Ab Pip as in Newtown? I don't know, my niece's were pretty much bug free with no spray but it's (or was ... I'm working on her and her acres :) ) the only apple within sight and her pear is extremely hard and late. I'd love to put a scion from her tree there but I think it would be the same problem different apple. If you meant AR Black it seems fairly bug resistant. By the time that tree was bearing the bugs were winning the organic battle and I was giving up and not even trapping. I'd still get a handful that weren't perfect for storage but were edible. I had some perfect apples from it during my neglect period but nothing to get excited about. Most of the damaged late term apples from it were apple maggot, they're constant all through the summer. I didn't start spraying (which is where I am a newbie) until late June/early July last year and there were some curculio drops but nothing like from the Cortland/McIntosh. But they are rock hard, or if I was writing a catalog, "crisp" (I wonder if the kids that stole a branchful in September will be stealing any this year). I hope my flowers are off and it's not going to rain so I can get out and spray today. A good fruit set of McIntosh without a wave of curculio drops will be heaven.

Harvestman, I think you're correct about the sunlight factor as well. We've had persistent gloom here, very few actual sunny hours -- I'd bet something like 20% of normal since spring began if I had to take a guess. I've noticed that many plants seem very "wimpy" compared to normal. They're lush in a sense because of all of the water, but also rather "spindly" and kind of peaked looking -- things just don't look happy. I haven't gotten to spray at all yet, not once. Luckily, I have seen almost no trace of PC, which is the major early pest for me. They promise me that the rain will stop after the warm front comes through, which as I speak is plowing through West Michigan in the form of a strong MCS (Mesoscale Convective System) with numerous tornado, severe thunderstorm, and flash flood warmings. So, if it moves through here this evening and actually doesn't rain tomorrow, I will spray.

I googled "Benjamin Moore Apple Blossom" and on the 3rd page of results, I found a chick's blog, mostly about knitting, with a photo of a room painted AB at the bottom of the page. I won't link to it, cuz I'm not sure if that is right, or wrong, for that matter. I will say that the title of her blog is "Every word's a purl: March 2007". Hope that helps.

hey lychee! wow the spirea sounds awesome! holliswood, queens. r u in brooklyn? an older, humble/starter cape with not enuf windows at all, the house can badly use a total renovation but i don't have the dinero nor the need for regalness right now. to top it off the previous owner had nothing but GRASS and weeds growing all over, not a single tree on the whole property. last yr i planted blue atlas cedar, var. leyland, carolina/arizona cypress, arborvitae, juniper, jew, var. eunymous, roses all around but if only they would hurry up and grow tall! so its taking ages to get rids of weeds that keep coming up, the place looks a hot mess still =( i put down 30 bags pine mulch last fall becuz the color matches the brick walls i put up, but that type sucks as it dries out to a pale white color and blows around all over the place, will def never use pine mulch again! ur mulch looks heaps better, yeah will look for a landscaper once i get around to pulling out more of the perpetually sprouting weeds that used to be the previous owner's entire "lawn". the only grace to the yard is from the container bananas, monstera, etc i just put out and it gets so cold at night and so sunny during the day, their foliage is looking a real wreck.... and i've never seen new york so perpetually windy since fall, is this el ninyo la ninya pinta santa maria weather or what?!?! pics r from december, not now. will probably have to take update pics soon, yard IS looking a better than these pics, but not much!!! still a looooong way to go to even be a somewhat presentable garden =L