The bigger ones are about 2 inches across the middle and the little ones are about 1 inch across the middle. We planted on Saturday April 20th. A friend gave me the bag of seed potatoes because they didn't have room for them and they thought it was too late. But I had extra room and wanted to see how it would go. The weather in April was still really cool at nights and even during the day sometimes it was only around 65 degrees. Very unusual for Jacksonville. Even now we are still in the 70s some days. We've also had some really heavy downpours of rain. I'm not sure what factors really contributed to the potatoes growth, but I'm glad about it! I was excited just to see what the plants looked like... and the other day I got curious so I stuck my hand down under one of the plants about 8 inches and there were potatoes there! :) So I decided to harvest that one plant to see what level the potatoes were growing and how many might be under each plant. I will pull another on up next Wednesday and report back with better pictures.

Nobody is twisting words here. You prefaced your post with your opinion of Silver Star Vinery, and then went on to complain that you did not receive perfection from Chalk Hill during their closing process (of the clematis division). You are comparing apples and oranges. Silver Star Vinery is not closing their clematis division, whereas Chalk Hill is (did). There is no relevance between the operations of two companies in totally different states of flux, and that's my point. So let me say that your comments regarding SSV, which is irrelevant, sets the tone of your message. SSV has great clematis and customer service, but I can guarantee you are not going to get clematis that same size at the prices you paid at Chalk Hill. Again, oranges and apples. If you compared two companies that were similarly closing their doors and comparing the process between the two of them, then I could understand the correlation. You received a healthy substituted clematis, and you have nothing nice to say about this company. That is a shame. You took advantage of a deal for clematis at a steal of a price, you also took a risk by ordering from a company knowing the state of their business, and you got the short end of the stick. Shipping from CA to KY is going to be pricey regardless, so if you were going to complain about the shipping charges, then perhaps you should only order from nurseries closer to home. There are two buckets in life. You can seek perfection, setting yourself up for failure and spending your time complaining every time things don't go your way ("My e-mail was never returned"), or you can deal with what life throws at you and make the best of it and move on. You had a choice to order with them, or not. You chose to order with them AFTER you were clearly not satisfied with their level of customer service, and now you are here to complain about it, when in all actuality I think you have it much better than those who say they received dead clematis. You are making a mountain out of a molehill, and I've seen others in worse situations handle it more appropriately. I have nothing against anyone sharing their experience with regard to substitutions and shipping times, etc., but to complain about the level of customer service prior to placing your order with them is a clear indication that you weren't happy with them from the get-go, and in that case you simply shouldn't have ordered from them. I think you are going to complain about them regardless, and as I stated earlier there is no significance in comparing two companies in different states of flux. Also, I think the shipping schedules were intended as a guide, not gospel.

I went to the Spring open house yesterday. Did anyone else make it? They had a great turnout. It was difficult to get parking. Some of the early spring bulbs were just coming out - crocus and snowdrops but many perennials, shrubs are yet to emerge (as expected). The orangerie was lush and tropical. Last fall I visited in November and what a different landscape. Many shrubs and trees with fabulous fall color and berries galore. I have put my fall photos and spring photos in an album. I urge anyone who hasn't visited Tower Hill to consider visiting this spring time. Sue Here is a link that might be useful: Tower Hill Photos (Fall 06 and Spring 07)

Bill - I thought of you today when I went to Tower Hill. There whole entryway garden - as you walk from the parking lot, thru the gazebo, to the visitors center - is all done in cacti and succulents. It was pretty interesting. Also, the garden area in front of the visitor center is lots of vegetable - such as bolted lettuce. Again pretty interesting. (Jane - I thought of you with your wild lettuce). My biggest thrill was seeing that my tropical hibiscus and my castor beans were the same size as THBG's, if not bigger. I'll try to get pictures posted this weekend. I'll probably post them in the gallery, and I'll come back here and post a link.