Hello everyone! I'm definitely NOT a fan of Wal-Mart, although I can appreciate the reasons why people shop there. Wal-Mart has extremely low prices, but I am absolutely NOT convinvced their products are of good quality. One of the few things I bought was a garden-hose-spray-nozzle for .99 which broke within a few days. At a yard sale, I got 2 used garden-hose-spray-nozzles for $1 each, which have held up faithfully. 4 years ago, My mom bought a kids' mountain bike for her grandson. What a piece of crap that was. Crappy enough to make a kid not want to ride a bike. Yes, it was very inexpensive, but who cares, if its just junk? I bought my mountain bike on local-ebay, 2nd hand, for a lot less than what it'd cost new. Walmart clothes: decent, but Target is far better. I'm lucky to live in a metropolitan area, where thrift stores are chock-full of good clothes. Nobody does a better job of being thrifty than me: I'm enthusiastic about buying things 2nd hand, at thrift stores, auctions, on craigslist.org, in the local paper, etc. I get a lot of great things, used. Where I live, anything I need can be found for a good price at smaller stores (...every store is smaller than Walmart). And if paying a little more means supporting a smaller and/or local store, I will do so. Smaller stores sometimes have great sales! I believe in supporting small/smaller businesses, because I believe they are healthy for our economy, from which everyone benefits. I wrote a letter to the mayor of Oregon City, thanking her for saying "no" to a Walmart store being built here. (She wrote me back!) Another point: Don't buy anything just because it's dirt cheap. Garbage service costs, and the landfills have enough junk already. How much useless crap could a household possibly need?

Dana - I have swollen buds also on MM. I was worried cuz the roots were so short. The other Peaces have some some big swollen buds also. I have about 40 roses arriving next month plus some other perennials. I'm planting a hillside so DH doesn't have to mow there. I'm lucky; have 2.5 acres...lots of room. I am getting Country Dancer also along with some other great Bucks. Yesterday was great outside - 69 degrees!; cut down all my clematis and cleaned out some hydrangea beds. Now talking snow again tonight and tomorrow. What a tease! Also forgot ...have lots of clematis to offer also. They can be white or purple..they spring up all over the place. -t

I was lucky and got two very good Smoky bushes a couple of months ago and they continue to do very well. One is still in a pot and the other I have already transplanted out of the pot and into the garden where it is starting to put out some very pretty though smallish blooms. Both had a moderate case of BS when I got them but it was vanquished rather easily and quickly thank goodness and they are staying healthy and vigorous with my routine care and spraying. No more BS at all. I also have a three year old Chicago Peace and a three year old Color Magic I purchased from K-Mart's body bag section and though they do grow and bloom, they just really aren't very vigorous or floriferous and will probably get SP'd next spring and replaced with something from the pot ghetto. John

I couldn't resist this piece since it is to all political parties it doesn't seem to be partial to any one: Wal-Mart vs. The Corrupt Morons 1. Americans spend $36,000,000 at Wal-Mart Every hour of every day. 2. This works out to $20,928 profit every minute! 3. Wal-Mart will sell more from January 1 to St. Patrick's Day (March 17th) than Target sells all year. 4. Wal-Mart is bigger than Home Depot + Kroger + Target +Sears + Costco + K-Mart combined. 5. Wal-Mart employs 1.6 million people, is the world's largest private employer, and most speak English. 6. Wal-Mart is the largest company in the history of the world. 7. Wal-Mart now sells more food than Kroger and Safeway combined, and keep in mind they did this in only fifteen years. 8. During this same period, 31 big supermarket chains sought bankruptcy. 9. Wal-Mart now sells more food than any other store in the world. 10. Wal-Mart has approx 3,900 stores in the USA of which 1,906 are Super Centers; this is 1,000 more than it had five years ago. 11. This year 7.2 billion different purchasing experiences will occur at Wal-Mart stores. (Earth's population is approximately 6.5 Billion.) 12. 90% of all Americans live within fifteen miles of a Wal-Mart. You may think that I am complaining, but I am really laying the ground work for suggesting that MAYBE we should hire the guys who run Wal-Mart to fix the economy. This should be read and understood by all Americans Democrats, Republicans, Independents, EVERYONE!! To President Obama and all 535 voting members of the Legislature, It is now official that the majority of you are corrupt morons: a.. The U.S. Postal Service was established in 1775. You have had 234 years to get it right and it is broke. b.. Social Security was established in 1935. You have had 74 years to get it right and it is broke. c.. Fannie Mae was established in 1938. You have had 71 years to get it right and it is broke. d.. War on Poverty started in 1964. You have had 45 years to get it right; $1 trillion of our money is confiscated each year and transferred to "the poor" and they only want more. e.. Medicare and Medicaid were established in 1965. You have had 44 years to get it right and they are broke. f.. Freddie Mac was established in 1970. You have had 39 years to get it right and it is broke. g.. The Department of Energy was created in 1977 to lessen our dependence on foreign oil. It has ballooned to 16,000 employees with a budget of $24 billion a year and we import more oil than ever before. You had 32 years to get it right and it is an abysmal failure. You have FAILED in every "government service" you have shoved down our throats while overspending our tax dollars. AND YOU WANT AMERICANS TO BELIEVE YOU CAN BE TRUSTED WITH A GOVERNMENT-RUN HEALTH CARE SYSTEM ??