Awesome plants, all - wish I could have been there. Denise, it's also named Deuterocohnia. Quincy Jones once wrote a song about it. Well, he really wrote 'The Dude' but he meant The Deut. Please read the following and see if you find any disagreement with my statement. ______________________________________________ Who is it That walks the street with all the action? (It's the Dude) Who is it That always gets a hot reaction? (That's the Dude) VERSE 1 Don'tcha' go makin' no mojo moves 'Round the Dude (Don't try no funny bizness.) Don'tcha'you be coppin' no attitude With the Dude (Hey, hey here comes the Dude) THE DUDE SPEAKS Hey everybody in the neighborhood, The beauty's on duty, better hear me good. Sister e-flat tomato, brother b- flat balloon, Somethin' funky's goin' down better listen to my tune. I graduated from the college of the street, I got a Ph..D. In how to make ends meet. Inflation in the nation don't bother me, 'Cause I'm a scholar with the dollar You can plainly see. BRIDGE He's a winner 'cause it's in his blood. Ain't nobody who's out there like him. Any corner in the neighborhood, That's the place that you'll always find him. Soft talkin' with a rap so sweet, (He does it good) Ladies call him the candy rapper. (They want his love) He's the only one that's really cool (He's really cool) That's the reason why he's the Dude. CHORUS Who is it That ain't got time for foolish talkin''? (it's the Dude) Who is it That looks so clean you can't ignore him? (That's the dude) VERSE 2 Don'tcha go mess with His walkin' stick--not the dude (Don't try no funny bizness) Don't you double-cross him He's super slick--he's the dude (Hey, hey here come the dude) THE DUDE SPEAKS AGAIN I'm a stone cold taker, I'm a piggy bank shaker, An' I don't waste my time talkin' trash. So if you go to my school, You gotta learn this rule-- Don't let your mouth write a check That your body can't cash If you never had it, Don't pay it no mind. I know you're gonna get it, If you take a little time. Take a piece from the east, A piece from the west Put it where it feels good-- Let the Dude do the rest CHANT See him steppin' down the street No forgettin', he's the Dude. See him steppin' down the street Don't forget it he's the Dude ______________________________________________ Here is a link that might be useful: It's the Deut!

I hope Paul can clarify what he meant on number 3... I didn't get that either. Before I respond to the other point, let me say that I agree with Ken's primary response to HVX in hostas and testing - it doesn't make much sense to test an inexpensive hosta with a strip that costs almost $6. If it looks virused, it probably is... toss it. But the latest info - that the virus can persist in the soil for 18 months and we don't know how much longer - that opens up a new possible reason for wanting to test. I think if I have to remove a plant, I'll probably replace it with something non-hosta and avoid the issue altogether - but I can see someone wanting to know for sure if they are dealing with HVX out of concern for the soil in that section of their garden. Many folks are dealing with limited space. I think the false positive question is important, because I think people are pretty OK with disposing of diseased plants, but the idea that the strips might tell them to throw away healthy plants might motivate people to not test - after all, if you can't trust the test, why bother? So as the false positives... like Ken, I'm more skeptical than most... but the science of the strips suggests false positive are almost impossible IF the testing strip is correctly used. Two facts support that. First, the results of the strips match extremely well with Elisa testing. (from wikipedia..."Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), also known as an enzyme immunoassay (EIA), is a biochemical technique used mainly in immunology to detect the presence of an antibody or an antigen in a sample.") The strips were designed to be the field equivalent of the typical Elisa test done in a laboratory - though in a lab, they are likely to do a whole panel of antibodies, not just a specific one. They use antibodies in a similar way to the Elisa testing. Short of an electron microscope, this is the standard set for testing for virus. In fact, it is the standard screening tool for human diseases like HIV and West Nile. In both kinds of testing, false NEGATIVES will occur (plant testing healthy even though it has the virus.) This is most likely due to the plant not having built up enough "viral load" to show up in testing. I don't know how long a period this can be... my impression is that the virus spreads throughout the plant fairly rapidly... but I believe Dr. Lockhart has had the experience of testing a plant negative and then having it test positive later... so not many false negatives, but there will apparently be some. Second, the antibodies on the test strip are quite specific to HVX. Agdia markets a line of strips, each designed to test for one specific virus. Once the chemicals mix with the plant juices and mark the virus, that is, for all practical purposes, the only thing that can make those antibodies react to give a positive reading. The "positive" band on the strip is designed to react ONLY with HVX. The rep says they've tried - and they can't get false positives unless they do something mechanically wrong. Certainly, nothing is perfect... and the science of HVX is changing as we acquire knowledge... and I wouldn't assume that a negative test guarantees my plant doesn't have HVX... but I think if I got a positive test, I would approach it as a sure thing and destroy the plant. This sales rep was a pretty interesting kid. He seemed to be more interested in the science than the sales. He didn't hand out any literature... I had to take it myself. He talked about his visits to the ports of entry where the European import plants are checked... and his work with the inspectors to get them away from just checking samples from each shipment to checking shipments by cultivar - the inspectors didn't realize that the way hostas are harvested and processes, the infection is more likely to be spread among the plants in one cultivar than being spread in the shipping container among the plants. Easy enough error to make - our usual model for virus spread is person-to-person... Anyway, all he wanted to talk about was the virus and what we know so far and the science of the strips - I had to ask him about the pricing...

Sorry for the dark exposures, but it is going to pour here, so thought I'd snap some as it is getting dark, in case the blooms do not survive our upcoming storm: 'Miss America' peony - one of my favorite herbaceous peonies: Oldie, but goodie: 'Festiva Maxima' peony. I paired it with catmint & like the combo: Closeup: Belle of Woking clematis: Celebrity peony (1st year)- the shape changes considerably from the first time the bud opens to days later, when it looks more like a pom-pom: Wow- the Festiva Maxima peony survived the storm that took down a 4" tree branch! Here is a better picture:

Mix equal amounts of lemon juice and laundry detergent liquid and then place the mixture on the ink stain, leaving a few hours and at last wash the bed sheet with cold water.