So sorry to hear about this - how frustrating! This sounds like my kind of luck. May of this past year, we hit a deer, which totaled our van. We searched forever for a good used van (since the insurance company didn't give us much for ours - it was older, but in mint condition). Our financial situation is not in a position to add another monthly payment. Finally in August we found one that "worked" - although we weren't sure about buying a Chevy. But I needed one by fall, when my craft shows started, so we decided to get it. We got it on Sunday afternoon and Monday I drove it to town and got whammed in the rear end. We hadn't even had the title work done yet. I was sick. But it was fixable and I wasn't hurt - so it all worked out. So glad Carol wasn't hurt anymore than she was - been there done that - triple Advil every 4-6 hrs. was the dr. advice for me - that is prescription strenth. We got hit with 8 or more inches of snow this weekend and as we were shoveling/clearing the drive/sidewalks, I asked my husband if he could imagine climbing on the roof and shoveling it! We just replaced that roof 2 summers ago and I will attest that it was SCAREY being up there when it was dry, let alone snow covered and slippery! I can't even imagine. Hang in there - spring is just around the corner! Arlene

So far almost everything I've winter sowed falls into the "enough is enough" category but for now I'm letting them prove they're thugs and will eradicate them next year when I've done a better job of planning. In the meantime, they bloom and provide color. I'll shovel prune 'em next year and plant others in their spaces that (a) I like more; or (b) better suit the location. I did shovel prune Agastache foeniculum 'Golden Jubilee' this weekend and the plants will be taken to the dump as waste. They grew twice the size, height & circumference as indicated on the seed pack. In spring, they're very welcome and the bees love them all season long. I just don't have the space in my borders for their oversized mature growth habit. A. rupestris is much better-behaved and blooms late in the season along with blue mist shrub. Monarda/bee balm got shovel pruned a month ago after it grew 5 ft. tall and leaned out over the edge of the bed where I planted it. The bed gets full sun so I expected it would just grow to 4 ft. and attract bees. I gave it the double strikethrough on my seed growing list. I yanked out all the Phalaris/ribbon grass I had in an isolated corner and will replace it next year with more cardinal flower for the hummingbirds. The ribbon grass was great when I had nothing else to plant but now that I winter sow, it's history.

collielover what temp is your basement? i think mine is just a bit colder than the house. i normally keep my brugs in the greenhouse, but you're right they're whitefly and aphid magnents, plus don't really have the rooom for so many full sized plants, not with the 1200 daylily seeds i start every year. i also finally got dahlias again from poochella. i don't really like the small ones, mostly aa and a sizes but i may try some b's later. what temp do you store these at. i lost all mine the first fall i got them. i dug them and left them lay to dry off and went away for two days and when i got back they had all frozen.

That's so funny. I have never heard of that, but I think I might need to make an investment in it.. I have been contemplating the whole window seat argument and think maybe I SHOULD start looking into it and start considering what i would want. I may end up doing the window seats sooner than later, so my question is this.. what fabric/color would you recommend for those seats? I still don't know what wall color i am going to use.. I would love to use BM Desert Tan But not sure I can since this is part of a great room and not sure it will coordinate with my kitchen (haven't decided yet but will most likely do something in the Taupey family for the kitchen. My sectional is a dark brown leather but soon we will be replacing that with a micro-fiber couch b/c despite what the saleswoman told us 3 years ago when purchasing this couch, Leather does not work well with children (at least ours). We just purchased these pillows from RH which I Love in the Silver Sage family: So what do you think? color suggesitons for wall and built-in window seats????