RE: THIS ENTIRE THREAD Maybe Obama will rescue our economic and social quarrels for 'everything' LOL... An economics professor at a local college made a statement that he had never failed a single student before, but had once failed an entire class. That class had insisted that Obama's socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer. The professor then said, "OK, we will have an experiment in this class on Obama's plan". All grades would be averaged and everyone would receive the same grade so no one would fail and no one would receive an A... After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a B. The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy. As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too so they studied little. The second test average was a D! No one was happy. When the 3rd test rolled around, the average was an F. As the tests proceeded, the scores never increased as bickering, blame and name-calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else. All failed, to their great surprise, and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed. Could not be any simpler than that. =========================================================== (I'll write to him tomorrow, cough). Is it just me, or does this sound very familiar to the tune of this entire thread? Dax

Hi jacqueinthegorge, I haven't noticed any duplicated Trademarks, but I suppose it is legal. I would imagine that this kind of duplication would not occur with Plant Patents. I have noticed that seed companies can call the same cultivar by different names, although TMs are not involved. ZM

A little more research on this issue, and I'm pretty sure the following statements are factually correct, although I have no desire whatever to be an attorney or even work as a receptionist in an attorney's office. So if someone has any corrections to what follows, please don't keep silent. A patent lasts 20 years, a trademark is forever. Patents must be for "new" plants, and the patent protects the plant from being cloned (vegetative propagation, as in cuttings and rooting offsets). And yes, this includes cloning for your own yard with no intent to sell. If you want six of a patented variety, you must purchase six, even if the plants will live only in your backyard and never be seen by anyone except you and the cat. However, if you bred one patented plant to another, the seeds of that cross would not be protected by either patent (Dunno whether you could legally advertise your new plant as a seedling of AxB.) A trademarked name can be given to any plant that is not patented. So you could trademark your version of a commonly grown variety, and the reason why you would do this is to market the living daylights out of it, and convince people that the plant you have given a shiny new name to is better than the plant you propagated from grandma's yard, even though it is the same variety (either a commonly grown hybrid or a strain that seeds true). You can clone a trademarked plant for your own purposes and even sell it, you just can't sell it under the trademarked name unless you have a license from the owner of the trademark. And, if you got it from grandma's yard, you could give it your own shiny new trademarked name. But you'd better be able to document where you got the plant! So a plant can be both patented and trademarked, or just patented or just trademarked. (And of course, it may be neither, in which case have at it with no fear of the plant police.) Scrutinize those labels carefully. Plant tags may have a patent number on them, but if the patent number doesn't start with PP - it's the tag that is patented and not the plant. Some folks are happy to have you confused on this point...But be careful anyway. The plant police do exist, and they are serious about protecting their investments in patents and trademarks. Unless you want to get into the whole licensed propagator scene, which involves (large) fees and plenty of paperwork, avoid cloning these plants.

Being a mophead, I would expect that it would turn blue-ish in acidic soil but, oddly, Wayside says nothing about blues or color in acidic soils. Maybe they just left that out? I have looked at pictures in their website and on the Internet and all I saw was pink. Could it be like some of the pink Annabelles that stay a shade of pink in acidic soil? Hmmm. Wayside info (from their website): "From fine Japanese breeding comes this exceptional Hydrangea, its petals forming a slender star on every floret! With changing colors and increasing bloom size over time, 'Inspire' is a terrific addition to any shade landscape. The first petals are chartreuse, deepening to pink and then to purple over time. New petals arise as the flower matures as well, increasing the size and density of these big mophead blooms. So showy, so long lasting! 'Inspire' is just 3 to 4 feet high and wide, with a dense habit and plenty of blooms arising on old and new wood. This is a great shrub for northern climates, where late spring frosts may kill the first set of buds but not prevent subsequent flowering in summer and fall. But it's also quite heat- and humidity-tolerant, making it a good choice for the south, mid-west, and far west as well. Site 'Inspire' in partial shade everywhere but the northernmost edge of its hardiness range. Like all Hydrangeas, it appreciates regular moisture, but beyond this has few requirements for success. Prepare for many seasons of ever-changing beauty from this remarkable shrub! Zones 5 to 9."