2 years ago I tried cuttings from my Blue Bird macrapetala clematis..one cutting took and I over wintered it in the house..planted it out last spring..and it made it through this last winter..last year I took 6 more cuttings which all made it..I used #2 rooting hormone and tented them in the greenhouse..I brought 3 in over winter and planted 3 in the greenhouse..after it froze in the greenhouse I put some styrofoam over the cuttings so they would stay frozen and not thaw off and on when the greenhosue warms up with the sun on it..one out of 3 in the greenhouse survived..I couldn't get a good angle to show how large the cuttings in the house are now but they are well past the 8 foot now. Funny how different petunias grow at differnt speeds from cuttings..in the fall when I take my cuttings from the petunias I use a little care as I dont want to grow new ones from seed..I use rooting hormone and tent them..this time of year when I can find a wee bit of room for more cuttings sometimes I just stick them into a container of soil and water them well..in 3 years I think I have lost only one cutting even doing it this way..lol..the cuttings at the top of the picture are purple wave and were took about 10 days before the other cuttings..the bottom row were all done the same day..the slowest growing are the pink rave of the wave..these are about 10 days old.The way I feel is the cuttings are cost free so experiment to see what works best for you..savona

James, I guess when you've been around GW for a long time like I have (since the late 90's), off topic is just a normal sequence. If you go to some of the really old posts that are still alive, you'll see a lot of them veered off, but then somebody new came on and asked a question and that got the thread back on track. I personally, don't mind a thread going off topic at all. I do feel it makes it more interesting. If you'll notice, the suggestions and comments forum is missing now. It's been missing for a long time, because all anybody did was to complain about one thing or another. I think we all need to understand that our words are just words. There's no voice, no fluctuation, no body language to go along with what we're saying. Anymore, if I feel somebody is saying something totally inappropriate, I ask for clarification. They either come back and don't explain it correctly and I know my first instinct was correct, or they come back and apologize for not wording it correctly in the first place. I'm guilty of that myself! I've been in a hurry and just written something quick and to the point, but not using the correct words. And not thinking of how somebody else might take my words. The old saying about sticks and stones....but words do hurt our feelings. All of our feelings. I do come back and apologize though for not wording it like I should have. I have seen so many people come and go, I forget that not everybody has been hanging around as long as I have! I don't browse over to the discussions side in any of the forums. I have fun talking and chatting within the threads in the forum, be it on topic or off topic. I don't plan on changing where I post. There's already way too many forums anymore here at GW, I honestly don't understand the problem when a thread goes off topic. I've heard people complain about posts in the forum that are off topic, but not when a thread goes off topic. Finally, lovefornature, please don't go anywhere. James has explained his thinking in what he said and somewhere in there, I'm sure is an apology for not being clear. There's always going to be somebody who doesn't like something about GW, be it some of the people, the posts or the way the conversation goes. I acknowledge what James is saying, but I don't agree. Not at all. The finch thread is your thread and it can go any way you want it to go. If you want it to go back on topic because somebody objects, then veer it back. If you don't care, then the person who objects can choose not to read it anymore and they can start a new post on whatever they choose. It's when people get too picky and complain, that a lot of people choose to go elsewhere. Then GW slows way down and becomes somewhat boring because of the lack of posts and conversations within the thread. I don't know about anybody else, but when I call a friend for a specific reason, we always end up talking about a lot of other things. Same way in the threads. If my question is answered, then really, what difference does it make that now the conversation has gone off from I initially called for? Or asked in a thread? Hmm...I said finally already up there, but I guess it wasn't really my final thought. This is though.....and again to James, I don't feel you stepped on any toes. There are no hard and fast rules here at GW except for arguing. That isn't tolerated. Off topic threads however, are entirely different and if you don't want to read them, then move on to the next post. I've done that when a subject grabs my attention, but it isn't what I thought it was...so I either hit the back button or the "Return to".....and go find another post to read. If this whole forum was taken up with things not relating to birds, then I understand, but it isn't.

Some things are just so bloody good, : ). I do make my own scrapple and sent out 'kits' one x-mas with a recipe to family that misses it from our youth. (our favorite home town brand is Rappa) It is just polenta with spices heavy in sage...and pork. Like a southern dirty rice, Louisiana, or Boudin that uses rice. Offal in the NYC area can get pricey. My local international store went bankrupt... : ( Bags of goat were a bit expensive. Trotters, guinea pigs, (rats, lol) were way over what i would spend. Fresh pizzels were $9 a lb. Simmering cod britches, (roe), sent DH out the door for fresh air. I love it, he hates it. I grew up on scrapple, he did not. And he loves it. A friend not familiar hates it. I do keep chicken paws in the freezer and marrow bones and beef neck bones for stock and dog treats. Just one chick paw, snipped nails, is so good in a veggie stock. (obviously not for a vegetarian), but makes a good veg stock without a strong chick or meat flavor. I've sampled a bit over the years from travel...goat heads in Greece...and a good friend wants the cod eyes after grilling..."you go girl !"...but not for me. I take shrimp tails from everyones plate and pop them back on the grill, skewered, for a bit of crisp and eat them like pop corn...where did that come from?... I love it and i've never met anyone else that does that. My love of soft-shelled crabs? (sooo much flavor wasted!) When we lived in the city, our sunday out was a favorite sushi place in the east village. Dh ordered a special....looked like a delicate tiny noodle....I pointed out, after a good taste or two that each tiny noodle had two eyes on one end and were alive and wiggling. haha

I hope I don't come off too offensive but I see these posts occasionally on here and while I understand the frustration the poster may be experiencing I don't feel asking a web discussion board to 'pick' something for you is really the best way to get what YOU want. As you can see there are as many opinions as people here, no one but you and your family will be living in YOUR home. To me it's all very personal, I like to think I'm the one making the important decisions. I'm also a bit of a rogue and a risk taker, if I pick something that doesn't work, I'll be the one adjusting to it or changing it. How else are you going to influence others with something a bit different or open someones eyes to a possibility? I certainly don't want my kitchen to be like anyone else's, I want the unencumbered freedom to look at what I like. I have the confidence to step out of the box and see the bigger picture, I think a lot of people on here feel similarly. I will admit that my kitchen has changed a LOT since I've been reading GW (new build). There are a lot of fantastic ideas floating about on this site and I certainly appreciate them all. Like they say 'trust your gut', if it feels right do it. 3 people might hate it but 10 people may love it. At the end of the day it's YOURS and you have to live w/it. I just couldn't look at something 20 times a day and say "I had no idea what to put there so I let them decide for me", I'd feel like an imbecile. That's one of the reasons I've never posted a picture of anything or my layout (I designed the house myself), I really don't care what the opinions of others are regarding MY space. My DW chose the master as she knew the kitchen was mine, we bounced things off of each other and family but we've been around long enough to know what we want and how it should work and to give each other the freedom of choice. I understand some people don't have confidence in there choices, aesthetic, or style but I think it would be cool if every one just did they're own thing and then compared notes. I would imagine some old 'truths' would fly out the window and all of our eyes would be open a little wider with the possibilities. Again, no intent to offend, hope I didn't. I may even be out of line :) If so sorry. MM