Thanks for the short review. My choice of Red Globe as it was mentioned as good by fruitnut. And also a local Nursery which makes the top 5 for hardy fruit trees is Grandpa's. It's a "Grandpa's Choice" there Although it is mentioned it is susceptible to bacterial spot and frost tender. It must have a really good flavor for Grandpa to still suggest it. His other choices are Redhaven and O'Henry. So 3 out of all the peaches they sell., which this year is 24 cultivars. So it's not my experience. I developed a list of good candidates for my yard and all three are on it. Now Redhaven and O'Henry will make it in my yard first. Redhaven because it was developed here, and is a really decent peach. O'Henry for it's exceptional taste. it does have some problems. But really what cultivar is perfect? Both are old cultivars reviewed many times all over the place. I believe Scott mentions it is was of his best (O'Henry). Redhaven is one of the better Michigan cultivars, I have to have it. Again too first come peaches that work here, then one that should work here but untested, then experimental. So peaches suggested by a top 5 nursery that is in MI, have huge weight on my list. My choice on Redskin was based your review and also a review from a radio interview I heard. The grower was an author, and mentioned the cultivar as being very good. I can't remember who the writer was though? Maybe Lee Reich? Anyway I think with any I mentioned Mrs.G would be happy. I would base choice on ripening time compared to what she has. So mentioned a few. I can mention more, but know less about them, but still on my list. Winblo, Carmen, Carolina Gold, and Clayton would be excellent choices too. Speaking of grafting my Indian free looks like it has a canker. I removed canker, but the tree may develop more so I took a couple scions to try my hand at grafting. I may spread the canker, I took it off a clean scaffold, and it doesn't matter anyway. I'm moving and will have to start over in 3 years. these are all experiments at this point so another reason to graft. to practice, and to experiment. I'm putting the scions on Arctic Glo Nectarine. or Lucky 13. I'm not sure what kind of graft to use? But have a lot of time to figure that out. I'm going to practice graft cutting on my maple tree. See if I can get good cuts, or at least practice my cuts on scrape wood first.

When I saw the thread title I asked myself if original poster meant to Mother Nature or the confounded animals. It's a bummer when a healthy perennial gets to its third year and then something comes along and eats and/or rips off the buds and foliage. I almost dislike it more when they rip it apart and don't eat it. Guara had nothing above ground but still has some white roots. Put it in pot and will see how it does. Think it's a goner. 1 out of 3 Salvia Greggii which I mistakenly thought could take NJ zone 6. Other 2 struggling to put out some new foliage. 1 out of 3 Campanula Summer Blues. Other 2 are being eaten one stem at a time by something. At least I got to see a couple blooms. Too much wet and cool temps for too long now is getting to plants that did make it through winter. Deer jumped fence around Butterfly Garden last night as I saw hoof prints in wet soil. Ate top half of quite a few plants...even ones they aren't supposed to "like". This isn't shaping up to be a great garden year or it's just getting off to a slow start with inclement weather.

Thank you, Mayland. I always mulch with pine straw. Here, it seems to be a bit more economical and I've got a whole lot of mulching to do. I think that last year I ended up buying about 50-60 bales of straw. I probably won't do that much this year; I'm not going to put as much in the back as I did in the front. I have even more azaleas on the side (to the left in the picture) and in the back (you can barely see a coral and pink azalea on the right-hand side of the picture). I have been sick about losing so many, too. The 7-8 I lost are just in the front. I haven't really gotten out and counted all the ones in the back, although there's not as many lost in those areas. I thought about mulching with bark in 2006 but there were rumors that some of the bark we got here came from the "Katrina" area trees that were chipped up and some came with termites. I don't know if that was true or not, but didn't want to take the chance, so we stayed with straw. I planted four small rhododendrons two years ago and they did beautifully the first year. I thought they would be fine last year as long as I kept them watered on our alotted days...I lost all four of them. The funny thing is that I planted a larger one last year and it lived! At least I hope it is going to live...this will be its second year like the other four were and I've found a few dead limbs on it. Esh_ga...finding those dead limbs on my year-old planted rhodie...does that mean I'm probably looking at losing the whole plant, or do I just need to clip off the dead limbs and pray for survival? It's such a pretty white rhodie and I don't want to lose it! I have just recently heard that you don't need to amend the holes too much...I'm glad you mentioned that so now I know it's true. What was the older saying, "$100 hole for a $10 plant?" LOL! Thanks! Beverly

In many respects this was the "perfect" snowstorm down here on the far south coast of Ma--certainly compared to Nemo in Feb 2013. The temperature was stuck at 28-29 degrees here during the storm compared to Nemo when the snow fell at 33 degrees. That 4-5 degree difference is huge as far as snowfall and damage. This year's blizzard was much lighter snow that didn't stick to trees--very unusual down here. So no power outages or tree damage. And the now deep snow cover is greatly appreciated as far as protecting plants. My camellia is now safe and sound--snug under a 2 ft warm blanket. I hope we get even more this week to add to the blanket because February 2015 could be one of the coldest months EVER RECORDED in this area according to some forecasts--rivaling February 1934. So get ready! One weatherman I follow closely said, and I quote: "people in the northeast will be talking about the rest of this winter for the rest of their lives". You have been warned!