Here in S. Central PA, in clay soil, I planted it in several locations on level ground in dry shade, in which it soon expired. I now have it on the shady (house) side of a small raised (lasagnia-type) border, the sunny side of which faces northwest, but partially shaded by street trees. The two I planted both survived last winter, and one was actually trying to bloom a few weeks ago until I shaded it further with a potted plant. It is shaded by a few bee balm plants and a garden arch covered with hops. I made certain to give each plant some of my best compost from leaf mold, and water whenever the border looks stressed. The successful plants are really only a couple of inches above ground level, but it was enough to help them survive winter freezes, apparently.

I'm sorry to hear about your friend, Deb. Thank you for spreading the information.

I must have missed that thread! I don't wear makeup often, but actually wore foundation, eyeshadow, liner, blush & lipstick yesterday for a bridal shower. I guess if I want to talk bras, ect, and the guys want to read it, oh well. If I worried about them reading it, I wouldn't post it. But it might be fun to see how many paid attention, besides OJ!!!!! Sleeperblues, have you been tested for diabetes? A friend of DGS's (7 y/o) has had dark circles for years, was never energetic, and all of a sudden started drinking all the time. His mother took him to the pediatritian several times, concerned, but never got anywhere until her son started drinking so much and she did some research. She walked in and said you are going to order these test. Kid has type one. Hope your circles are just natural, not due to illness. Tami

One thing that makes me shake my head is when people mistakenly believe the title "meterorologist" is a highly-skilled and highly-educated position. Nope, not so. Because stations want to flaunt the "m" term, weather wannabes often just get their degree from the mail-order outfits. Hardly anything impressive. Someone who knows weather doesn't need a fancy title. And yes, there's one in this market who has been pregnant for about the last 5 years. Drop the frog and back into maternity clothes. Local TV news used to be some big bucks for broadcasters but since the internet, satellite and cable channels blew up, local news has taken the nosedive. There's very few who truly get big contracts compared to years ago. And the staffing is cut to the bone in most places too. The top stations around here used to staff 12-15 true meteorologists (not just someone with what's known in the business as a "MS Degree".) Today those stations staff about 4 weather folk with varying credentials. I remember when stations were crying to get a weather person who could talk so they could throw them on the air. Now, if you land a job you're well-advised to keep it. There's not 20 stations vying for your "talents". Same thing with news and sports, all have been cut dramatically since local news ad revenues nosedived they simply can't afford to employ more. Time was many stations would have their own expensive radar units and deride the National Weather Service's units. Now, you don't see them very often. You'd see remote trucks all over, now it's at best a handful of "photojournalists" at best. And with the decline of news, more and more stations have been bought up by the networks so the days of independent reporting are pretty much gone.