I also agree with what cecily said. When we submit photos of the perfect blossom we should also try and include another of the whole bush and advise what zone we are in. The Elina that I saw in the PNW was a wonderful bloom, but for a bush 8-9' tall there was only three blooms on the whole bloody thing. For a cut flower it would be great, but in a garden in would not be the shock & awe catagory that many of us are after unless you like green. One of the fun things in planning for next years additions is doing research to see how well a certain variety will fit into our plans. Nothing takes the place of visiting gardens. Photos can be very misleading.

Bernd- You have a point there. Too many new introductions are being marketed and sold w/o having been grown to maturity. A cool looking tc sport or seedling grows for 2 or 3 years and shazzam, get it out and sell it. Once I took the time to read thru the AHS "New Registrations" booklet only to discover that in some of the descriptions, it would say 3 yr. old seedling, or a sport that was discovered a year ago. No one knows how it will perform in backyards under different growing conditions. I rather enjoy some of the rattier photos of some hostas. It shows me how one will look under under different growing conditions. Carol Brasher used to take the photos for Mary Chastain's old website. Every one of them looked breathtaking. I bought a bunch and some were indeed beautiful, but not all. Sometime I get totally taken in by a leaf photo, only to not like the plant in more or less shade/sun. I wish one couldn't register or market a hosta that hadn't been grown out for 5 years, But I am dreaming again. Thanks BOB for all your diligent efforts in organizing and keeping up your fabulous resource The Hosta Library. -Babka

We just bought a fixer-up house with a fireplace (I think it is a zero clearance) that is missing a cover or insert to cover the open areas at the top and bottom of the fireplace box. I've included photos that I hope show what I mean. The first is the overall fireplace, followed by a close-up of the top and bottom. The top open area above the box has some flue opening control rods and the bottom open area below the box just seems to be empty. Any help is appreciated as to what the missing pieces are and where they can be purchased. And yes, it is ugly. we plan to replace the painted faux stone with something more modern.

Some basic troubleshooting. I slid the rotational limit stop out of the way so I could open the valve fully. Even when fully open, not obstructed by the limit, I got no hot water. The inlet pipe coming in from the right side of the valve feels cold, so now I'm back to the opinion that the cartridge was installed upside down. So is that a reason why no hot water could be getting mixed into the valve?