Jades should be available at most nurseries locally. The Port. afra is very commonly sold as a Dwarf Jade or Baby Jade or Mini Jade. Many folks are confused by this all around the world, in fact. When you get your Jade (and when these Port. afra cuttings get bigger), you'll want to use a free-draining mix that is composed of porous, gritty components primarily - such as perlite, pumice, lava rock, turface, sharp gravel (no sand!), and a small fraction of fine bark or potting mix (if you must). In your zone 3 Winters especially, you'll want a mix that dries out within a week to help prevent root-rot. Josh

I had a couple of pink flamingos in my yard for awhile. I named them 'Tongue' and 'Cheek'. They finally died. I think of,embarrassment.

The memory that helped shaped my understanding of gardening involves going to our aunt's ranch in the fall to clean out her cow corral from all the (blessings) from her cattle. My dad would borrow a company flat bed and we, my brothers and I would shovel (forever it seemed): this 'mostly' dry cow (blessing). Tons of it or so it seemed to my tired 8 year old arms and hands. This is a Saturday and we would do it all day and yeh Sunday was supposed to be a day of rest but noooo we had to get all the 'blessings'off the flatbed and spread out over the 100 x 80 foot garden. This is one of the few times I looked forward to Monday's and going back to school and being able to rest my blistered hands!!! I remember shucking corn and picking and shelling peas for mom but she would always say 'don't eat any so we have enough for everyone for suppper'. Fat chance of that ( I always loved the fresh veggies from the garden but raw peas had to be my favorite:). Reflecting back at 50 now I realize that I knew to garden well was to have to work hard, blister hands and have an achy back and smell like doo-doo. As much as I whined about it I would do it all over again for those fresh tasty veggies that we depended on so much to stretch the food budget for a family of 9. I work smarter now ( I love to use alfalfa that smells good doesn't require a truck load of smelly 'blessings' to help the garden to flourish and still don't wear gloves (need to have the feel of the soil:) but thank my parents everyday for giving me the ethics of the fruits of your labors are well rewarded by nature, even if not by your fellow man who still in my humble opinion doesn't value the farmer and growers of our bountiful harvests as much as the rest of our essential needs or wants as a society. Happy Growing to all and may your garden be ever fruitful and a joy to your soul as it is to mine. David

Those are some seriously happy petunias! Aren't petunias great? The colors are so vibrant! --Jenn