Oh goodness, I've never watered anything in the winter. I would suspect this need would be *very* location dependent. Too much water especially in the winter can rot and kill some plants. I suspect the page below from High Country Gardens may help people figure out if they may need to water. It has rainfall amounts and suggestions (especially with regards to "xeric" plants) for garden setup and care. To the original poster in NJ, I wouldn't water. I live in NY State and have never watered anything in the winter. My biggest winter problems can be (in no particular order): rodents, ground heaving from the freeze-thaw-freeze-thaw stuff, and too much cold especially when there isn't a snow cover. FataMorgana Here is a link that might be useful: High Country Gardens RainFall Chart

Hi Jack --- Its an interesting idea, isnt it? Wybe Kuitert suggests it might have been a Chinese priest named Lanqi Daolong. In addition to what Wybe said in a lecture about Tenryuji, here are some excerpts from "Themes in the History of Japanese Garden Art" on the subject (from pp. 81-82): "Many writers on Japanese garden art ascribe the garden [Tenryuji] to Muso Kokushi. This attribution starts with a popular eighteenth-century garden book (Kitamura 1735) and is also found in an old tourist book on the celebrated gardens and sights of Kyoto (Akisato 1799). "Theories of Song landscape painting are skillfully applied in the waterfall arrangement of rocks at the pond shore. Generally speaking this rather sudden appearance of Song-influenced rock work cannot be ascribed to an indigenous Japanese like Muso. Muso himself could not have had such detailed knowledge; and he did not paint; and he never went to China. Besides, Song landscape painting was not yet being imported on a large scale "The appearance of Song-painting-inspired rock work in Tenryuji, then, is too sudden to be ascribed to an indigenous Japanese. Besides the waterfall arrangement, the concept of pond and hillock with winding pathways in between rows of rocks used as retainers is so typically Chinese in concept that one also hesitates on this point to attribute it to an early medieval Japanese. Another reason to attribute the design to a Chinese artist is the so-called carp stone halfway up the waterfall.. At the side of the upper step of the waterfall is a curved stone with a split tip, quite suggestively representing a fish jumping the rapids. It is generally accepted that this stone relates to the Chinese legend of a carp that, after successfully ascending the gorges of the Yellow River at Lung Men (Dragon Gate), will turn into a dragon The carp stone leads to another hypothetical attribution of the waterfall rock grouping to the Chinese Lanqi Daolong (Jpn. Rankei Doryu). This Zen priest came to Kyoto for three years to deal with questions on Zen matters at the court of ex-Emperor Go Saga, whose palace was located at the present site of the Tenryuji temple. Two other temples that Lanqi Daolong revived during short periods of residence have the same type of Dragon Gate waterfall.. Again, no documentary evidence exists that proves his engagement in constructing these Dragon Gate waterfalls" Lee

Tomatoes, Yummy - For pasters = Margaretta moves on to the next round. Good production, early enough to get most of them harvested before the frost, and nice size that is not going to be too difficult to peel (they are in freezer bags right now). Sausage - did not live up to the descriptiion. By the time it started ripening, the plants were dead from the frost. Only got a few small fruits. Nothing to write home about. Large tomatoes I grew - Cherokee Purple - late to start, hiding the ripe fruit and split even though it got even water. The flavor was pretty good though. Red Brandywine - was one of the better producers, will be back next year for a repeat performance. Early girl - was one of the last to produce (go figure) but when she finally got going, was really on a roll. Will be back in 2009 for an encore. Spanish Sun - Nice uniform tomatoes with a good flavor. Worth the space and has a reserved spot for next year. Cherokee - interestling out performed its cousin (purple?) and will be repeating next year. Super Sioux - Wow, it was one of the first and kept going through the summer with really nice sized fruit. Was there ever any doubt? Celebrity - must have been 15 minutes of fame, cuz I know I planted it, but it never even made it out of the gate. It struggled and croaked in the first weeks of summer. I might give it another chance, but then again... Last, but not least, the misc yellow/cherries - Yellow Plum - I actually mistook it for Yellow Pear for the first few weeks, then I remembered that I never got the yellow pear planted. Performed famously and the chickens loved cleaning up the leftovers. If they were not totally ripe though, they were very sour. Lemon Boy - never produced any fruit, bummer I really wanted to try it. And last but not least - the one every one else is talking about, Sugary. It was totally buried under Spanish sun, but everytime I found it, it had some of the best little pink fruit I have ever tasted. Awesome stuff. I will plant more than one next year. Billie

The language of feng shui may sound a little woo-woo to those of us with a Western education and mindset, but from my limited reading about it, a lot of it seems firmly rooted into the psychology of how we relate to spaces and objects (real or perceived), sometimes rooted in a very primitive part of our brains. Like when my bed was oriented so my head was opposite the door. Or sleeping underneath an object or architectural feature that give the impression it could fall on you.