I had written a post about my problems with a payoff of almost $8,000.00 on my Sears MasterCard which for two weeks went missing. I also posted about the loan that I received from my bank and Why there was a $25,000.00 HELOC with a payment of $231.00 and a $25,000.00 Fixed Rate account with a payment of $217.00! Both due on November 4th. First, the $8,000.00 was not missing. For some reason, CitiBank insisted that my loan officer and I had to be on the phone together to acknowledge the payment to the account? It, (the payment) had been sitting on someone's desk for two weeks! No reason given on why .. the same bank, (CitiBank) accepted and applied my payoff on the Costco Visa Card and wouldn't do the same on the Sears MasterCard without the above hoops! (Three way call) Both cards are owned by CitiBank. The bank loan thingy was quite simple. My loan officer opened a HELOC (home equity line of credit) which is akin to a credit card, took out all of the money and paid off the high percentage credit cards and deposited the rest into my savings account. After doing that, my loan officer converted the HELOC account to a Fixed Rate account where my payments will be $217.00 a month from now on! YAAAAAAAAAAAA!!! That HELOC account was charged $14.00 for interest and draw-down charges which is why there was a $231.00 payment due instead of $217.00 I wrote a check today for the $14.00 on the HELOC account which will effectively close that account! She (loan officer) did it this way to save me on the appraisal and other fees associated with a regular Home Equity Loan. I am now in a very good place with a lot more breathing room! From almost $900.00 a month in payments to $217.00 a month!!!! I still have almost $100,000 equity in my home too! The Math works out just fine! Thank You Everyone!!

Will, Long time no see. Great pictures of your I.Bs. Glad to see you back once in a while. Your garden always looks wonderful. Here are the pics of my I.Bs. All are about 6 years old. All are in pots. No sign of leader development at all. Weird? There have been a great debate - on ACS - whether I.B is a miniature or a dwarf. Some say it is a miniature, some say it is a dwarf. Your plant turns out to be a dwarf, but mine is miniature. To me, it seems, it all depends on whether it is in a pot or it is in the ground. Of course, some other conditions can affect its growth rate too (zones, sun condition, etc...) but I'm not sure of other factors though. All I know, based on my experience is this: 1 - It is very sensitive to overwatering. It can easily go down in just one shot of overwatering. However, if it does not get enough water during the summer time, it will get burnt, but it will recover once it gets enough water. In other words, you cannot kill it with under-watering but you will kill it with over-watering. Well-drainage growth media is the key. I don't know what the right formula is but I have a formula for it. 2 - It becomes(?) a miniature when it's in a pot. it only grows about 1-2 inches a year and becomes extremely tight (see the pictures). 3 - it can take hot sun in zone 7a-b. Some needle burn when transplanting to a new pot. No needle burn when established in the pot. 4 - Very cold hardy. No broken branches in heavy snow. But some help might be needed to brush off the snow accumulation. 5 - Some evergreen fertilizer is needed (Lowe's has it), but use it sparingly or you will kill the plant. Apply the fertilizer in the spring and away from the base. Hope these info would help those want to plant this wonderful plant. It is my most favorite Abies Koreana. Please enjoy the plants. John N.

I am also in zone 8 & have that same weed. It is a sedge but not yellow or purple nutsedge. I have used Sedge Ender with some success, you will need to start in the spring and reapply per the instructions. It keeps coming back and has spread a lot in my very large front yard. Good Luck!