Thanks woodsfairy and dragonfly. I hope you do save the stone walls on your property. So many of them are being lost to develpment or just torn down and used for other things. 100 years from now I would be really sad if someone tore my walls up (since I will be dead by then I would have to come back and haunt them! :0 ) I think they're an art form, really, as well as being something practical. Just an update - the pergola came in and we're staining it ebony. Needs another coat, but I've included a few shots. The last of the rock is in as well, so Jesse will be working on the wall this week now that school is out. I found an awesome book on dry-laid stone walls called , "In the Company of Stone", by Dan Snow. Very creative and beautiful stuff. I got a lot of ideas for the Ruined wall from it. DV Pics of Pergola, and the pond area is now cleared out - just need to burn the brush pile. Making progress.... Pergola & Pond

I knew what I was getting but I Love it even more then a surprise! I got Nordic walking poles, and we actually got enough snow to make it look Christmassy outside! That has only happened on about 3 Christmases I remember in the Pacific Northwest! Perfect snow as it is not cold enough to freeze on the street. But I was able to go out for a walk in the blowing snow with my nordik poles and man, are they great! They take the pressure off of knees and hips and redistribute it through the upper arms. I walked about twice as far as I usually can and enjoyed every minutes of it! We have our youngest 3 kids home for Christmas. This is the first time in a year our autistic daughter has been able to come home, but she is doing well, compared with some of the past years. I think we will even be able to make it into an overnight stay so papa does not have to spend 3 hours driving her home and coming back in the dark! Little sister is so excited...she is signing on her first condo on New Years Eve day, and sorting out the things in her bedroom so that I will get it for a sewing room/guest room. Our youngest son is enjoying having the girls around but still being able to to what he likes, sleeping at the moment I think. Papa Bear is playing on his computer that we got a month ago when he needed it so he did not have to wait for it today...it is all set up and he can play with his programs. Our oldest son is spending the day with his fiance and step daughter to be, and their friends. And we will call our daughter in Maine soon. THis is about as low stress as a holiday gets around here...I like it! Today I am still enjoying and totally enchanted with Pink Surprise. What a lovely big frilly flower and ever day it just gets better! Soon the second stalk will be opening. I also have 2 Faro's and 2 Exoticas opening. And those prescious dark red varieties are shooting buds up tall, so I may have some of them by the end of the week. Most fun gift besides my Nordic poles was from my youngest daughter, who is an interior designer, bringing her color sample box and helping me choose new colors for my study. We ended up with nice desert sandstone colors called Emberglow and Peppery. Now if she just offered to paint it for me :-/...It will look terrifics with Apricot Sensation, or Faro or.....blooming!

Sue ... ... you scamp! ... you rascal, you! ole joyful P.S. Well ... since "AAA" batteries usually come with multiples in a package, at least you and your friend could share the cost of providing motive power for your new acquisitions! o j P.P.S. Preachers/clergypersons are sales people, as well. Have you ever had one treat you with such changed demeanour when s/he disagreed with you over some issue? o j

