I am soooo envious of you guys, a gardening show on HGTV, whatever are they thinking of, somebody must have slipped at head office or maybe it was sabotage. If you ever find the culprit please send him to HGTV Canada. I have never seen A gardener's Diary, from what I read here it sounds like a great show. We use to have A Gardener's Journal, I think the best gardening show ever IMO, now all we have is Curb Appeal, I haven't found the Appeal yet, I've seen a few Curbs though, I don't watch it any more. Nothing in it for the real gardener. A......

Although Erica carnea is listed for Zone 5a it requires a special planting technique to keep it growing for years. This is the method I used in the Zone 5 upstate area. Dig a shallow planting hole, Place a good sized flat rock a few inches in the hole flat and plant the Erica sideways with all the roots under the rock. Fill in the planting hole, covering the rock with a bit of soil if you wish. Plant foliage will turn and grow upright again shortly. The flat rock protects the roots from freezing. May be a bit of winter burn depending on snow cover but heather should recover well. This technique can be used for any perennial on the questionable edge of a growing zone.

It's snowing, what a crazy Spring!! Erica, I believe we will find a true Silver Dollar, with the influx of spring plants at stores it may turn up. At worst case there's ebay, but I am patient, and feel it'll be fun looking for one. Oksana, thanks for the research for this jade, and presenting the blue hale, I don't believe I've ever seen that one. You have quite the collection. Josh, thanks for taking those pics, it has a softness and boldness all in one. The SD I saw a few weeks ago at a college arboretum was a lot rougher looking, I didn't realize just how beautiful they can be....very cool. (it's not previewing pics and then it won't post, hrrmmm something is broken)

Faye -- I received your fantastic box today! Faye sent 4 plants (Golden Seal, Elephant Ears, Calla Lily, Cactus Bulbs), a grow bag, plant labels, potpouri, chocolate, thermometer, dishtowel and mit, green garden tape, and 4 packs of seeds (gotta love something named "Drunk Butterfly")! I'm super excited about that Golden Seal. That's something I've wanted for awhile now. I do have one question. What are Cactus Bulbs? I looked online and found cactus dahlia, but that was about it. I know you mentioned a small white flower. Any other info, or even a picture, would be great! Thank you for such a wonderful box. :)