Eric, I get a fruity note on top of Damask. I'd say Wm. Shakespeare 2000 is more pure Damask (to my nose anyway!). How do you like The Prince? It's in its second year in our garden and has had 2 flushes so far this year. The first flush was mostly single blooms but the second was good sized clusters. I'm amazed at the black buds. Last year we were worried that they were dead when we first saw them! Ruth

Today I was repotting the streps I got from Ebay. One of them is Mysticism (M). It *Does* have a scent-somewhat faint-but sweet and melony. The seller did not describe it as being scented but Dave had it on his list, so I bought it! Dbarron you're absolutely correct, IMHO. Environment seems to have a lot to do with it. My goose egg is less fragrant than M, but it's been under lights for quite a while. I would have thought that more heat would produce higher scent, but perhaps I'm wrong. M has been sitting with the other two from Ebay, on my counter, while trying to bring them round. I've another coming from Gary next week-had two on order, though I can't remember what the first one is. He called last night and is out of King of Kings (which is supposedly scented). Of course since mine is only a sample of two, so we'll see what the next bring. My Beloved isn't blooming right now (one of the Ebay buys), but does have one tiny bud, so maybe we'll get lucky there too! Best, Judy

Yes, wax beans have a different flavor and it is milder. Some people prefer them others prefer the green ones. Wax beans are the only veggie my sister-in-law who hates vegetables will eat voluntarily. If you don't enjoy them then you're probably right to skip the wax beans and plant more of something you like better. :-) Have you tried yardlongs? This is my first time with them and I enjoyed the first harvest tonight very much. They have a strong, assertive flavor.

Well, we live in a mid-19th c farmhouse with most of its original details intact, so I am somewhat constrained by that. I want a plain, workman-like space for the kitchen essentials, with nothing pretending to be something it isn't. (No faux wear marks or fly-specking details on my cabs for instance - at least none applied at the factory; we're not talking about what will happen naturally if someone leaves the doggone screen door open again! For those I've got my Spic 'n Span bucket ready.) I know this sounds drab and dull, but that's not the case since I have details like 14" tall skirting boards with deeply curved moldings; an open staircase with a second-floor gallery and the underlying (also rigid) balance and symmetry of a full-on Greek Revival building. With such strong elements never out of the picture, I have just had to learn to get out of the way. Since almost all our stuff is passed down from our families, (some period antiques and but mostly just old pieces, approaching legal antique status of their own, but not period, IYKWIM) my "style" of decorating is pretty much "what we found in the attic", combined, now, with what we've inherited from our parents. I can't really imagine what it is like to choose to decorate in a defined "style" or go out intending to purchase stuff to go with a particular style. When I read or see pictures here of what people are working on, I often wonder how you ever decided which one to choose. Seems like a lot of energy is expended working out those details. I just concentrate on 1) What do I need to make this room work for how we want to use it? 2) What do I have that will do the job? 3)(If I have more than one option for #2) Which piece looks best (mostly scale) with the other stuff in the room? 4) What can I/do I have to do with it (or to it) to spiff it up enough so make it presentable, if necessary? (If I can't find a suitable piece for some use, then we usually do without until a solution appears.) In general I find that my old stuff tends to look well with my other old stuff, providing the scale of the piece is right, particularly in the context of it all being old stuff, in an old house. And to some degree, after attending to comfort and practicality/feasability and cleanliness (which can include cleaning up a wood finish or redoing upholstery), I really don't care to do more. The only place where I can fall in with the forum's decorating mania, is color. That really lights my fire! I can spend weeks and months thinking about, testing and generally feeding the decorating part of my brain while contemplating which color to put on my walls. L