Well I'm NOT a blue person. Indoors I have NO blue. My husband doesn't understand this. I have no idea why I feel this way. Outdoors things are different! I have a blue/yellow/white garden bed which I love. Yes, delphineums, catananche, campanulas, baptisia and more, are mixed with trollius, coreopsis moonbeam, peony Claire de Lune and low growing white clematis and aquilegia. It is a big mix and wouldn't be any fun at all without the blue! There are loads of clematis that are purple or blue/purple, but also some very nice blues I think. You do get into the question of "what is blue?" My husband and I think this could well be a male/female issue! Also, by saying a flower is blue, perhaps a catalogue gains more sales? * Posted by: coolbeans (My Page) on Sat, Feb 2, 02 at 13:12 This is my VERY favorite thread, and I totally agree with all those who feel that there is just "something" about blue flowers; they ARE magical, they ARE very special; and they make me happier than any other color flower. Don't know why...I just started a flat full of Bluebird delphinium seeds I saved from my one lonely plant last year. A bunch of them germinated, so now I can't wait to have a huge stand of them! Maybe they won't bloom this year, but maybe they will. And also "true blue" penstemons, I'm trying for the first time. I can't get enough of this precious color. * Posted by: Anne_Marie_Alb (My Page) on Tue, Feb 5, 02 at 17:47 WOW....... Did anyone realize that this thread started almost 5 years ago... on Feb. 15, 1997!!!!! I am amazed it has survived that long. Probably, the oldest thread still on the top page! I wonder if "Clare B" (who started the thread) is still an active member of the Garden Web!!! I personally love blue flowers (I mean blue, and not purple, which I also like). I can't believe how many blue flowers I am starting from seeds this year... and that was just a pure coincidence! I also love RED flowers.. Maybe, I should start a "red flower" thread! I will first check the archives! * Posted by: Clare (My Page) on Thu, Feb 7, 02 at 20:34 Yes, Ann_Marie, I am still here! I will be a bit sad to see this thread fade away when it hits the 100 posts mark. After that, the threads are closed. I don't think I have any true blue flowers still. "Victoria Blue" Salvia is the closest thing. I use it a lot. It is such a heavy, long bloomer, and about one in twenty of them will survive winter here. Just wish I could predict which would survive so that I could save seed from those alone and perhaps work up a more hardy strain. By the way, the Hydrangeas in Memphis, Tennessee are incredible. Some are so saturated blue that I'd have to call them navy. * Posted by: Dswan (My Page) on Sat, Feb 9, 02 at 22:37 I'm going to add to this extremely long thread only because there really is something to true blue. I grow from seed a very difficult plant to propagate called Penstemon cyananthus or Wasatch Penstemon. I cold stratify and plant these every year in hopes of gettting one or two in my garden every year. Absolutely gorgeous. * Posted by: Rosa (My Page) on Mon, Mar 11, 02 at 10:24 Did no one mention Gentians-now those are blue! (along with my favorite penstemson of course-some are indeed blue). * Posted by: pineshade7b ) on Mon, Apr 15, 02 at 11:02 i agree with gloria mc coy. i love blue and green , they are my favorite colors in anything. just look in my house and closets. blue..ocean, blue jeans, my own eyes are blue and my husband's are green. many reasons to answer -why blue. although i do not "hyperventilate" , if i should go into a nursery and ask for a blue -flowering plant and the staff looks down their nose at me, i'll know now that they are only doing it because they think I'M a snob. until i adopted gardening as a serious hobby i had no idea that blue was a "snob" color. i just naturally began to look into flowers in the colors i liked personally. you learn something new everyday. i would have been hurt and confused to walk into a nursery and be looked at like a pariah, what did i say? now i know, thanks clare. * Posted by: DesertGardner (My Page) on Fri, Apr 19, 02 at 12:38 Wow - I never knew there was such a controversy over the color blue in the garden. After reading all the posts, I now understand why some gardeners prefer the color. And I have to say that I've never met any gardeners whom I would consider snobbish. Most of them are really quite down to earth! (if you pardon the expression...) I recently tried planting a red, white and blue flower bed, with 'Victoria Blue' Salvia being my blue color. It's a little too purple and doesn't look right as a "patriotic" design. I will probably tear out the red and white and keep the "blue" (purple) since it seems to like this desert heat. Someone mentioned black flowers, and I remembered seeing black pansies in the most recent Burpee catalog. They're a beautiful velvety black with a spot of yellow in the center. I think I'll plant some this winter, and start an obsession with black flowers! (just kidding Clare...) -Kara [* Posted by: yeona_sky (My Page) on Mon, Jun 24, 02 at 0:37 I just bought a blue poppy and am nervously watching its progress. My success with blues has been an up hill battle, but that hasn't changed my desire to spotlight it in my garden. Why blue?, again it's a passion with me. Clare, I hope you get the last word on this thread, and I hope you understand Why blue, a little better. * Posted by: Duster (My Page) on Wed, Jun 26, 02 at 23:56 I agree with the many others about getting annoyed when purple is referred to as blue. Maybe that's why I take up the cause of truly blue flowers! 99% of my Delphiniums are the true electric blue ones. I'd love one of the Himalayan Poppies but just not right for my little yard. I like the blue flowers, rather than the blue foliage plants. And no, blue is NOT my favorite color - I have nothing blue in my home decor. I just like the uniqueness of the TRUE blue and my stubbornness to get people to stop calling it purple!!!!