My favorite is any that I can get a good harvest from before the heat of spring does them in with powdery mildew. Mine are producing like crazy right now. I can't recall the name, but the package was one of the Stover brand at home depot. Also, I don't ever have a problem with the strings either. Unless they're overgrown pods. Otherwise, when I pick them at their peak(when the PEAS are not fully formed in the pod and the pod isn't bulging), the strings are so nonexistent that they're edible. Kevin

Santa is a friend of mine. He used to ride the train, but now he rides a fire truck. It struck me that two teen age girls would ride in like cowgirls in a movie because that was unusual. One year I think that was the town where someone had a wagon pulled by a mule. The little boys had on their study boots and looked cute to me dressed like their fathers; most people don't have clothes suitable for cold weather. These little guys were dressed for work outside. They also wanted Santa to bring them horses, 4 wheelers, and rifles. I have lots of grasses in pots. That may be blue stem but I forget. I intended long ago to put them in the ground. I am still looking for a good place. My yard is full of trees so my sun is where I plant tomatoes. I need to prepare a new spot. They do OK in pots under the tree because they don't have to compete for soil and water but I have to water them which gets old.

The sun can play a big roll, lets say it's cloudy, then you don't see the contour bumps etc. of the snow, ...I only like skiing when it's sunny!..LOL.. the camera sees it the same. Overexposing in bright sunlight could be another thing, especially white. Not sure what camera you have, on my camera or most cameras in manual setting you can boost up things like sharpness contrast etc. If you don't have this future, you can edit a bit in a software. Konrad

My tea olive tree just started flowering and wafting fragrance, so I moved it out of the wind prior to the cold front blast. Plus it might discourage the people who ignore my No Soliciting sign. I went to our SA Botanical Garden the second day after the snow to see how theirs were doing; they just started up this week too. (On the right is my feeble attempt at beanstalks with a sweet potato vine and bamboo poles.) Elswhere at the Botanical Garden, there were a lot less butterflies, not surprisingly. All the banana trees near the Wisteria arbor were looking a little floppy (1st pic) after being covered with heavy wet snow. Last August they got damaged by Harvey's winds and were all cut back (2nd pic). BTW Ragna I wondered about the blue filter too. It could be all the white stuff fooled the metering. Or someone changed the White Balance setting or switched to one of the fancy "Modes". Granted, taking photos in the early morning hours presents challenges, and the blue looks appropriate considering the frigid conditions. I've seen countless quality photos of yours, these seem different (color-wise only). Could be a Houzz artifact too, they don't preserve the EXIF data so I couldn't get to the bottom of it. Certainly no need to tweak or lighten these photos though. The 3rd photo (snail?) and the tall birdhouse seem the least affected. Just check it please before the Christmas party season family photos? And now I (picture the Scarecrow after asking the Wizard of Oz for brains) beat a hasty retreat, haha.