One of the first things I ever wintersowed - about 7 years ago now? (I think, I've lost track) was a coreopsis grandiflora (don't know the specific cultivar) that Trudi sent me seeds for. Every year I looked forward to their cheery yellow blooms in Buzzard's Bay - keeping them deadheaded kept the bloom cycle going nearly all summer. When I moved to the southeast two weeks ago, I started a pot of seeds from those original plants - coreopsis is one of the most beautiful "workhorses", IMO - they require very little care, don't get a lot of insects and diseases, and take heat and drought well. They are coming up nicely - the beat goes on!

hello I can understand your situation. My dad died in 2005 suddenly and very unexpectedly. My mom and he were married 39 years. He was only 68 and now my mom is a wreck. She moved out of her apt. because she couldnt afford it with my dads income cut. Then she moved in with me and my husband and 2 kids. It was disasterous. I love her very dearly but we just clash. She is now living with her older sister. She has bad anxiety. She is depressed but wont admit it and she is convinced she is sick. The doc put her on meds but I dont think she takes them. Anyway it seems she quit living life and she doesnt even want to help herself and it makes hard on everyone around her. She drives but she wont work or join social activities. She is only 65 but is acting like a 4 yr old who needs looking after. I dont know if something triggers this behavior when someone is thrown a bad apple in life. Like your sister, one day, they had normal lifes and the next day everything was gone and I guess its very hard to try and start over. I worry very much about my mom. I think she has no will to live anymore. I quess we just have to be there for them and try and help when we can. I wont go out of my way anymore and I told my mom she needs to start living again. They are the only ones who can help themselves. I dont know if this helps you or not but I just wanted to let you know that you and your sister are not alone. Alot of people are put in life changing situations and you just have to make the best of it. ZGOod luck and God Bless

"The man that I'm involved with has had 3 failed marriages and done time for drug dealing" Well at least it sounds like you are getting what you deserve. "...since he's found me he's been given a new lease of life" Sure sweetie, he'll be a regular Mother Theresa now that he has you in his life. Reading too many romance novels are we? Sorry if I am coming off harsh, and I realize I don't speak for everyone here, their opinion might be a little more forgiving than mine. But as someone who's been put through the same hell by my piece of sh*t ex-wife that you are putting your husband though, I feel extremely entitled to offer my opinion, since you asked for opinions. I too was a "good honest man" (still am...lol!) who did not deserve it. I was always completely faithful to her. I worked my butt off getting a software business off the ground so my ex could be a stay-at-home for our two kids, which is what we both wanted from the start. And instead of being appreciated for working long days and weekends, then coming home and being a good dad and working on the house and all that, she eventually winds up resenting me for not being around enough and winds up having an affair with someone...which I didn't find out about for 9 months. When I found out, I said I understood (to a point) why she did this and wanted to fix our issues, and resolved to change some things make our marriage better. She said she wanted this too....but her heart was never really in it. Three years later she did it again....this time I told her I was done and we are now amicably divorced (on the surface anyway) and sharing custody or our two kids 50/50. I say "on the surface" because when I think of what she did to me, not only the affairs, but to string me along for years...knowing she wanted out but not having the courage to act like an adult end our marriage the right way before shopping for her next man, my blood freaking boils. I can't explain it, but I feel like I lived years of my life now in some giant lie...I was happy and thought things were pretty good. Good people DO NOT treat people like this. She completely disregarded me as a person, and did what was best for her, with NO regards for my feelings. I didn't matter at all....my pain was just "collateral damage" to her in getting what she wanted. To this day (5 yrs later), while I deal with her respectfully on a daily basis regarding the kids, deep down I wish nothing but bad things for her. The scars of being treated like this, by someone that you loved and treated with nothing but respect for 10+ years, do not heal easily. I suspect they never will. I (half) jokingly tell my friends that I just hope she dies before me so that I can take a big sh*t on her grave, as my final revenge. Well, now you know how your "good honest man" of a husband will feel about you when he finds out. And I hope your daughters do turn on you...you f*cking deserve it. There, you asked for opinions.....oh, and good luck with your new man, he sounds like quite a catch! This post was edited by mkroopy on Fri, Dec 7, 12 at 13:14

Is it all over the plant or on a section, Barb? If it's not all over I'd just remove the impacted pieces. Do you give it supplemental water? If you water in a way that the stream hits the foliage I'd change that so that only the ground is wetted. I've never sprayed my peonies, we're pretty dry here in CO, but have heard of people/growers using fungicides for mold issues.