Joanne - they cannot wrap leaves in plastic - they will rot. You always get some damage on the leaves - they are going to get tossed in the mail. Strong young plant will get over it - and if you have broken leaves - put them down for babies. If you order from any vendor - always put a note - no substitutions - or give a list of plants that are your second choice for substitutions. Bluebird Greenhouses have a very good selection, bunch of rare plants. They recently downsized their operation from greenhouses to home growing- so probably they have less plants- but the quality is better under the lights. These people are very involved in the works of the AVSA - so could be at the Convention or meeting at that time. I personally met owners several times - and they are great people, pleasure to know and deal with. You cannot get from mail as nicely looking plants as you get just unpacked from Optimara truck. These are packed in boxes, transported in the temperature controlled trucks, they do not touch one another - sitting in open sleeves in boxes...But the only thing you can get that way - Optimaras. When you get your parcel - you sometimes wonder -if somebody was playing soccer with these boxes. But you are paying for a healthy starter of the rare variety, not for the fact that every leaf in some miraculous way arrived immaculate. Every vendor has some customers who are not 100% satisfied. You can choose not to deal with them again. But - IMHO - these guys are good. You just need to be more specific regarding substitutes. Irina

As always, Konrad, your photos are a pleasure to see. :) We have no deer around here although we do have a coyote. Or maybe even a couple. I think they follow the tracks in search of mice. Lots of "urban coyote" space around here. :) Marcia, whitetail fawns (females) will sometimes nurse well into the winter if momma will allow it. If she is pregnant, she will likely wean them. :) Ginny

Nice capture, as usual! Hope you are well, Harold. And I hope that "chicken hawk" sticks to chickens (or hosps or starlings) and leaves the bluebirds alone! Kathy

A few days ago I mentioned to a friend who has been my guest that I intended to read All the Light We Cannot See. "Oh, oh," she said, "you have to read The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah." She brought up Amazon on her device and let me read the synopsis and reviews. It gets five stars from 85% of the over 20,000 reviewers. All the Light also has over 20,000 reviewers with 72% giving it five stars. I listened to my friend rave about Hannah's book for several minutes, so I told her I might give it a try. It was a polite brush-off because, frankly, I was skeptical. Imagine my chagrin when my friend presented me with a brand new copy of The Nightingale as a thank you gift. I appreciated her thoughtfulness, really I did. She departed and I put the book on a shelf, giving it no further thought, I'm afraid, until my friend emailed me to ask if I had started it yet. She is anxious to know what I think. Well, I girded my loins and began. Oh dear, I was right to be wary. This book and other novels similar to it with the WWII French Resistance as a backdrop and excuse for a plot are doing to this time period and worthy subject what a few years back novelists were doing to the Tudor time period -- overusing the heck out of it. Blah! The Nightingale is essentially a romance novel, but it's not a particularly good one in spite of what the ravers say -- my opinion, of course. If the reader is young, I could probably forgive her for naïve enthusiasm. The Resistance probably does seem wildly romantic to a novice. Are the Amazon reviewers mostly youthful? I suspect so. But my friend is my age and I'm scratching my head and don't know how to respond to her. Perhaps the only thing to do is what Martin said above: maybe sometimes a polite lie will suffice. ;-(