Yeah, I sure miss the old days when you could do all the work on your car yourself. I had a 240Z as a college student and changed the transmission with my boyfriend. I always did as much work as I could on my car (mom once said to a friend, "My little girl has turned into a boy." ;-)) They make it so difficult to do it yourself anymore. Husband threw a fit the first time he tried to check the oil in an ex car we had, there was no way to check it, only way was the idiot light, it was sealed. Husband being a race car driver we have a full set of metric and imperial, so we're set for anything. Pam

I usually mix in a can of crushed pineapple with some of its juice, brown sugar to taste, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamon, and a can of mandarin orange with cooked and mashed sweet potatoes. Then place the mixture in a casserole dish, dab some butter pieces and sprinkle brown sugar on top. Then, bake it 400F degrees for 15-20 minutes or until sugar caramel. Hum... that sounds yummy. I want some! I'm going to try your recipe too! Thanks for sharing.

"Patriot and Minuteman tend to struggle in Z7 / Z8." I doubt you can attribute this to a zone specifically :-) A location, yes - a zone, no. ALL hostas thrive in my zone, which is even milder!! In fact, one of the better mail order sources for hostas is located just a few miles up the road :-)) But then, we do not have hot summers nor much summer humidity. And summer nights cool down very pleasantly. In milder areas of the country that don't have similar conditions, performance may be different. It is important to remember that the USDA zones ONLY apply to winter cold, nothing else!! Summer heat and humidity are NOT reflected in the zone designations and hardiness zones will have no bearing on how a plant will perform in various location that will share a similar winter cold temperature but little else climate-wise. Patriot is the oldest hosta in my collection, shared with me by a gardening buddy maybe 25 years ago. And has accompanied me over the years through various different gardens :-)) Mine fills an 18" diameter, 15 gallon container.

I hope the gulf frit migrates to South Florida, Iris! All the information I've ever read says that commas, question marks, etc. overwinter as adults. I've never seen one in winter, though, just red admirals, cloudless sulphurs and one mourning cloak. Sherry