central cali, Here in north georgia we have been in a terrible drought for some years now, as I've heard that most of cali is. I totally agree with you say "Rain really makes a world of difference - especially since we get very little of it", because it's the same over here. If you want a lilac, I happily recommend Lavender Lady. I tried growing an old french lilac I got at walmart last year, and it bloomed... then completely declined. It's flowers were tiny, whereas Lavender Lady had huge flowers of stronger fragrance. (The only thing I must say is that although LL had a stronger scent, the french one had a sweeter, more refined perfume). This year I planted a Blue Skies lilac. As for peonies, I have had the best success with Sarah Bernhardt. However, I would recommend that you spend your money on a pack of peony poppy seeds instead. They may not be as large or have the fragrance, but let me tell you that they are lovely, have a longer bloom season (if planted while it's cool), and I really don't like the scent of my peonies. To me, it is like a combination of a rose and carnation at first, then I notice a disturbing under scent of medicine, and something unpleasant I don't know of. If you want a better perfume, I recommend a good old rose and/or carnation because at least you will enjoy a pure aroma.

By next year Andrew, your garden should be 1 big "worm-hole"with the volume you will produce. I am pretty excited about my garden this year also. I layered worm food (coffee grinds,pumpkin, straw, and lots of my "magic manure") over about 220 square feet of existing and new beds. I covered the 6"-16" tall mounds with coffee bean sacks. I plan on planting right in the post when its time. The mounds are now about 4"-8" high. My occasional peek under shows active worms!!! I have also converted a 3' diameter hardware cloth compost bin into a wormery. After lining the inside with 2 layers oy coffee bean sacks, I added about a foot of wet wormy compost. I then placed a previously started worm bin made out of an old milk crate shoved inside a bean sack. This was surrounded by more compost. I placed another milk crate in top of the first and filled with aged kitchen scraps, cardboard, and straw. The rest of the post fit in perfect. I then dumped a tote box of worms with VC on top and covered with layers of straw and bean sacks. I am hoping to mist only on hot days (swamp-cooler) and harvest the goods next October. The worms are much more robust in a in-ground compared to the scrawny looking runts in my plastic bins.

Hi Ailsa, Nutherokie is right, I have the CIteaux. They only started selling them in the US last summer. My Citeaux has two ovens. A gas oven in the center, an electric oven with broiler on the left, and a warming oven on the right that goes up to 250. I actually chose the La Canche Citeaux for the oven space, vs other imported traditional looking ranges. Go see a Cornue - ovens are teeeeeny. I think they make a Cornue Fe thats bigger but to me it doesnt look like a La Cornue. And the Aga ... well, a lot of folks with them have not only another oven but another cooktop! We only moved in a few days ago but I adore my stove. I had a viking 8 burner range with a gas oven in my old kitchen, supplemented by a viking electric wall oven. I stopped using the wall oven because I hated the noisy fan. I do not bake much so rarely needed two ovens. Hence the medium size gas oven, coupled with a small electric and small warming oven, is more than enough for us. And the la cornue has such a lovely flame, it's turquoise points and blue. No idea why its different that my viking flame, but it is!

This version of Poldark was much better than the original one which I watched some years ago - perhaps it's the brooding intensity of Aidan Turner. They are now filming season 2 and the BBC stated that Poldark might be the long running drama they're seeking as a replacement for Downton Abbey. There are 12 novels in Winston Graham's Cornwall series covering the years 1783 to 1820. No air date set yet but they hinted maybe spring 2016. Outlander is also filming and just switched locations. Ron Moore did a Q&A last week and said while he's not in charge of scheduling that we should anticipate late March or April 2016.