I have many favorites among the Large Cupped. I agree about Fortissimo It is among the first to bloom and I have it in a large grouping. Love it. Then I also really like Pineapple Prince, love the contrast also like Billy Graham, it's a little hard to capture it in a pic, it is such as nice pink cup with yellow petals. Oh, also Fragrant Rose, it does so well for me. Geezz, looks like I can't just pick one favorite. :) Cindy

Fay, your Nippers is a lot more tender looking than mine. Perhaps mine was more beatup by the hot summer? Here it is and I had another shot of it with a couple of other smaller tough guys. Let me see if that is on Flickr too. Yeah, here it is with Rhino Hide and King Of Spades! (If you do not have King OF Spades, it is a nice companion for Nippers.....and Rhino Hide can stand alone anywhere.) And for another cupped hosta, with a lot of substance AND white backs, take a look at the Stuart Asch hosta Stiff Upper Lip. Stiff Upper Lip

I guess there is no way to extract the cup, without tears and fuss. I saw on tv that show "supernanny" and she uses this technique of getting rid of the dummy. They tie it to a lovely floating balloon and watch it float away into the sky. So the child sees it going, and knows it cant come back. Perhaps you could dream up some sort of happy way of getting rid of the cup. And then replace the cup with something else, like a new bear to cuddle instead. It will only take a few nights to get it all working properly. Your child has to learn to put himself to sleep, without a crutch. Of course I am sure you know about making bedtime a routine, with stories, and kisses, and cuddles, and at the same time every night. Why do you want to take the cup away ? And start how you mean to go on, dont relent and give in, this will make further challenges more difficult. All the best.

In all likelihood, it will shrink back, but there may still be some tell-tale edge showing. Short of sanding and recoating, one thing you might try while the wood's still moist is to lay a towel over the area and take an iron to it, set fairly low. The dry heat combined with the pressure of the iron and steam from the damp wood should bring everything back in line. First, test the iron/towel process in an inconspicuous spot to see if the varnish coat will be affected in any way.