Good grief will someone turn off the artic blast machine???? Its 16 degrees out right now at 3:30PM with winds gusting to 35+. Wind chills are off the charts and hitting new records. The cats are driving me nuts. Luke must be feeling better because hes been crying for the door for the last four hours. Rahjii is wailing away and it is just too dangerously cold for him to be outside but there is no way to explain that to a cat. So I cant get a thing done because this cat keeps sticking his nose in everything Im trying to do. Hes already knocked the mouse on the floor and I only just turned on the computer. Grrrr Have I mentioned that I hate the wind??? So the other thing is that it is supposed to go down to -1F tonight. I can see the holly and English Ivy dying a bit more each day these cold temps keep up. I shudder to think what is going to be toast in the gardens when spring rolls around. I know, I know V. consider it a new opportunity. Winter doesnt normally get me down but this hideous cold and windy weather is beginning to really bug me. Holy moly. The side of the dining room just got slammed by a 12 foot pine branch!!!!!!! Came flying through the air from one of the trees next door. Glad it didnt get my duck blind. Have I mentioned I really hate the wind. So, Martie, I agree with Cindy 100% that kind of malicious, threatening and harassing email is unacceptable. Is there any way you can find out where that email came from? I think we need to find out who it is and do something about it. There is no excuse for anyone to get threatening emails from a gardening forum or on any forum for that matter. I know you want to take a break for a while and I dont blame you a bit but would you please forward that to me so I can get my computer gurus working on it and finding out who it is so it can be reported to the proper authorities. I know Eileen also got disturbing emails in the past and that kind of underhanded, vicious stuff makes my blood boil. T. how neat about the Elk but what a bummer that the boys are so out of sorts lately. Ive heard that isnt uncommon with twins but dont know why. ~~ Hope you find out whats wrong with the car. That would have me unsettled, not to have a reliable automobile when you aren't close to town. Babs, I LOL over the sandwiches. Too funny that Ryan ate both sandwiches. So what did AJ have for lunch? ~~ Sorry you are tired lately. Sounds like you are burning the candle at both ends. ~~ Yes, I did find Billy Greene again from WWF, thanks for asking. Next year I think Im going to keep them under the lights all winter so I dont lose them. It really is a wonderful variety. Eden, what a bummer you lost your fuchsias! I cant imagine what happened. I wonder if your basement is too warm to let them get truly dormant. Well, I cant winter over Rex Begonias to save my life. I lost two of the three I had and the third is looking pretty awful so I guess we are even. How about I raise fuchsias for you and you do begonias for me??? LOL So Sue, maybe when we TONAW next year we ought to do it on Key West???? Bug, that photo of your DD and DH is priceless!!!! I just love that. Flowers are lovely also. I forgot to tell you how much I like that red cable piece you are knitting now. Are you quite sure you dont want to knit something for me???? LOL Cindy, LOL about the snow having to melt on its own. My grandmother used to say "God put it there let him take it away". Yes, Im thinking that there must be people lurking here who glean this site for ideas. The chances are astronomical that a greenhouse would just happen to begin carrying those particular varieties out of the thousands that are available. I actually found one of my container combinations on the Proven Winners site last year. Could have been coincidence but who knows. Ok time to run, Martie please forward those emails to me if you dont mind. Time to get to the bottom of this. Later Deanne

Christine, TV seems to have wiped out regional speech differences--except when my DH uses his Boston vocabulary. I don't hear my own accent, but I'm told it's there. And we manage to understand one another. I thank you, Pieter, for doing the job with the Hosta Lists, especially the 10 foot list. Which the old one has the similar ones listed together with a slash: Patriot/Minuteman but a lot has changed since 2004 when Papou did the old list. Actually, I go through most of Don_r's lists at Hostalibrary.org, on a regular basis, learning as I go. I think it was Steve who quoted the bio of Frances Williams, her having graduated from MIT in 2004. I told my DH that, and he was most impressed. In those days especially women had to be really strong willed and strong minded to attend MIT, even today it is a prestigious accomplishment. She was a great lady and plantsman.Just wish the hosta named for her performed a bit better. On another note, I like the tetraploids, and the duploids. It seems to me they are tougher, more resistant to insect damage, and sometimes a much better plant than the original. Having a list of those was a big help.

Wonderful photos, still going strong. However, when I think of "doing shots", cannot help it, I think of tequila, salt and a twist of lime. Oooh boy, that makes my taste buds jump. With a bacon salad on the side. Jo, I love your Fingerprint. I ordered Tattoo from PDN to be delivered this year. Hostatakeover, that Alliteration is a new one for me. I would be afraid it had HVX. Is that how it is supposed to look?

Yup, the vast majority of our Hosta garden is under a 1930's CCC Red Pine Plantation, so they (the Pines) are thick. We'd heard the notoriety of Maple Tree root strangulation issues with Hostas, but not so with Pine Trees. Alas, at least with Red Pine, there is a problem. Now having helped friends dig out strangled Hostas under Maple trees, we admit the Red Pine problem is certainly not anywhere near as bad, but a factor nonetheless. Many Hosta, over the last 15 some-odd years, have been just fine. I'm sure that the slow growth of many of them is due to this tree root problem, and not merely the heavy shade from the trees. Some Hosta, though, have regressed, some slowly, some dramatically, from tree roots, some even to death when not rescued in time. Our solutions: some are re-planted in buried pots and are A-OK, many more are in COMMERCIAL GRADE (the stuff that's like thin fibreglass cloth, not the cheaper plastic stuff) weed barrier cloth lined holes. Both systems are working. Now, as to deer, you talk fencing as expensive. We also garden about 3 acres, and use a very cheap electric fence. Works. We have about 4 wires. The top wire is not so high as to preclude them jumping it, so here's the real trick. In the spring we place strips of peanut butter coated tin foil strips every so many feet on the hot fence. This 'trains' the deer to the point that the fence can be turned off after a few weeks. Evil but effective ;-) I learned this 'trick' when we kept goats and I saw a young billy-goat lick the electric fence one day. He gave new meaning to 'break-dancing', yhee-haww. Yeah, every year one doe and her fawn figure out that the fence doesn't extend across the driveway, and they wander in, nibble a little here and there, pick their fave and mow it. Knock on wood, they've not mowed the same one two or more years in a row. With 50-60 deer living in our section, we'll put up with one or two bandits. A parting comment: After years of hearing the 'scrunch' sound when sinking a shovel through the Red Pine surface root mat we started digging up a bed under a Jack Pine tree. Both of us looked at each other with astonishment. No 'scrunch'. We didn't find the feeder root mat, so planted 'bare root'. That bed is one of the healthiest ones here now. Oh, and NOTHING grows under our lone Blue Spruce, no surprise. I'm sure you'll work out the details. It's been worth it here! A yard of lush Hosta sure beats a yard of boring brown pine needles. Best Wishes, hh