Nice to have you on the forum and look forward to seeing more from you! Happy holidays :) witchygirl- you are spot on!! The “articles” I find are total garbage and are so incredibly vague, or just flat or incorrect, that it physically pains me (and I’m still a newbie!). I have learned so much incredible stuff about gardening from this forum it puts all other internet articles and many website to shame. Best thing I ever did for my gardens was to join this site :)

Hi I'm new on the Peony plants. I think they are beautiful so I got one from QVC. They say it is okay in our zone. I don't think I have every seen one ecept in pictures. I p;anted my bareroot about 3 weeks ago. It is about 12 inches tall. It was in very good shape when I got it but now it isn't doing anything. We have had 100 degree temp here in N Ca and lots of fires so very smoky. It had 3 or 4 white I guess leaves starting to form on the stalks I kept watching them but they didn't move or anything but kept getting greener. but now the ends are drying out and looking brittle. I don't know what to do I have been trying to shade it in the hottest part of the day but I don tknow if it is helping. I don't know if I should keep watering it or let it dry out like tye say. Can someone give me some info I sure do need it. thanks Mar

Welcome, and make yourself at home. Hope we can help you and you can help us.

There are no sewing machines made in the USA any longer unless you buy an expensive industrial custom made one. They are all made overseas. I believe Bernina still makes their machines in Switzerland, Viking in Sweden, but not the ones that cost less than $1000. My new Viking Emerald was made in Taiwan and even a Viking shop staff member was shocked about that. I asked my sewing machine repair guy for my old Kenmore which brand he would buy and he likes Juki (Japanese) but I don't know if they make embroidery machines like you want. Kenmore used to be a good machine, I have a 39-year old Kenmore that still runs like a dream but it only has straight and zig-zag stitch. If I were you I would take the time to ask around, go to different specialty shops and talk to a lot of people who actually use the machines that you are interested in and find out how they like their machines and especially how they are treated as far as repair service, warranty, etc. I had a problem with my brand new Viking after 2 hours of sewing and it was like pulling teeth to get customer service for it. Then I had to leave it at the dealer, which is an hour drive away, they had to have someone from the outside come in and take it out to fix it and then bring it back. I asked my old repair guy what the deal was on Vikings after the warranty runs out and he says that Viking won't even let him get parts to repair newer machines anymore. Sounds like they want to put pressure on older machine owners to upgrade to newer models rather than repair the machines. The dealer staff is very friendly and helpful to get you to buy a new machine but have no time for you when something goes wrong.