quote "...unused mint coffee grounds (the pile smells AMAZING)" Yum! My winter compost bin only smells like fermenting fruit and veggies. Time to go to the mill and get some find wood shavings so I can mix it up and get it heating altho there is probably still a lump of ice in the middle. Snow is going fairly quickly tho so it won't be long. Additions are the usual - fruit and veggie trimmings, teabags, paper towels, egg shells - nothing very exotic but it all adds up.

Thank you all for the comments. For most of the photos I do, I use my husbands Canon camera which has a telephoto lens. I am assuming that when I focus in closer to the blooms, it blurs out the background. Sharie: I live by Seneca Lake (Yates County). Half way between Watkins Glen and Geneva. Plenty of good wineries over here LOL. Yes, I just got the slate table at Home Depot on sale. I ordered some slate sealer to put on it to help keep stains, etc off of it. I have no idea and the instructions never said whether they applied a sealer to it originally. BTW, I noticed that Kohl's had a square one but some of the reviews for it didn't look too good. Have you ever seen that one? I'm tempted since the price is so low. Avedon: I used an organic fish fertilizer several weeks ago.Do you think that was a bad idea? I know someone said they couldn't get theirs to get any blooms and so a forum member on the Vines Forum mentioned to use the bloom booster. I tried it a few days ago. I'm not sure if I should do a second round or not. I have these MG's growing in large planters so at least I know Grandpa Ott's blooms and I know the vines can grow in large pots. LOL. Break is over and time to get back outside and tackle the vegetable garden. Yikes, what a mess but lots of tomatoes coming. Julia

Hi Fellow Hostaholics, I've been watching this thread for the last couple of weeks since Patty contacted me about it's existence....thanks Patty. My partner (Yvon) and I are the new owners of Hosta Choice Gardens in Appin, Ontario. I thought I should post some information about what is happening with the business so that there is no need for rumours...hopefully just excitement. We purchased the business, property and home on August 18th of this year. We have been working with the daughters of the late owners, Udo and Margot Dargatz, since January to ensure that their parent's legacy did not fade. The daughters turned down many offers on the property because the interested parties did not want to continue with the business or wanted to re-name it. Yvon and I listed our home in Victoria, B.C. and after selling we started the long process of buying the business you all know as Hosta Choice Gardens. It was a long process but Susan and Karen (Udo and Margot's daughters) wanted us to have the business as they felt that we were the best one's to continue their parent's dreams. We are for ever grateful to them for their patience and cooperation in putting everything together and working with us thru the transition. Yvon and I are no where near as knowledgeable as the Udo and Margot were but we hope that after a year or so in the business we will have about a quarter of the knowledge they had.. LOL. If we cannot answer a question that you have... we will take the time to do some research and get back to you with an answer. The Canadian Hosta community lost a valuable source of knowledge when Udo and Margot passed but thanks to their daughters the community did not lose Hosta Choice and it's great display gardens. Our promise to all of you is to continue the upkeep of the beautiful display gardens and to offer the most up-to-date selection of hostas in Canada. No more looking at the USA websites and dreaming....were going to try to keep up with new introductions and, when they become available, we will try to get them in for Canadians. If you have a certain hosta in mind that we do not have then we will search out our sources and try our best to get it in for you. If we can't get the hosta for you, but we have one in the display beds, we will put your name down on a waiting list for a division of the display plant. All display plants will be tested for the HXV virus prior to dividing. All of our greenhouse stock will be brought in from suppliers that have tested their parent plants for HXV and other diseases know to effect Hostas. No retailer/supplier, including Hosta Choice Gardens, can offer you a 100% guarantee that their hostas are HXV free but we will do our best in trying to ensure the plants we sell are indeed HXV free. When Hosta Choice Gardens closed at the end of 2007 all the existing greenhouse stock was sold out. Our 2009 stock will be all new plants, and although they may not be over-sized, they will be healthy good sized retail ready plants. Inventory that is not ready to go will be posted clearly stating a date that we will start releasing the plants for retail or mail order sales. We will reserve upcoming releases if your willing to wait until they are ready to go(if a deposit is required we will clearly state it). The current display gardens did take a beating this year as it was hard for the Dargatz's daughters to travel from the Niagara region to weed and water. They were able to get some staff in, on a number of occasions, but it's always a battle trying to beat weed germination. We are hoping to get things cleaned up before the snow flies so that we are ready for you in May 2009. We will also be working to expand the gardens to work my collection of 800 different named hostas into the existing collection (only about 300 of my hostas match existing display garden plants). We hope to have the largest collection of 'Lakeside' cultivars on display in Canada. To finish this posting I'd like to extend to each of you an invitation to our opening on Saturday May 9/09. Come view the display gardens and help us celebrate the lifes of Udo and Margot Dargatz with the unveiling of a new hosta garden in their names. After the unveiling we would be grateful if you would join us for a bbq and live entertainment. Further details will be posted when our new website comes on-line January 15/09. Hosta-la-vista ....for now, Glenn Wilson Yvon Trepanier

lunamoon, no sweat, I have been there, and it is NO FUN. my first child was 3 mo. old when he got sick, and he did not get better til he was 8 mo. old, I was going from doctor to doctor, first one said it was pnemonia (sp) second one said he had RSV, FINALLY a doctor asked me if we had any cats in the house, yeah a long haired tortise shell siamese mix and a persian mix, had to give my cats away and about a month later when I was hopping mad at the doc for mis diagnosing him again and making me get rid of my pets, he got better! All the dander had to be removed from the house as well, and duh I didn't think about that! He now has no allergies to cats, he out grew it, but he was one sick baby for a long time! michelle