Found this doc on the web by doing a "spur type apple" Google search: http://www.homeorchardsociety.org/ebooks/samples/Apple_Fruiting_Sample.pdf If you purchase the entire e-book, you should be able to take this and then compare for varieties that grow well in your area. I would check with your Virginia Coop Extension website to see what's recommended for your area, or call your local extension office. Or your local orchard supply company, too. I did find this for you from your Virginia Coop Extension office: http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/422/422-760/422-760.html Hopefully you'll find a nice heirloom spur-type apple that will perform well for you wil good disease resistance. Let us know what you end up with. Patty S.

I hope the bear made it safely back up into the hills, and stays there. I have no idea if the sheriff had to intervene to remove it. (I suspect not - this town is small enough that trapping a bear would be newsworthy, but I didn't hear any news about it.) It disturbed me that it was not afraid of people at all - that tells me that this was far from the first time that it had wandered around humans and their property to obtain food. (LOL, I wasn't sure that yelling at it was the right thing to do. Besides, I wanted to get a picture as proof that I wasn't just imagining that a neighbor's Rottweiler in my yard was a bear.) I don't think that bear is full grown - it isn't very large. I can't say that I would blame a homeowner for taking matters into their own hands if the proper authorities had not tried to solve the problem of a bear staying around people. If the bear charged him, it was habituated to people and a genuine menace, and self-defense trumps warm fuzzies. (Although why the man was out there with a gun powerful enough to kill a bear, in a back yard in a residential neighborhood, begs a question of its own - firing a gun near houses is illegal here, and probably in most places.) That was a rotten situation for the people and for the bear, definitely no-win. Laurel

hi Leasa, I enjoyed that, thanks. Havent seen any bears in my part of Hancock co., but couple years ago, saw bear tracks leading in and out of a slash pile (that I'd often walked by and wondered if that opening in it was a door to a bear den!) it was during that wierd winter where everythng was extremely warm. That day had snowed one or two inches, and I guess the warm weather had confused the bear, he'd come out, made a half circle, then went back in. Day or two ago, a fox (I think) took one of my chickens. It dug a hole in the crusty snow, watched for the right time, and grabbed one, not even two feet from the hen house. Couple days later, I was walking in woods and came upon a pile of chicken feathers. The same day bird was taken, pretty sure I saw a fisher climb a tree in my back yard. (I saw one last year at this time too, tho I'm told they dont live here) Hope this is ok to post here, no gardening talk, except mine is under some frozen white stuff! Liked the video! Sherry

vaporvac, sure thing! If I be completely honest, I don't like it that much up to this point, but since my plant comes from a cutting and is barely about a year old, it's too early to tell for sure how it will get, and I've been told the mature plant is very neat, and the mother plant (a neighbor's) is quite cute. I can say it is definitely a prolific bloomer, being my first cutting to bloom a few weeks after rooting, in contrast with some others which are just now making buds, after sitting in a corner for a year or so. Here's the teeny thing with its first bloom. It's very bristly! That's the main reason why I haven't moved it to bigger pot, I'm afraid of the scratches and the weird habit, it throws up these relatively long canes in diagonal. Recently all of it's leaves got chlorotic, for whatever reason. Hope anyone can comment if theirs does that too. As for the color, it starts off-white or a very pale salmon, then goes to it's famous, pastel green and finally some sort of light sand-like color, it makes me think of the flesh of a pear. It has no fragrance that i can tell. If you're patient, my suggestion would be that you find someone near you who grows it, and ask for a cutting. I tried to find patent info about it, but found nothing, still, being introduced 45 years ago i don't think there's a problem. I f you like it enough, you can purchase another plant from somewhere later. Oh, and if you're interested in other greens, I can suggest Green Diamond, another by Moore, and in my opinion, prettier than GI. It supposedly keeps the color better, however I haven't found it here in Mexico, so I can't say anything about it's performance. Our climates are very different, I'm in zone 9, so maybe someone else here can chime in with some details that might be different about it in a chiller climate... Much luck!