Heather I hope your plant did well in the basement. I dug up a rather large black and blue and put in the only available pot 12" I had. I covered it with a black bag and put it in my garage. I cut the stems way down to where it would all go inside the the black bag. I also am able to keep my garage in the 40s with an inwall heater but Im not sure that was necessary for it to survive which it did. I have left that plant in the same 12" pot all summer and it flowered mightily. I will do this again with it will put it in a larger pot. Thank you very much says the b & b. Also for those that dont know Im happy to report on my experiment of covering my entire garden with plastic and bagged mulch worked better than I hoped. It worked with 100% return on every single plant covered. As a note I had not had my agastache tutti frutti return in my zone 6 before I did this. I cut all the plants down to just a few inches above the crown so I could cover with the plastic. It is important to seal the edges as best you can with rocks, sheperds hooks , etc. Also it is important : before you cover make sure dormancy has started, that temps are consistantly in the 40s and lower. Higher than that and plants may try to grow again and this is not what you want. Steve

John, I am not sure the lights you have bought will give you the intensity in output to make a significant difference. The so called 100 watt equivalent CFL bulbs give you only about 1,600 lumens each. Just for comparison my 400 watt metal halide grow lamp puts out 32,000 lumens. Take a look at these bulbs, they are much brighter: http://www.amazon.com/CowboyStudio-105-Fluorescent-Daylight-Photography/dp/B004L75BGQ/ref=sr_1_17?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1360072582&sr=1-17&keywords=daylight+cfl+bulb http://www.amazon.com/CowboyStudio-105-Fluorescent-Daylight-Photography/dp/B004L75BGQ/ref=sr_1_5?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1360072904&sr=1-5&keywords=daylight+cfl+bulb+studio IMHO, multiple lamps are not ideal. It gives too many sources of glare to the eyes. I think a bounced even all around ambient bright illumination feels the best. I believe humans react to light more than just visually by eyes. That's why blind people can also have SAD problems. Also, a blue incandescent light does not give more blue light than a regular white incandescent light. You may also look into getting a dust/dawn light to wake you up in the morning, and to put you to sleep at night. Looking at the picture of your office, I have a few suggestions: 1. Have your monitors oriented away from the window. Your pupil react to bright window light and contracts, making it a strain to view the text on the monitors. So you compensate by turning the screens to their brightest, but that create another problem to the eyes when it gets dark outside. In addition, for visitors to your office, the displays on the screens can be a distraction. I don�t know in your line of work whether it is important to provide privacy to the materials displayed. For some businesses that is a legal requirement. Do you have glass wall/door to your office? I noticed that you hang your coat on the chair, and not on the coat hook behind the door. 2. I am sure you have tried to set up your monitors most comfortable to your own preference. To me, it seems the monitors should be about 3" lower. I think that would be more ergonomic. Also, if you stack the monitors there will be less neck issues. Most multi-monitor traders have there monitors stacked (see link below). Where you spend the most time, everything contributes to your general well being. Gina, "--A friend of ours had us look at a site where you can figure out the solar azimuth angle over your home - but it was, uh, geekily complicated, LOL.�" It can be complicated to figure out the angle of the sun based on the time of day, the day of the month, the month of the year and your geographic longitude and latitude. Solar panels are coming down in price quickly, in anticipation of using solar energy, I have designed and built an instrument known as Heliodon, which can give the angle of the sun based on many criteria in seconds without doing any figuring. It can also be very useful in building a house to optimize orientation, window locations, and placement of gardens. dcarch My Heliodon Here is a link that might be useful:

Thanks Nancy. Chahinian says it's height tops at 12 inches and leaves are up to 2 inches across. So I guess it's in the Futura-size category but doesn't look like one. Leaves should have a very narrow yellow edge but that will fade to green with age of the leaf. Sure is an interesting sans, and really strange that leaves propagate to Hahnii. Thanks for the extra pics. Russ

Now, before the snow has really started, I enjoy the various evergreens that range from groundcover up to large trees, though once the snow starts the groundcovers and some of the shrubs will disappear. Most are green, but I have some with tones of blue, red-orange, purple and gold scattered around for contrast. I have also planted some winter or really early bloomers such as Hellebore, witch hazel/Hamamelis and retulated iris, so most years I start seeing flowers sometime in March. Currently, my Major Wheeler honeysuckle/Lonicera sempervirens has a few blooms still showing color, even after temperatures down to 20F. I have planned for nice views from various indoor windows, regardless of the season. I am spreading manure and wood ash in the veggie garden today, and will continue to use oversized pliers to remove invasive shrubs until the ground freezes in the woods.. I've put green and colored branches in my planters and will put a few lights out in the garden soon. I will look at various shrubs and trees to plan any needed pruning, though I will most likely wait until early spring to do the cuts. And once it is colder and snow arrives, I will bundle up, slap on skis or snowshoes, and go out to enjoy the woods and fields either on my own property or in other areas. If the weather is really bad, I read, do woodturning, or cook. Many folks I know maintain feeders and water for birds to add interest and activity to the winter garden, but I stopped feeding when we started seeing bears on a fairly regular basis. I would need to bring the feeders in for the season before there is much natural food available for the birds, and it doesn't seem fair to feed them only until late winter when they are starting to breed.