Well... it seems you went from a not so great Christmas with poor weather that hampered your family plans and your greenhouse, to a very nice New Year's Eve with more family stopping in to visit! Things always seem to have a way of working out... and it was a good year... I'll agree with that! Welcome to 2009! I did manage to stay awake well past midnight... Larry and I watched a couple of movies together... and before I knew, it was almost 2:00am! My first surprise of the New Year is Star of Holland... which opened, and doesn't look like Star of Holland! It's way too white with not enough red to be the right variety, but I like this one... whatever it is! I'll try to get a few new photos posted for an identification. In the meantime, I hope everyone can begin the New Year with a smile! So far, the day is dawning with bright sunshine... a good sign if ever there was one!

Katy, Logee's is certainly an adventure in itself. I've been going there for years. My first times were when Joy Martin was running it. Even squeezing through the aisles single file is worth it. So many exotic plants growing over, under and around! It's only about a 40 minute ride for me. I don't know of any other greenhouses that have that kind of variety. The botanical center at Roger Williams Park here in Providence is big and interesting. There's a $3 admission though. Lunch afterwards would not be a problem. Providence has tons of great restaurants. Maybe some others here would be interested in one of these or something else. Bill

Hi Kasie, Yes, has been 3 years we have been chatting and you have been so supportive to hold me together many times, when I almost gave up. I still am little nervous about how to water and take care of my plants each year. buttt. this is the first time I have watched dormacy, some yellowing and try and keep them warm, and not so wet and wind. have one dumb plant, dropping yellow leaves and thriving and growing new leaves..good heavens ha. Most of my plants are in full leaf, red claws and not going dormant, all on my patio. Last year, just all went smoothly, yellow leaves and done, course then problems. Hope temps stay up. Most of my plants are in full leaf, and some growing new leaves! intersting when you grow plumies!!! thanks for being there for me. Are your plants ok???????? Happy New Year. Karen B.

Ahh yes, the math skills are really horrible (I don't know if this is just an epidemic in WV or if the whole US is calculator spoiled). I'll never forget one time I was at McDonald's and my total came to something like $4.96 and I gave her a $5...she messed up the register and was completely lost as to how much to give me back. I said "it's just 4 cents, don't worry about it"...but she said "well, then my register will be off"...so I waited for her to go get her supervisor who proceeded to use a calculator to figure up my change. I was completely dumbfounded. I'm not sure those were the exact amounts..but it was very simple math...so sad. The bad thing is I've seen several examples similar to this. For a short while while I was in college, I worked at Shoney's. I ended up quitting after about a month or so because the supervisor kept forcing me to work over when I had exams yo study for and things I really needed to get home to...but when I went in to quit, the manager came into the office and tried to talk me out of it because they had been having trouble finding people who can count back change! Amazing to me.