Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all !! Thanks to anyone that shared a bit of their garden with me this past year...I have learned sooo much and cant wait to get wintersowing !!!!! Angie..thanks for the great card ! Bea...I heard from wenders !! I sent her a card, and heard back from her... Enjoy your holiday !

I ordered a few leaves about 2.5 months ago from Lyndon Lyon. The leaves come in excellent condition (size and maturity), in labeled baggies with 2 leaves per baggie. The picture is what the plants look like now. If you order from LL now, it is possible to have a few blooms if you regulate pot size by keeping them on the small-ish pot size. Also the 7-8 months is about right for a standard/large AV. Mini's and semi-minis may reach maturity faster. Also if you have variegated leaves, you can expect them to reach maturity slower than leaves that are not.

No, not a mix-up. My Pink Impression come out coral instead of bubblegum pink and my Christmas Dream comes out deep coral instead of a rich pink. Two different varieties, two different Distributors and two very different store locations. I'm thinking there is something about my soil that makes them the wrong colour.

DH pulled snow down from the roof this week here in St. Paul. We have a mound almost as high as the rain gutter on the one-story part of the house--we can view it from backside through the newly installed bathroom replacement window. The room is dark whether it's day or night. They say we haven't had this snowy a December since 1969. This is the snow memory of my childhood. DH has foregone work on the house because he's been plowing neighborhood driveways. Meanwhile, my children in Alaska have written about all the cold they've had--cars and computers just give up, house heaters quit, etc. etc. etc. Still haven't unpacked much of the Christmas stuff, etc. but we're using the new kitchen and trying it out in new situations, but can't schedule a full 10-on-the-Richter-Scale Christmas dinner yet and have only experimented with new convection oven twice. Will have 10 for dinner tomorrow, pot luck style, with improvised decor. Macybaby, you'll have your kitchen soon enough to be actually ready for Christmas 2011, I suspect. Perhaps you will entice your kids to join you. And I'll join you from a distance, I sure hope. Thanks for posting. Have fun paintin' the castle!