I got the balance of my Burgess order, so I figured I'd follow up. It seems to be a definite "some things are better than others" type of place, so hopefully this will help someone figure out what is most worth it: Rose bushes and peony trees (bare root) came looking quite decent, and all of them have continued to be alive in my garden. A few have been slow to leaf out, but nothing arrived dead or rotted, and everything seems to be getting along now. Humming bird vines arrived looking like sticks - they were alive, but sticks. All are still alive, and one is leafing out, so, OK. The things are supposed to be impossible to kill, so I'm hopeful. Clematis came as cute little spider-looking root nodes. Fairly fresh looking. They have all sprouted up nicely. Honesuckle vines looked like a bit of a mess when they arrived - it was hard to tell what was supposed to be planted, what was root vs. vine, etc. I've got nothing out of those yet, and for all I know I planted the darn things upside down. Day lilies came as nice little root bunches, and all are sprouting up nicely now. The bare root trees I had received earlier all still appear to be alive (they're flexible and show green if you scratch the bark), but not a one has leafed out yet. The little potted lemon and lime trees I got came looking good, but the lime was suffering such a mineral deficiency I'm still not sure it will make it. Maybe 3 years from now I'll have a stand of nice little trees started for next to nothing and I'll pat myself on the back, but I'm not awfully impressed on the tree front just yet. Overall I'm still giving Burgess a solid C. I'd never accept it if I'd paid anything approaching a usual nursery price for what I got, but overall I think I got what I paid for.

Ok for 2013 I got decent trees. They were big, and some do not like that. I would have preferred smaller trees myself, but I can't complain as they were in such good shape. I ordered trees from Bay Laurel in CA and Grandpa's in MI Excellent trees all of them! 4 from Bay Laurel, and 2 from Grandpa's. If you live in the East you may want to use Grandpa's. Bay Laurel has to send out by March 7th or so. But even here in MI the ground was workable. They all went back into dormancy when planted, and are now coming out. The trees from Grandpa's just came last week and are fine. I have wet clay here, and the trees from Bay laurel are on citation which grows well in wet clay! From Grandpa's the peach was on Lovell, a decent rootstock, and the cherry on Gisela, but most are not! They vary by cultivar. I was looking for Gisela. I ordered raspberries from a few places. The best was Indiana Berry, and they were cheap too! $3.25 a plant. I ordered Prelude, Encore, and Anne. Bare root. All had exceptional roots and one cane over pencil size. All are still dormant, but a bud formed on one cain the last couple of days. We had a harsh cold spring, so that didn't help in adjustment. I for sure will look for cultivars there first. I also ordered a currant and it was decent looking, bare root dormant. Stark brothers also gave me decent raspberry plants bare root too. But tell them a date, they tend to send too early!! I had to keep a blueberry bush inside, and then hardened it off, and planted just in time for a freeze, so it is struggling. Raspberries are all still dormant so no problems with the freeze.

I have had my cluster growing for 5 years in the same pot , a van brake drum stacked on a column of brake rotors.. It bloomed and died back part way, sending out babies and then a year latter I had three babies bloom and I keep giving them away and weeding some out so they still have room to grow. I do need to put in some fresh soil. If you leave it outside as long as possible so it can get some late fall/ winter sun, it will turn a beautiful red. Every year I chance a freeze since it will take a light one. This spring it got snowed on. It did not like that. It didn't like the hail the year before either. BUt it has forgiven me , over and over for the abuse that I give it. It loves the winter sun. It just occasionally looks like it gets acne from unwanted frozen precipitation.

Just a word of caution: Do be careful about taking these over-the-counter remedies without consulting with your doc first. They can contra-indicate if you're taking other meds. I'm on the "other side" of most of you, having stopped my periods 15 years ago at age 44. (And sorry to say, the hot flashes are still with me.) My experience showed that I was not able to quickly find a successful regimen to hold my menopausal symptoms in check. I consulted with three or four GYNs until I found one who was willing to stick with me until we got it right. I really had to become my own advocate, if you will. We need to be as well educated as we can about the subject. As you look for what you can "take" to help you, you should also research really well the results of the (Women's Health Initiative) study they released back in 02. Don't rely on websites related to drug or supplement firms - read what's available on the National Institute of Health and other medical sites. In '06 the NIH released results of a separate study that showed herbal supplements were of no value in relieving hot flashes. Some women are lucky in that their menopausal symptoms are less severe and perhaps they perceive that herbs like black cohash have helped. But it's not "everyone's menopause," and what works for some doesn't work for all. After lots of trial and error, I was on an HRT regiment with both estrogen and progesterone that was wonderful for my body. I took the pills for about twelve years (referred to them as my "life line"). Hot flashes and night sweats were completely eliminated, and I was able to concentrate once again (although NOTHING NOTHING NOTHING helps for memory loss!). On and off I also tried a variety of anti-anxiety pills, none of which seemed to make a discernable difference. Depression is very common in menopausal women. Many people have had good results with the bio-identical hormones. I tried them for about a year but I didn't find the results comparable at all, so I stopped. I'm no longer on any hormones, and it has been a real struggle. I still have almost-daily hot flashes and nightly hot sweats (although the night sweats are not as severe, yet they still awaken me and that's annoying enough). Since stopping HRT, I don't think I've had a single uninterrupted night's sleep. But, as with every step I've taken since my periods stopped fifteen years ago, being off HRT is my choice. I have just learned to live with it. I think the bottom line is that you need to understand what if any risks there are in your body/family history that would or wouldn't make HRT a good solution for you. I don't think I've seen any mention here of calcium supplements, and that's so very important. We should be taking 1,200-1,500 mg daily if we're not on estrogen, a bit less with estrogen. Osteoporosis is very common in both pre-and post-menopausal women. Here is a link that might be useful: Menopause and Herbal Supplements Study Article