Gosh, I got the impression they would be released for general sales in 2011. How did you come on the plant? Yeah, Rhizo..........they are pretty darned black and not just a murky purple and they live up to their name. Do I like them? No, not particularly. I have had black flowers in my line and they usually sell decently, mostly because of their shock value. This year I grew a black and white dianthus and the black pansies I used to grow had an eager market too. Until the novelty wore off. I trial all my new varieties in my own gardens and my impression on the black dianthus is you don't even notice them in the landscape in broad daylight, because the bloom does not contrast well against the dark foliage. When it's dawn or dusk.........the blooms all but disappear, even when planted against a backdrop of plants with lime green foliage. But, they look to be a well behaved plant, and for those wanting something different, I'm sure they'll be popular for awhile.

Sounds like a neat show! I looked all over the internet to see if I could find an online version but I couldn't find episode three that features country gardens. I did find these interesting pieces though: Ryan Gainey discusses is romantic country garden http://www.gardensoftheworld.org/page23/page23.html Penelope Hobhouse's garden http://www.gardensoftheworld.org/page22/page27/page27.html Whole episodes from the series: Public Gardens & Trees http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6009631878710490917# Formal Gardens http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8032930149173398671# Behind the scenes in filming the series: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODrWKkMfrfg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DvWk642ZBM

Little Free Library The project for little libraries has gone world wide! Great project. I have tons of books I want to get rid of I sure could fill up a lot of little libraries! I hosted a book swap at the garden club meeting here at my house. You could bring one or more and take one or more any left over were given to NAM for their book section in their store. It was a great success. I also really like bookcrossing.com Book Crossing You can put their label in the book (print it ) and then release the book into the wild and watch it as it moves from person to person. You can also go in search of books that have been released, like a treasure hunt.

i just got thru season 1 on netflix and have disc 1 of season 2 to start tonight. i am DVRing season 4 so i will catch up eventually. last summer i was on vacation w/ my sis, BIL and niece & nephew at Warren Dunes and my sis mentioned the show and a scene at a beach and how much i'd like the show. the first few episodes i found myself rubbing my eyes and blinking alot LOL feeling like i was surrounded by smoke! the premise for the show is waaayyy before my time, born 1967 but there are things in it i remember. last aug i brought back (from my place in chicago) an ash tray i made as a child in school lol. it's one of those tiny grid tile things you set in a metal ash tray and fill in the grout. i made this when i was a CHILD how wierd is that LOL?! my DH loves to see the way women were treated LOL, wishes he was alive then LOL. he's not at all like that just wishes he could be, he's not the pants wearer here ;-) i like the show, it's rare i keep up w any series tv ~ liz