It's all good, Gal. I've oft noted the less than clearcut "northerlieness" of varied locations, like your Maine example.........and depending on which type of map one is viewing, the various types of distortions necessary to fitting all the land masses on the flat sheet of paper.....can even distort this further. But no matter. Whaas, I like Symphoricarpos too, although I do know of some folks having that plant in their gardens wishing they didn't, what with the vigorously stoloniferous habit it has. Guess it all goes down to where you have it and what you are trying to accomplish. But you're right-it is very reminiscent of the shrub genus in discussion here. I'd be more inclined to use coralberry where I wanted straight-up colonization of a portion of a site, in other words, a more naturalistic planting. I think it is native to our part of the world as well. For that matter, the white-fruited Symphoricarpos alba is quite nice too. Rina, I have to admit, I see Toronto and other Canada words in your posts and get the idea we're in similar climactic conditions, but we're still colder here, never rising above a Z5 designation. Then there's years like last year, where cold-hardiness is really put to the test here. We shall see. This is a fun topic for discussion, but that's really about all it is at this point! +om

here is a link I hope works to MdS...she looks pink but is described somewhere as red. I would like her if she were not red or pink. I do love the vintage site. I have their list of purples in my favorites folder. as for bourbons, I have 2 zephy's and although they are growing like crazy, those who have zephy's felt she might not bloom here. (i'm not wild for her color, I got her cuz she is thornless...another quality I love). stefanb, CdR is on my wish list for sure. the color knocks me out. I looked again at the roses I got from uncommon rose just as they closed and I think 1 is a gallica (la belle sultane) and 1 is a moss (fara shimbo). I also got a chianti on sale at ashdown. so, I have 3 I can experiment with. has anyone measured the temperature difference between below ground and above ground. it wouldnt seem to be drastic would it? michelle Here is a link that might be useful: marchioness de salisbury

In Northern California I can't say, but I can give you a somewhat qualified answer on Battus philenor in my area based on closest larval foodplant and where this species is seen fairly often. Short answer, they fly at least 500 miles south to north in this area (not counting the ocassional strays that fly much farther). Wild Aristolochia is not found in NV or UT, and the closest place to Las Vegas (in an approximate N-S direction) that I know it grows wild at is more than 200 miles SSE at Burro Creek (Mojave Co, AZ). So they fly at least 200 miles to get to Las Vegas, and they are fairly commonly seen up to almost 300 miles north of here in Ely, Nevada. They are also seen in extreme SW Utah, but not as often. No doubt the B. philenor we get are strays. There might be a few locals that have established on landscape plants, but I think most seen here are just passing on the flight north. Lots of species stray either intentionally or accidentally, and they can fly hundreds to thousands of miles. Many of the records I established over the years were species that were hundreds of miles or thousands of feet in elevation from where they belonged, very often in habitats they could not survive in. Back to your area... It is very possible that the LFP does in fact grow near your lake, enough to sustain a resident population, but it is just not easily found. One of my favorite philenor collection sites is at a place called Rio Rico in extreme southern, AZ. There is a very strong population of Battus there that are probably continuious brooded, which indicates that there is also a large amount of LFP available for them. Good luck finding enough plant to just rear your collected larva on let alone enough to support such a large population. (The area is very snake infested as well, adding to the challenge of wandering around in waist high weeds and tangles of big mesquite trees.)

Still no roots in water. ( I don't care.) ______________ Perhaps readers here would like to see the amount of activity close to the patio door all morning long, every sunny day. URL of the video file is www105.zippyshare.com/v/q20NVEa9/file.html Although it can be played in the hosting website page, for me it stopped & resumed every second; so, download file instead (name activity2.mov). Colors look ok when played by QuickTime player; quite poor when played by VLC player.