I know this is an old thread, but it was revived less than a year ago, so I'll take a chance by asking this question: rough21_gw, you said your bobo hydrangeas were at the advertised size after a few years. Do you cut them back at all each spring or just the dead blooms? I am considering 4 for my front foundation, but I wouldn't want any taller than 3 feet. I'm in Ohio, so a similar location to yours, and they would get shade from about 2pm-3pm on. How tough do you think it would be to keep them at a maximum of 3 feet? I've had lots of hydrangeas in the past, and I'm a little nervous after my recent experience with limelights. My goodness those things could grow! Thanks for any input!

Eliot, although he seems to commonly refer to his home as either "Harborside" or "Blue Hill", does live in Brooksville. (I suspect he's being cagey to preserve what privacy he may have left.) That said, he lives out on Cape Rosier, on the far end of town from me, where I rarely have business going. Our paths cross once or twice a year. I have much more contact with those who have less public lives to hide from. At the farmer's Solstice party, there were representatives from Wind & Sun (that's me), Stoneset, King Hill, Horsepower, and of course Old Ackley Farm, as they hosted the event. Others I might commonly see are those of Carding Brook Farm and Five Star Nursery. Denizens of Four Season Farm are rarely seen. Rock weed is the common name for a species of seaweed. Most of what I collect is rock weed. Every now and then I'll get a little kelp or some other specie. Doesn't MDI have any beaches where you can drive right up to it? It was more work in the rain yesterday because the sand wasn't frozen. When I was there last week it was great. I brought the garden cart and could get it from anywhere I wanted, and it's more or less a level path to the truck. Last week I chose to take it from a spot where the waves had heaped it up some, but also washed all the sand down so I got more green matter for my effort. When it's frozen, seaweed isn't so slimy either. Also, when I get the load home I jack the trailer tongue off the truck (2wd Tacoma), pick it up with the small tractor, and haul it off to the garden where I spread by hand. Then I bring the trailer back, fork the load from the truck into the trailer, and go spread that. So it's easier to get around in the garden when the ground is frozen too. I'd like to get more crab shell too, but I've mostly cleaned out my source, at least so there isn't enough to make a truck and trailer load in one shot possible. I started looking for more sources. At the first place I stopped, the guy looked at me and said, "Do you know a guy named Colman? He stops and picks up all our shells every day." Dan

A treasured moment in my life was the chance to sit down and talk with Adelma Simmons shortly before her death. The conversation was wide ranging and, of course, included the phenomenon of gardening as a hobby in the 80's. As Mrs. Simmons is undoubtedly the author who brought herbs out of the closet and into the mainstream, her comments suprised me. Though she encouraged anyone with a pen to give it a shot, her concern was that the garden book world would be overrun with "fluff" and little substance. This prophecy seems to have come full circle. There are just so many "how to design a border" books that one can read and gain from. Publishers took full advantage of the surge in interest and flooded the market for a quick buck. I really think that this is why there is a decline. Those of us who are serious gardeners (serious enough to "talk" about it on a daily basis with webfriends) will always buy anything that's there of interest. But the backyard hobbiest only wants one or two coffee table books, not anything of substance. So, while book sales may be declining, it could be that there's not a lot out there to buy that hasn't been rehashed many times before. You're right, Ginny, everyone wants to see their name in print and publishers take full advantage to make a quick buck despite the quality. I admit that I have stopped buying gardening books en masse. I don't have the room, nor the time, to read 10 or 15 new books at a clip. Substance seems to be what's missing. "How To's" have given way to "look how lovely this is." The "lovely" books rarely mention the financial part of designing and implementing a full-blown garden worthy of publication. So, IMHO, while I feel for the writers whose rights are contracted away, and I feel for those of us with this plant passion who can't get enough, I give Amy all the credit in the world for doing an ad hoc "market survey" and not putting out pages for the sake of putting out pages. And, I truly still believe, that the masses sway the market. The decline in sales is a perfect example of this. People still have money, people still have interest, and now the publishers need to catch up. Martie

I'd love to hear if anyone (especially in the cooler climates) notices a significant difference in density of the flowers or height or density of the plant, etc. of bobo in a part shade vs a full sun condition. I bought one from a garden centre about a month ago and planted it in full sun. I went back and bought an identical one just yesterday and the second one is about twice the height and the florets much more widely spaced. I should add that I work at this garden centre and know they have been treated exactly the same way sitting side by side. The hydrangea gets a bit less sun at the garden centre, but is still quite strong sun exposure.