ounces in a 3 gallon container, he was able to change 'Masja', which is normally a red, to a brilliant blue. This application was made as soon as flower buds were evident in the new shoots in the spring, about 6 weeks before flower maturity." The link stated to turn hydrangea "blue": Reduce the strength of the Aluminum sulfate to 1/4 oz per gallon of water. Since I'm working on the opposite, getting my daffodils reddish pink, I'll shop for bonemeal (phosphorus) and sulfur this fall. If not, I'll apply horse manure (has both phosphorus & iron & plus potassium) .... to see if it makes my pink daffodils deeper pink in springtime. Here is a link that might be useful: How to impart more red versus more blue

Heidi, You crack me up!!! I can just see you smiling sweetly at your DH while thinking to yourself "I have no idea where these are going, honey!" lol lol lol I am SO GLAD you made it to the organic show! You and your extravagant mail order purchase of heirloom tomatoes in 2005 were one of the reasons I posted the report on the show, so you'd know that next year it wouldn't be necessary to order plants and pay a king's ransom in shipping!!! Also, you know I will raise any tomatoes you want next year when I grow my own! So, tell me what you bought for ants in the veggie garden. I have purchased both Gardenville's Auntie Fuego and one of the new spinosad products for the fire ants in my veggie garden, but haven't put them out yet. And I bought Seranade for future, anticipated foliar problems on tomato plants (it is a given that they will occur, the only question is when and how bad they will be). And, speaking of ants in the garden, did you see the thread a week or two ago from the guy who put Over and Out Fireant Killer in his vegetable garden? Might have been on the Vegetable forum or the Organic forum? Talk about ruining your soil for years and years to come. I belive if I were that guy, I'd hire a bulldozer and have several FEET of soil removed and replaced. Did your friend get sweet potato slips at Horns? I know that it is the usual time to plant them, but the nights are staying so darn cold! Well, I am glad you had a great Sunday in spite of your dance workshop being cancelled. ANY day spent shopping for plants is a great day, isn't it? Dawn

rknee I'd be curious to know which Lexus model you were asking about, and what the discount was. Can you take delivery of that car this month, is it an 09 model or 08 and unless you recieved a signed order form stating the price (hopefully discounted for real) all you have is a sales pitch. Great on the appliances, but a package leads me to believe you weren't just shopping UMRP appliances. I could sell you all wolf stuff and give you a whatever not subject to UMRP, no charge delivery, and as long as I still make money everyone is happy. Wolf is happy, your happy. It only matters long term for me if I don't make money, I'll probably fold shop. You won't care because your unlikely to buy another set of appliances for a while, and I'm sure you could find another niave appliance guy when the time comes. At the end of the day you will look out for your bottom line and I'll look for mine. It's the way the free market works. Fortunately for both there are plentyof choices for both dealers and customers.

What a fun thread! All this talk of cleaning toilets brings me to contribute my favorite toilet cleaning tool: a toilet mop. DH first used these in college when he cleaned the 3rd floor dorm bathrooms as his work-study job. (The guys loved him, they had the cleanest bathrooms in the whole dorm!) He begged me to find a toilet mop when we were fist married, but I only found the bristle styles in stores. He said the mop style worked so much better. A few years later I heard about toilet mops in Don Aslett's cleaning books, but, again, I could never find one locally. Then I was swayed by Flylady hype and ordered "rubba swishas," and sadly, hated them for their intended purpose. After waiting for the scrubba to die, grumbling each time I used it, I finally broke down and looked for toilet mops on Amazon, and came across the Fuller Brush model. It works great, and I really like the flexible plastic cover that can be used to squeeze out the excess water after using it. I plan to put a command hook on the side of the tank and hang the mop by the hole in the handle. (I also tried a mop with a nylon type fluff head and didn't like it nearly as much as the Fuller Brush one.) Fuller Brush Toilet Swab Now I see Amazon has a Don Aslett model, but I've not tried them.