Ratdogheads - my Henri Matisse stays between around 3-4 feet in a mostly sunny spot, but might be a little larger in a full hot sun location. Suffice to say that planting it behind my Champagne Moment was not one of my brighter ideas, and it involves some judicious pruning to make both of them visible. Redwolfdoc - welcome to the fun of rose growing, and always feel free to start a new thread on a topic where it might get more response. I checked the website HelpMeFind, a TERRIFIC website for roses and well worth the optional membership fee, to look up Blue Angel. Both the regular and climbing versions of Blue Angel appear to be on the edge of reported hardiness for our zone, but those are default ratings so not anything to discourage you. If that rose has survived your winters, that's already a good start. Blue Angel cl. is reported to only bloom on old wood, which means that it won't bloom well if it has to regrow from dying back to its roots or graft each year, which is typical of some types of climbers that survive but don't thrive in our zones. Still, 3 seasons is still way too soon to make a judgment about a climber. They tend to spend more time than non-climbing forms in putting down roots and preparing to make their moves, so if it grows some or is at least green and healthy-looking in the active seasons, you might give it some more time. In my world, alfalfa hay or pellets is always a good thing to add to a rose to boost its production a bit in spring. To give you perspective, my Madame Isaac Periere - that is definitely hardy in my zone - was unexciting and unremarkable for 3-4 years while it was putting down roots. Then last spring in its fifth (?) year, it absolutely ate up every rose near it and was stunning in the spring. There's a standard rose wisdom that for roses, first year sleep, second year creep, third year leap. For climbers, you have to give them another year or two of creeping or sleeping before you get leap years. Hope this helps, and welcome to GW! Cynthia

Yes, I'm rather broken-hearted regarding the new Sturbridge policy regarding herb sales. I used to acquire two or three new herbs each year by stopping by there on my way to or from the Boston area. IMO it was one of their more significant contributions. So far they are continuing their line of traditional seeds, but when I bought some in June they were totally out of all their bean varieties. They also seem to be trying to gradually block public access to their herb garden, which until now was accessible to members of the non-tourist public that patronized their gift and book shop. Their herb garden is very interesting and instructive, and well worth the trip to the RT 84 exit from the Mass Pike, from which Sturbridge is easily accessed. It is terraced on three or four levels, and always has a nice variety of herbs, with some of the old roses on the top level. There are some old wooden benches to rest on under a nice, shady tree about half way up, which is a definite boon on hot days. I had an interesting encounter with a chipmunk there this summer; it was happy to ignore me while it checked for seed pods on one of the herbs. They usually have several nice books on herbs in their book shop, too, If hops doesn't deter you motherwort probably won't, either, but in some situations it can definitely be worse than lemon balm. You will probably want to keep an eye on it once it begins to set seed. In the clay soil in my area, I have had much better success overwintering sage and thyme outside in pots rather than in the ground, as that provides the "sharp drainage" they prefer. The only herbs that have really done well as "perennials" for me here are the ones that reseed or spread by runners, though--lemon balm, black peppermint, sage, thyme, motherwort, oregano--imo most herbs are only short lived perennials in my area unless frequently divided and replanted. I admire people that keep their herbs going by rooting and etc., but I have broadened my herbal interests to include things like forsythia buds and honeysuckle blossoms from plants that truly perennialize in our area, to salve my disappointment over not having neat little rows of all the common kitchen herbs coming back each year. So many of them just don't, without really skilled handling. ..or, at least, the full sun that I simply can't give them. Ah, well; even my walnut tree's leaves have herbal uses....

My parsley has survived Western NY winters - lots of snow and cold. I do nothing for it - no mulch, no nothing. I've never really had it reseed, unlike the dill the previous house owner planted or the borage I planted once. I would bring in a pot of it, if you are so inclined. Cover some with a cloche, an overturned flower pot, or a big bucket at night to keep the season going for a while longer. Dry or freeze what you would like for winter use. Dry parsley isn't the same as fresh but it keeps well that way. Note: you need a food dehydrator or an oven on the lowest setting to dry parsley. Hanging it only makes for sickly yellow looking stuff - yuck! I would just plan on planting parsley for next summer's uses next spring. The overwintered parsley is never the same or as robust as the spring planted stuff. Overwintered parsley is gone here by summer. But by all means experiment for yourself and see what it does for you if you overwinter it. FataMorgana

Even here in South Florida, where we've not had a freeze in at least 7 years, we get die back when the temp drops below 40 degrees. Xanthosomas are considered a native plant throughout most of the southeast. Colocasia and Alocasias are, for the most part, exotics. I've got 5 or 6 Colocasia and Alocasia spp. in the ground here. You can see 3 different ones in All of them grow best in full sun. And to tell you the truth, I can't tell the difference between the two species. That's a job for the Aroid experts. The link below is a superb article on the 3 species. Here is a link that might be useful: to read about Colocasia, Alocasia, Xanth.