These plants actually took a bit of a beating early on (7 inches of rain the week after they were transplanted), one plant appeared to be all but dead, but then they did bounce back nicely once the heat hit in July. That first ripe melon was picked 70 days after transplanting. Sureness is supposed to be a 65-day so that appears accurate, even here. We did have a very nice July and August - good rains, lots of heat (LOTS of mosquitos) and plenty of bees. I fertilized them twice with 15-30-15 to bring on the blooms.

Dave, I can certainly appreciate why you decided to buy Baby Doll. It is a beautiful streaked hosta! Can you recall how long after your purchase that you noticed it losing its streaks? Were you given any tips, or are you aware of any special treatment to promote the stability of the streaks? I have a couple of streakers on my want list, BD included (like that it is a small one) but have hesitated to purchase based on my current experience with one of my own. It was fine the first year then it started to lose its streaks - instead looking more like your BD with solid sections of colour so far. I purchased it after finding out that it had remained stable in the vendor's garden for 4 years. It is exciting to grow streakers but you sure don't know what it's going to end up looking like in a few years, streakers being the most unstable of hostas.

OutsidePlaying, I came here to post a question about that very subject. I was never in 4-H, but I know that many children benefit from being part of their organization. It's fair time here and the kids will be showing the animals they have raised and then selling them at auction. As I do every year, I find myself wondering how difficult it must be to raise those animals from babies only to sell them for slaughter at the auction that will be held after judging is over. My question was in regard to how traumatized are the kids when they have to sell their animals or is it considered part of farm/ranch life and something every future farmer/rancher has to learn to cope with? I know that I personally couldn't do it but I also realize it's necessary for those who supply our food. My mom raised and showed beef calves when she was a young teen and the local grocery store bought her steers more than once. I remember her saying that she wouldn't eat beef for months after because she didn't want to accidentally eat one of the steers she had raised. Looking back, that probably wasn't a possibility since my grandparents raised their own beef, but she was that worried about it.

Want a great experiment? Buy one of those lotus pods in a store that has dried plants, like Michaels, AC Moore etc. Pop the seeds out, score them with a file until you begin to see some white, then plop them in a bottle and change the water regularly. They will gow. 2000 year old lotus have been known to grow. Lotus being dormant for 100s of years grow with no problem. In the summer, put the plants outside, in water and soil (mud) of course, and before you know it you'll have huge exotic leaves and beautiful white flowers. From then on, they will be winter hardy. I've done it numerous times. You do need to score them with a file though otherwise it will take months to germinate. If they're scored, once the water can enter, germination is quick. Make sure the seeds are in about 6" of water and you'll be good to go. Enjoy....