Aharriedmom As to a "rigidgarden plan " What worked for me is to get old and sickly followed by being unable to pass through the shadehouse or to walk from the back door to the property line without "jungle" gear lol Really bad was the orchids and palms,particularly those I grow on other peoples property lol i divided my property into zones such as ferns/palms/orchids/ triopical flowering/ fruit trees/water gardens etc. Used "similar care as a guideline on what goes where . have disposed of all large trees/ tall/fast growing palms and those that need frequent pruning. all plants in the front yard were reduced to easy care shrub border and grass and hired a lawn co. for maintenence . gave me a special price since there's nothing to mow around . Still have a long way to go but can see much progress as a form is emerging best of all have reduced maintenence by half and the plants went to people who appreciate their beauty As to "temptation" lol DONOT attend the Fairchild ramble they had 1300 vendors and over 13000 specimens at the last show . Another is the World Orchid Conference . 80,000 orchids in full flower !! lol had cutting offset tables over 20 feet long!! Had over 500 vendors from at least 20 countries with prices from two bucks to 1500. lol gary

I live in Monroe, just 30 miles from you. I have 2 Judes which are among my favorites! They are in their 3rd year in the ground and are all leafed out and setting lots of buds. The blooms will take your breath away with their luscious beauty and strong fragrance. Mine get some BS but nothing too, too bad. I don't spray and have a high tol. for BS but it is tolerable IMO. My Judes didn't bloom a lot in the first yr. and having heard it is a shy bloomer, I was a little concerned. Not to worry, just be patient. Mine came from Chamblee's. I did give away WS2000 but I think Will was in a bad spot. My friend who received him says his fall blooms were 5in. across. She uses "gin mote" or gin trash from a cotton gin in Delhi or Rayville exclusively to plant with, fertilize and mulch and her roses do very well. She is supposed to bring me a large scoop of the stuff since I have given her so many pass- along perennials and roses that I don't want anymore. I need to tell my husband about this menopausal buying spree. He'll say he's known about that for about 5 yrs. Tee hee! buff

Rosemary, my zone 6 is southeast Missouri, and the plants came from nurseries between where I live and St. Louis. Thank you for helping ID the plants I posted on the other threads. Four of us went on the shopping trip. My friend who drove, rigged the back of her car with milk crates and shelves, because we have gone on many trips together and we know we will need every inch!! We stopped at 4 places, the first stop was a cacti/succulent wholesale/retailer that we had heard about, but never visited. It was great, we looked through 4 greenhouses (there might have been another one we didn't visit), but 2 of them had all sorts of succulents growing in trays for wholesale. One contained more unusual and rare plants, and the last one was sort of a combination of the two. We could have spent much longer there, and are definitely going back. We spent the whole day shopping, drove about 250 miles round trip, and by the time we stopped at the fourth place, the car was very well packed! Here's one I didn't show the first time. It's called Kalanchoe 'Fantastic', growing in a gallon pot which it is about to burst out of.

Megan, Only pressure canners are safe for use as pressure canners. Pressure cookers are not safe for pressure canning. Instapots (regardless of what the manufacturer may claim in their marketing material) are not safe for use as pressure canners. People have to be extremely careful with pressure canning because any mistake can result in botulism---and there are no telltale signs to alert you that your food is contaminated---it won't look spoiled, it won't smell bad, but if you eat that contaminated food, it can kill you---and in a very painful, slow manner with much suffering involved. When and if the NCHFP tests Instapots and finds them safe for pressure canning, they will say so in writing on their website. I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for it to happen. The NCHFP is painstakingly cautious and careful, and for good reason---proper food preservation is serious business. The kind of testing they do is very thorough and can take years and years, and with big budget cuts over the last decade or more, they have to be careful about where they choose to invest their time and their research dollars. I've been canning my entire life because my dad loved canning, and I am ultra cautious and never take unnecessary risks because that is what I was taught (and correctly taught). Jennifer, I hate having to go to a party when I'd rather stay home, and I almost never commit to go anywhere if it involves leaving our neighborhood. The older I get, the more of a hermit I become....and I don't care. I spent a lot of my life doing what I was taught a good daughter, wife, mother, employee, neighbor, friend, etc. "should" do, and I'm at the point now where I'm going to do what I want to do. Time is precious, and I try to use mine wisely, which for me means choosing to do the things I like to do and want to do, and not just things I feel obligated to do. I hope you didn't find attending your friend's BD party to be too tortuous. Congrats on the sprouting plants---they always make late winter feel more like early spring. Nancy, Our first evening with a full house was pretty calm. The adult kids were moving stuff in, unpacking, etc. while I made dinner with the 9 year old in and out of the kitchen checking on its progress (I believe she was hungry!), and somehow Tim arrived home about a half-hour early so he was able to eat with the rest of us. I think he slipped out of work a little early after a very trying day---he may have worked through lunch. We ate dinner together and then everyone headed off in different directions to do things. It was just a whirlwind of activity for a few hours. While I've gotten used to quieter evenings, I didn't mind the whirlwind at all. Rebecca, Audrey is at such a perfect age. Pumpkin still is pretty playful and youthful, but I think he is 4 now and is starting to be slightly less kittenish. He likes to start things with the other cats, so he isn't a calm old man yet, though. I'm long past the seed acquisition stage. If I don't have it ordered and on hand by now, I'll live without it. At some point we have to stop buying more seeds (grin) and just plant the ones we have. I'm dreading the wind on Saturday, and we won't even get the worst of it, which is expected to remain a few counties west of us (where a High Wind Warning is in effect). I think our max wind gusts expected here are only in the upper 40s, but that's bad enough. I have no garden-specific plans today, other than just watering the seedlings. This is the longest. slowest start to the gardening season in ages, and the weather isn't looking much better for the foreseeable future either. Dawn