JG, "Where does the main stem of that plant go into the ground?" The main stem goes into the ground pretty near the center of the picture I posted. "Do you know what the parents were?" The shrub zinnia's ID code is E13 and its maternal parent was coded C72 and the shrub was planted indoors 22 April 2011. C72 was an echinacea flowered "scabi", as was its maternal parent, C46. The shrub zinnia's male parent must have been some sort of large flowered non-scabious. It's kind of odd that the shrub comes from a long line of scabious specimens. Its main stem and its laterals are all very long -- so long that they can't stand up under their own weight. All of the main stems are lying on the ground unable to support their weight. Most of what you see are the secondary branches emerging from the primary branches. If this thing had a couple more months in which to develop, I suspect that those secondary branches would also collapse onto the ground and throw up long tertiary branches. I am not pleased that the thing can't stand under its own weight, so I remain somewhat skeptical as to how its progeny will prove themselves. But E13 does have a very unique plant form. "With the toothy, scabious dahlia, and shaggy dog type zinnias along with this shrub zinnia, you have lots going!" Grin. And don't forget the Bugle zinnia (E2). I spent nearly an hour today applying Bugle pollen to The Shrub because E13 didn't put out any pollen florets of its own today. This recent toothy bloom had an interesting recurved petal form. It wasn't wilting -- it was just holding its petals that way. It has since straightened out its petals some, but they are still recurved. I am doing a lot of toothy-to-toothy crossing in order to hopefully build up a supply of seeds for a larger toothy planting next year. But I am using some toothy pollen on other breeders, and I have been crossing some non-toothy pollen onto toothies. One toothy has been getting some Bugle pollen. "If you knew someone in the country where it is hot and sunny year round, it would be interesting to transplant that "shrub" and see just how extensive it could get." That would be interesting. I think there is actually at least one zinnia species that is a shrub in the wild. More later. Our nights are getting too cold for comfort. It was 46 last night, with 48 predicted for tonight. There were frost warnings not too far north of here for last night. ZM

Hi Viking, You have gotten a really big head start on the rest of us. My tiny zinnia seedlings are just beginning to get their first set of true leaves. Your seedlings in the white pot are stretched up much too far. Zinnia seedlings need quite a bit of light when they first come up. Our safe no-frost date here is debatable, but I am planning to put some stuff out the first of April, or a little later, (hopefully I will not be the April fool) with the idea of giving it some frost protection if it needs it. Which it probably will. The first of May would be less risky, but I want to push for an earlier zinnia bloom this year. I am preparing to provide some frost protection to the early entrants into my garden. ZM

>1. What brand do you currently own? How long? Blustar. 3.5 years >2. Size/width ( ex: 30", 36" etc), how many burners, free standing or slide in, duel fuel or all gas, does it have feet? (48" all gas, 4 burners, grill and griddle. If doing it again, i would go with 24" grill and no griddle. It has feet!! That is also extremely important to me. I don't know if I could consider a range without feet. Cleaning underneath is something that is mandatory for me. I am sure my wife would have a massive coronary if she couldn't clean underneath(I actually may as well). My Viking before this also had feet which was a deciding factor in that purchase. >3. Different size burners? If so please explain. Standard Bluestar arrangement. 2x22k 1x15k and 1x8k simmer. No complaints here, I would probably stick with this arrangement if I was buying now, however BS offers any arrangement you wish. >4. If you have 4 burners only, do you have interchangeable rings?....as in you can use a small pot or a larger on the same burner Any pot can be used on any burner, but with the different sized burners I do occasionally match up size of pot to burner and what I want to achieve. >5. Any issues with the following: Plastic knobs that melt or have cracked, metal knobs/oven handle or any part of the oven door that gets too hot, burners/oven/control panel that stopped working, peeling paint inside oven, rust, noise when oven turns on, clicking of ignitor on high setting, oven door is flimsy or hinges broke, oven door handle loose or broke. Anything else that I missed? No quality issues at all!! Zip!! Parts of the exterior do get quite hot tho. The kick plate in particular seems hot. The handle never ever gets hot. The knobs are metal so no melting and I have never felt them being more than warm. Handle has never been much warmer than room temp. Not sure if the V1 is better for exterior heat. One regular member here has provided a video proving the temps are not all that hot on his V1. >6. Any problems with cleaning the surface? Nooks and crannies that you can't clean out? IMO, the easiest range to keep the cooktop clean. 100% cast iron. It tends to actually look better with age. No self clean option for ovens tho. CC does have this option for those who it is important to. >7. Ball bearing sliding racks in oven? How many? One ball bearing rack. 3 racks in total provided. I only have two in the oven. >8. If oven contains regular racks, are they easy to pull out? No issues >9. Any sharp edges around the oven door or anywhere else? Nothing I have ever cut myself on. >10. For those of you who have slide-ins, did you ever spill anything into the vent which is located in between the other burners? If so, did any problems arise from this? NA >11. Did you have to install a higher volt outlet? Nope. Standard 110v outlet. Should be dedicated non gfi tho. >12. Any issues that haven't been mentioned? Not that I can think of at this time, certainly nothing major. Is there room for improvements? Certainly, every product I think has room for improvement. For example, I would love to see an IR grill and the IR broiler could be bigger. >13. What did you pay for it ( if you don't mind please)? And where did you purchase it? Any issues with delivery? Not really relevant to most people here. I was in the Interior design/Home improvement business, so I got special treatment. I don't think the dealer wanted me posting my price. No problems at all with delivery from BS or the dealer. >14. How is the customer support? Prompt with repair? Cost? Warranty? I ordered a new style door just in case of hinge problems. Delivered promptly without any questions and zero almost 4 years after the range had been ordered. >15. What did you own prior to this? How long? What were the issues if any? Had a Viking 30" before this. Loved the legs, loved the looks. I don't like the looks of the new ones as much. I may place more emphasis on looks than many people, likely due to my interior design experience. Was fun to cook on(not as fun as BS). No real issues. I had their open burner model, but did not like that there was shiny black metal burner bowls. This was hard to keep clean. 100% cast on BS much better. No even close to as good a cooking appliance as the BS. I would buy another BS in a heart beat. The CC is obviously an amazing range too, just probably not for me (no feet on it among a couple of other reasons),but for others it is fantastic. The American range looks great, but the lack of feedback on the net is concerning, and that they are not available in larger than 36" would be a deal breaker for me. Good luck on your search.

Mine longtime kitchen obsession has been vintage cookware from the 50s or older. I have a lot of Guardian Service cookware. I love that the stuff is practically bombproof. At the thrift store the other day I found an ancient but still perfectly workable Presto 4 qt pressure cooker. The hammered texture on the lid caught my eye. It has beautiful wood handles too. I love that I can still get gaskets and overpressure plugs for it which I did because while the ones it had were serviceable they looked a little old. I also found a manual for it. Using some common sense and some internet research, it's incredibly easy to use. Since then I have experimented with making a few dishes in it. French onion soup is awesome in it and beans come out creamy textured. Presoaking gets better results though if in a hurry I can start from dry. Seasonings get right into the beans instead of staying in the broth. I am looking for a big oldie so i can use it at the next chili cook-off!