Yes Mike knows Roc is our cotton/linen expert and that I value every thing she's taught me. He also knows I never value someone's knowelage unless they deserve it...so he automatically knew if Roc said Persil Pearls than that is what I should use.....and Roc was right Larsi, the Pearls removed the mildew smell and all the dingy, even in warm water...I love my Tide with Bleach powder, but I wonder if it would have worked as well in less than hot water. But even so Mikes up to something, probably going to start on me about getting a new van again, he does every few months, LOL.

Well, I hope that someone found it, bought it and took it home with them where it hopefully is someplace warm and frost-free/freeze-free. My big tomato plant is happily residing upstairs in the spare room right beside a south-facing window. I talk to it, thump its blossoms and check its soil moisture daily. A couple of lady bugs that were attempting to overwinter by hibernating in a corner of the spare room woke up in Tuesday's hot weather and now are climbing all over the plants in the room. They must think it is Spring. I do hope the folks at Home Depot in Gainesville brought in all those plants from the garden center or covered them up with a very heavy-duty frost blanket row cover because they had hundreds and hundreds of plants in stock over the weekend. If they had moved the plants, shelving racks and all, someplace indoors it would have filled up an entire 2-car garage with little room to spare, so it was a substantial number of plants. . And, those are just the vegetables, fruits (strawberry plants) and herbs. I'm not as worried about the shrubs and perennials they had on display. On Tuesday it hit 79 degrees at our Mesonet station and 77 degrees at our house, and it didn't just feel warm, it almost felt hot. That sort of weather could give a person planting fever. The bees and the wasps were swarming all day. This morning, though, reality returned and it was 26 degrees at our house and 23 degrees at our Mesonet station this morning around sunrise. Gainesville is at a higher elevation so they might have been slightly warmer, but probably not by much. Our weather is nuts. We've had more than the usual number of grass fires the last couple of days, which is par for the course as winter deepens and fine fuels like grasses become more cured following freezing weather. I'm surprised how many plants have popped up in stores across the state this past week. Even some cool-season plants can freeze or suffer damage with temperatures in the lower 20s, especially if they just came out of a climate-controlled greenhouse before they were shipped to the stores. I just don't understand why so many stores so far north have so many plants. Of course, the stores are happy to sell the plants. And, for the folks who buy those plants and put them into the ground too early, the stores then will happily sell them replacement plants. It is a great business model for the stores---the more plants they sell early which then freeze, the more plants they sell later to replace the frozen ones.

I've rescued many markdown AVs, and have one growing now that I had to completely re-root because the roots were not salvageable. First, buy some African violet soil and get them out of those pots. They may already have root rot. Wash off as much of the old soil as you can, cut back the dead roots, take off some bottom leaves and brush some root hormone onto the bare part of the stem, then plant them in the new soil with that bare stem buried. Water well, but don't leave sitting in water, and don't get cold water on the leaves. I don't use special AV fertilizer, just 15-30-15 liquid at 1/4 strength (1/4 tsp. per gallon) each time I water, which is only when the soil is dry down to my second knuckle on my index finger. Put them somewhere that they get bright light, but no direct sun. An east window is great, but a north window will work while they're recovering. You might want to create a small "greenhouse" around them for awhile by sticking sticks up in the pot and draping a clear plastic bag over it. That helps retain humidity, which they need to recover. Good luck!

The Rose Glutton had to go back to the trough again today.......I brought home 7 more - for total price of $45 and change! In big pots, healthy! I will post photos tomorrow, got home after dark. Some roses they just had one of. I got the Montezuma - love the color, saw one in a friend's garden. I got 2 White Meillands for 2 large pots, another Polka, a Cl. Crimson Sky, Passionate Kisses and Cherry Frost. It was hard to pass up Heirloom, but I have one. There was Easter Basket, but am not too impressed with it. There was one of each of Laguna, Summer Romance, Brandy, Sun Flare. Lots of Fruity Petals, which I really like, and Ruby Meilland, a small flowered red. May have to go get another. If they were $10-15, that would be another matter, but $5.97? How can I not??? Lowe's got some in but the only one I was interested in was Soul Sister and I have one of those. Dont know what Home Depot has, but the one in my town doesnt seem to be into roses - body bags and Knockouts. But Wally really hit a home run this time!