Potted Cordylines over here are on sale for around £5 each for a decent plant of say 2ft in height, once in the ground they romp away and look very similar to a 'proper palm'. A tree company a few miles from where I live sells mature Jelly Palms at £699!! as well as Dracaenas, Agaves and Phormiums and other cold hardy palms and exotics. Tree ferns are now 'the UK in thing to grow' and can also be found in large DIY stores locally. Other 'true palms' such as Jelly and Chinese Windmills can be seen in London as the city areas create a micro-climate that provide good conditions for them. The Edinburgh palms are probably growing at the worlds most northerly limit according to what I've just read. Cordylines are also known as Torbay Palms in the UK and have been grown for decades in the south coastal towns around Torquay, and in many others, so much so it has been adopted as the tourist symbol for the Torbay area. Canary Isl palms also grow there. As I said, in almost every place here you will find a Cordline growing somewhere and maybe other true palms if you are lucky. Gill Here is a link that might be useful: palms in Scotland's Logan Gdns.

I always plant Packman, and I get the seed from Willhite. My favorite new broccoli variety is Piricicaba although I have a heck of a time remembering how to spell it. Three of the 12 or 15 Piricicaba plants I put into the ground last March or April are still in the ground, still alive and still producing small side shoots. (This variety doesn't produce big heads.) So, it is both the most heat-tolerant and cold-tolerant broccoli I ever have seen, having survived temperatures as high as 115 degrees during the summer and as low as 16 degrees so far this winter. In 2012, I am going to plant half Packman and half Piricicaba. Packman never makes heads as large as some other broccoli varieties, but year in and year out it is the most consistently productive broccoli variety I've ever grown, although I think Piricicaba may give it a run for its money. Likely I'll always plant both Packman and Piricicaba. Packman will produce large spring yields and I can freeze a lot of that since it produces so much over a short period of time, and Piricicaba will keep us in smaller amounts of fresh broccoli over a longer time period. I'm going to link the Piricicaba description from Bountiful Gardens, since that is the source from whom I obtained the seed. I've noticed it is available from more seed companies this year, including Baker Creek, Nichols and FedCo. I think 2 of those 3 companies had it last year as well. By the way, for anyone searching for heat-tolerant veggie, herb and flower varieties, both Willhite and Bountiful Gardens carry a lot of varieties that are exceptionally tolerant of hot weather. Here is a link that might be useful: Piricicaba Broccoli

My husband was in michigan this week and that was one of the flights he thought about taking on thursday night. He flies a lot and it just hit close to home. Clarence is not far from where we live. We are a little more out in the country. Big sigh of relief. When the news came on at 10pm they announced at the end of the broadcast that a plane had crashed by the airport, but they didn't know anything yet. By the time the 11pm news came on, it was not until after the weather that their news crews made it to the neighborhood and they announced it was a commercial plane. WIVB broadcast without commercial break until I went to bed at 2am. When my husband called to say he was alright i was so grateful. (wipes tears and sniffles) Fran, Could i have the blanket flower, please? BTW, DS#3 watered my keyboard once, its still a little iffy. We set it in from of the blower on the woodstove for a week. Just FYI those of you sowing in the keys LOL! Thank all of you for the prayers. Families here are esp. close knit and things like this are difficult for anyone. Praying for your FIL, too Nichol. Fleethart

Korean Cabbage Kimchi 3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon pickling salt 6 cups water 2 lbs. Chinese (Napa) cabbage, cut into 2-inch squares 6 scallions, cut into 2-inch lengths, then slivered 1 1/2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger 2 tablespoons Korean ground dried hot pepper (or other mildly hot ground red pepper) 1 teaspoon sugar [anchovy paste, to taste - my addition] Dissolve the 3 tablespoons salt in the water. Put the cabbage into a large bowl, a crock, or a nonreactive pot, and pour the brine over it. Weight the cabbage down with a plate. Let the cabbage stand for 12 hours. Drain the cabbage, reserving the brine. Mix the cabbage with the remaining ingredients, including the 1 teaspoon salt. Pack the mixture into a 2-quart jar. Pour enough of the reserved brine over the cabbage to cover it. Push a freezer bag into the mouth of the jar, and pour the remaining brine into the bag. Seal the bag. Let the kimchi ferment in a cool place, at a temperature no higher than 68° F, for 3 to 6 days,until the kimchi is as sour as you like. Remove the brine bag, and cap the jar tightly. Store the kimchi in the refrigerator, where it will keep for months. Makes about 1 1/2 Quarts from The Joy of Pickling by Linda Ziedrich It's best to use the Korean red chili powder for this to get the right flavor. Every time someone mentions cabbage, I have to go to the fridge and eat some Kimchi. The kimchi I buy in Koreatown has shrimp sauce or anchovies added to it, and so you might want to add that to the recipe. I don't like too strong of an anchovy flavor, however. You could also make sauerkraut, but I don't have a recipe for that. Lars