Hey neighbor! I'm just south of you in NC near Elizabeth City. Anyway, last year was my first year winter sowing. I didn't do many herbs other than basil (I waited on basil like I did the tomatoes and peppers). Oh, I did winter sow chamomile, corriander and I think borage in December with great results. I would think things like chives would be great for wsing. As for the tomatoes and peppers, I waited until mid to late February for those. Our weather here is so odd. One day you are in the 70's and the next night we are down in the high 20's. Because of this fact I waited for the peppers and tomatoes. Also, after peppers and tomatoes germinated, I did bring those jugs in on nights with freezing temps but the jugs went back out the next day. Others with more experience say they ws their tomatoes and peppers in the bitter cold. I just can't bring myself to do that. But hey, I grew ALL my own tomato plants last year even gave some away to friends and neighbors and sold some at our neighborhood yard sale. I had tomatoes out the whazoo all summer. My only "oh no's" last year was alyssum. Had some great plants going but they froze solid and died in that freeze we had mid February '07. Michelle

I was fortunate to view the interesting plant Dipteronia sinensis at Quarryhill Arboretum at Sonoma, CA this past spring. With only a casual glance one would think it was a negundo or henryi. Quarryhill Botanical Garden is a non-profit botanical garden dedicated to advancing the conservation, study, and cultivation of the temperate Flora of Asia. It is a very interesting place to visit. Their collection is at the most only 15 years old, so plants are very young. It will be a spectacular place to visit in 15 years! Their website hosts a very useful Database of Asian Plants in Cultivation. It allows you to find Arboretums throughout the US that have a particular plant. http://www.calacademy.org/research/...yhill/index.asp

Once an individual plant blooms, that stem will wither and die. That does not mean you should cut the entire clump, only the spent bloom stalk. You were well advised, heliconias look better well groomed, with older leaves trimmed off. I believe trimming back bloomed out stalks allows the rhizome to put its energy into sending new shoots. Bill

Whoa, if you get a degree in industrial arts you get to acquire carpentry textbooks along the way?!? Sweet! Kim, I've always enjoyed/appreciated your contributions; given the wisdom of trial and error that was behind them, I see why they stood out. My mom got us a couple of the Reader's Digest fixit books (have to run downstairs, one of them might be the very one you have); I like the way they are encyclopedic and detailed. I know Jane Powell but not the Small Houses books (do you mean The Not So Big stuff by Susanka, or the Small House anthologies from Fine Homebuilding?) Thanks for mentioning books; I think I might start a reference book thread for this forum. Hey Casey, THANKS for taking the bait. And you are NOT a bloody genius, you are an old house DEITY for crying out loud! Would you please start your own show on youtube? Or maybe just a house tour? Even Petch house has youtube videos. Or, do you already have a project blog and everyone knows about it but me? Actually for someone with a degree in historic preservation, I am impressed with how low-key your posts come across; they read more like an old friend who's "been there" and wants to pass along lessons learned along the way, it's really very nice and encouraging. But if you ever want to browbeat me feel free; I would take it as a compliment. To be honest if I post about something I'm thinking of doing to my house, and you don't opine, I figure one of two things is going on: 1) you're not on the forum; or 2) you're politely disapproving. Most of the time I assume it's 2 because you seem to be pretty consistent around here. But I just want to say, and I hope I speak for many, that I love love love your posts, especially when I'm searching on a problem I'm trying to solve and something from you pops up! (PS I finally got around to using that general finishes gel varnish you recommended and it was fantastic, thank you; I will post photos to the woodworking forum sometime before the next census.) Oh, and I love the way you "aged" the color tones in the new pine beadboard in your kitchen; reminds me of the pine in my grandmother's kitchen. When I was really little I used to look at the gleaming pores and think it was the closest wood could get to 24K gold.