Steve, Are you serious about Peonies liking slightly Alkaline soil? Well my clay soil mixed w/ compost should be perfect then! Shoot I wish I had read your reply before I fixed the baby Peony situation. I just opted for the least disturbant method and ran to Green Thumb to get some top soil. After talking to the "Expert" he recommend the soil for Camellia and Gardenia which is acidic! That was what I used to cover the roots of the baby peony. I knew I should have asked you guys and not some dude at a gardening center! Well... it rained last night and soil is nice and mixed in now. I guess time will tell how sturdy this baby girl is. Good thing I have not had the time to plant the two bigger plants. I think I will just stick with compost mixed in with the native soil. Can I add some pumice to help drainage or no? Last question Steve, if the Itoh's roots grow so compactly and I planted them in the ground then I don't have to pull them up and divide for a few years right? I CANNOT keep plants alive in pots to save my life! Everything I planted in the ground thrive everything in pots died. So I am very hesitant to keep anything potted. Plus that's a lot more work to me. And I need things easier. Thanks! Lynn

My rambling... I first tried gardening (on a very narrow balcony) a few years ago and was delighted to find that I lived dangerously close to the city's oldest nursery. It was great--a huge place with a good variety of well-tended plants, their own branded fertilizers, and so on. Well, about a year later, they closed, and I'm still mourning it, especially as I've recently been working on my balcony again (after I left it largely ungardened during that time). I can still picture that store...sigh. So I've been stuck with the big boxes, our garden-only equivalent of a big box (even bigger than the independent that closed but a chain), and a small independent that had very little but at least had the plants I wanted (but wasn't otherwise overwhelming, even though the owner was friendly)...I'm not sure what else is good yet. My trouble is that I want certain specific plants, and the big boxes are hopeless for things like that (well, unless I actually want what they sell). I don't want to drive all over. I definitely think it's good if independents specialize, so if I want a [genus] [species], I know I can go to the store that sells all of that genus. I will absolutely pay the price for that, too. I mean, of course, I'm not going to blow $100 on something I may very well kill, but I'm not a "$2/4-pack or GTFO" sort of person, either. One of my big boxes (I forget which is which, as they're basically the same store in most respects) has a knowledgeable employee. I've not spoken to her myself, but I've overheard her answering people's questions, and I think when people overhear her, they come over to ask her things themselves. They both seem to use consignments, too--one of the representatives was actually greeting customers the other day when he passed them--and while they occasionally have iffy plants, most of the stock is fine. It's just that again, when you're wanting [genus] [species], unless it's a common petunia or what-have-you, no dice. The big boxes aren't always cheap, by the way. That big chain center has no-name plumerias for a show-stopping $90. Admittedly, they're about 6 feet and pink, where a no-name potted plumeria will often be 3 or 4 feet and white or yellow, but still...$90?

Oh, sorry Lars for the confusion. I started an on-line shopping file back in mid March. NYTimes, Eater, Food&Wine, etc, all posted link-lists. Even Chowhound, eGullet, forums posting favorites. I decided to only post on-line ordering I was familiar with. Like Elmer, we could not get any delivery by mid March. I had one egg and half a stick of butter. 2 pounds of flour. Did not panic with a somewhat full freezer. Not having many choices did feel a bit sad but felt fortunate we had so much more than most. I did post back then we could keep healthy through next Thanksgiving. That was true but not what we found out to be mentally sane, 😂. NY became the global hot spot and 10 miles away from us was a USA hot spot. Organized our freezer awaiting a FreshDirect order of over 600, but only less than 200 arrived. Bummer. Then a fancy NYC wholesaler opened up to home delivery. Banked it, then they got backed up. Who has freezer room for 12 8pound pork butts. Or 20 pounds of ginger, 😂. (they have fixed that now somewhat). I can order one pound of blue cheese, many varieties, instead of a 12 pound wheel. There is a y-tube guy that visits stores like Aldi and Joes, WholeFoods, Costco, etc. He is in Chicago. Keto, but that covers meats. Annoyingly enthusiastic but good viral shopping by weekly store shopping. (Bobby, FlavCity). Kim, handle 'Wads' is adorable shopping Costco and Ikea. She did a hilarious video shopping all through Ikea last week. That is how I know my Aldi is not what it should be. My Costco was a mess but found out it was the flagship store and finally remodeled 4-5 years ago. (it was a mess). TJ's was a disaster but they doubled their square footage in a re-model a couple years ago. The moral story of this covid insanity, ?. We have more than ever in stock. Crisper drawer is beyond stuffed. Nothing goes bad. I check and sift through it daily. Eating better than ever and much cheaper than ever. Breakfast, lunch snack, is YOYO. Only dinner is talked about and planned. Even that often covers two days. Not at all leftovers. Makes a different meal day two. Or easy freezer meals forward.

60” is expensive, no matter what. BlueStar isn’t all that expensive actually, in the scheme of things. But if you want a 60” range, you need a 72” vent. 27” deep, minimum. BlueStar only seem expensive because you’re not comparing apples to apples in quality and performance. Price out a Ventahood. Or a RangeCraft. You’re looking at 10K to get the hood, blower, and all the rest. Island cooking is absolutely the most expensive choice, with the worst consequences for added expense for function and cost. If you want to cut costs, and increase functionality, put the range against a wall. Cooking is 10% of kitchen time. Prep is 70%. Islands should be set up to be great prep zones. Not cramped and dangerous cooking zones. A 60” range leaves no room for a proper prep zone, so hot, cramped, and dangerous is exactly what it will be. And you still need a separate makeup air system added to this as well. Not optional. Your ventilation needs will easily equal the cost of the range.