My son is getting married at the Portland Chinese Garden, this Sunday, May 29th. His bride has her heart set on carrying white peonies in her bouquet and her attendants carrying pale pink peonies in theirs. Can anyone tell me where to purchase them? The Beaverton Farmer's Market said it was too early for white and pale pink ones. Is this true? Please help me make my lovely daughter-in-law to be, dream come true! Thank you!

What neighborhoods are you looking at? Some have low inventory, and some have practically zero (Sunnyside, Buckman, Richmond, some NW). There seemed to be a moderate amount available in Laurelhurst, Irvington, Grant, as they are more expensive. I'm a Portlander and I bought a house (after renting here for 5 years) in Jan. after seriously looking for 1 month and moderately looking for 12 months. The realtors kept saying inventory would increase but it never really did, in my opinion. It's really tight, if no new homes were listed, in about 1-5-1.6 months all the homes would be sold. A realtor told me that a healthy market for buyers would have 6 months of inventory. You are at an advantage by having cash, for sure! You probably know that most offers in desirable areas are well above asking and have 15-40 offers, and happen within 3-7 days of listing. So there is an 'okay' inventory, but it goes sooo fast, some real estate sites can't keep up! Because of the fast pace, I went with Redfin. I did my own looking and arranging tours. I couldn't even afford to wait around for the first realtor I worked with to call or email me back to schedule something. I had already missed out by the time we could connect! We bought in Sabin, and paid waaaay too much for a small fixer we can't afford to fix up (for now, at least!). But it's a great block and people are really turning it around. There is a trend in Sabin, Vernon, Albina and along the Interstate corridor to buy neglected old homes and fix them up. It's the alternative to A) building new (hard to do here, due to the urban growth boundaries) and B) buying an already nice house in an equally nice neighborhood because there is such little movement there. Some of these homes are just gorgeous - big old four squares and lots of craftsmans - but they often require cash because the bank won't lend on a leaky roof or whatever. Yes, it's a major hassle and cost to renovate. But it's cheaper and quicker than waiting around. And a great investment. A house like ours fixed up would sell for $150 more today. Nothing meets your parameters here- but there is the opportunity to create it! I've obviously been bit by the renovating bug, and totally understand if that's of your cup of tea. Just putting it out there. Keep us updated!

No, they don't feed at night so you are safe bringing your feeders in to prevent freezing. Mine are showing up at the feeders before its completely light, approx. 7 - 7:15 AM. I know your daytime temps have been in that range where the nectar will freeze so you may have to keep an eye on them during this storm, either change them or do some thawing. Other storms here, I've resorted to adding more syrup heated in the microwave, my hair blower, and duct taping hand warmer packets to the feeders. Kind of a hassle and since I've been working from home, its almost as easy for me just to swap out feeders or dump and refill them. Your hummer is an Anna's. They are year round residents in much of the PNW. I saw one at my brothers Christmas day (Raleigh Hills) and they don't feed them, it was at the winter blooming camellias. If you think you have a feeder not being used or being ignored, you could tie a piece of red ribbon to it to attract them. DH has a red wool hat he sometimes wears in winter, he can barely get from the house to his truck without them flying into his face ;0) Watch for the freezing rain that is supposed to begin falling there, check to make sure the feeding ports haven't iced over. I've been keeping an eye on your weather, my mother is now living in a retirement facility there, I've been worried about her getting to a store for her breakfast things. She has lunch, dinner in the dining room but won't sign up for the breakfast program. My brother took her this morning ;0) Recent thread about our winter conditions here

Ooooh, yeah!! Didn't even notice the yellow archangel (Lamiastrum galeobdolon) lurking sneakily beside it! IME, that is far worse of an invasive problem here in the PNW than either the arum or the vinca.