You're all wonderful, ten times over! Melissa, boxwoods are a no (they're all over the place here). I did plant some 'Soft Touch' Ilex Compacta, desperately hoping my neutral pH won't kill them. I think they'll be like 3x3 balls of tiny leaves if they survive. The others you mention (rosemary & lavender) get so big here - not enough room, but definitely good suggestions. "1) the garden won't break; and 2) the gardener will have periods where gardening just doesn't have any appeal, but enthusiasm will return the first warm and sunny day." Excellent words! I planted some things today. Two double salmon hibiscus 'Jane Cowel' along the white fence near Anna Olivier & Perle d'Or even though they will get HUGE (hack, hack), a strawflower, two Marguerites - rose and yellow, some glad bulbs. None of which will add to the winter garden. :(( I fed the front and got about have of it composted. Just putting the dark compost down makes everything look better. Budeyes are swelling all over the place. Thank you, Gean my friend, you're always so positive - except for the hurricane part. lol That's such a big no-no here. Our insurance rates go up if you even whisper it - or the company drops you. :(( But you're so encouraging. Ingrid, I like reading your lists of excellent plants. I dearly wanted two 'Sky Pencil' Japanese Hollies, but I can't get my pH low enough in a million years. If these Soft Touches work, I'll be getting more of them. They're not unlike box except a deeper green & denser. You know, when I had my rosemary, it never bloomed, and I had it for a year and a half before it died. One day you'll have to gently ask your plants if they like 60% humidity and torrential downpours a couple of times a week. If they say yes, let me know! holleygarden, do you have Hermosa? Run go check it out if you do. Mine are loaded with buds, just starting to show dark pink/red. I have buds scattered around on other roses. It was a wonderful day - maybe 70. Cool enough to have long sleeves on and pants. A neighbor came to visit my next-door neighbor while I was out there. She told me I have a beautiful garden. I thanked her very much, but why do I want to argue with her? It occurs to me that others don't think it's as bad as I do - even the sticks, probably. And I guess they know what time of year it is. Thank you everyone. I feel much better for all your kind words. Sherry

I don't like to say it for fear it will bring bad luck, but I put the stinky pail (and I can't really smell it, put 1/4 cup or so of dishwashing liquid in it - think it's for inhibiting mosquitoes) between the two cherry trees. Maybe one or two on those which had been a problem. But no, otherwise isn't helping. Still haven't sprayed any more though, can if I decide to. It's not deterring them from certain other things they like but I keep picking them off relentlessly. I'm also hesitant to say I'm not getting the numbers I had feared if I keep picking at least 3X a day, pretty much know which plants they prefer and sun on them is a huge factor but will find them in shade as well. It could be our harsher winter than usual and also the heavy rains this year in addition to the unseasonably cool weather for many days. terryjean's morning method is probably good because I think they might spend the night underneath leaves, but I don't see many early at all. They seem to be mostly flying in now or coming down off my trees. I found that if there's a swarm doing the group thing, I have a better chance of getting all of them if I cup my hand over them and move in and tip carefully into soapy water. That seems to discourage them from trying to fly up and away but still some do get away. Then they grab onto my fingers, and I have to work them off. I use a cottage cheese container because it's easier to maneuver under plants without spooking them by disturbance than a pail. Yesterday there was a bumblebee and beetle sharing an echinacea. I got the beetle, spooked the bee but didn't get stung. Obviously in the numbers some have, spraying is the only method. I've caught a couple in flight and see them flying around, sometimes watch where they will land and into the soapy water they go, can't stand out there all day. I was digging and see a few on the ground. One I grabbed and lost it, was looking on the ground, felt a bite on my arm and startle reflex kicked in, looked down, there it was on arm by hand, got it into the soapy water. So maybe they will bite, felt different from their stickery feet but could have been that. Neighbor tried diatomaceous earth sprinkled on their hibiscus, said 15 one day and 1 the next. But I don't know if that kills them or repels, worth looking into. Gutters are bad so in front I collect runoff in pails and use to water the garden also to get the hot water out of the hose. A few beetles are in the yellow bucket (further research needed on making rotten fruit traps in yellow containers, think not this year). None in the white pail so far but set that out just the other day. Got my Grubex down just before a substantial rain, didn't get complete coverage but better than I thought I could do. The following days I see granules so I call the 800#. Those are just the carrier and will eventually break down but the rain should have gotten the active ingredient watered in. Hope so. A shower won't do, need substantial rain. We'll see. Read up on how it affects farmers and commiserated with our ag ext guy. He's reduced to using Sevin on his raspberries, concluded that gardening will be different from now on. Sevin is not popular on the forums, but there are charts on how many days beforehand it's safe to spray food crops. If you don't buy certified organic, some of what we buy in the stores has surely been treated with something. I prefer not to use it because it gets washed off in rain and is messy to deal with but have it for backup. The beetles turn soybean leaves to lace but have to be pretty bad before it affects crop yields or requires spraying, there are more potent chemicals professionals use we can't get. The corn silk, usually they attack the outer rows only on fields so far, but it's nasty to see a photo of 15 or more beetles on the silk. It it gets eaten down to 1/2 inch, and the corn hasn't pollinated yet, there will be no corn. But if it's already pollinated, doesn't seem to affect it, just nasty. No sign of a good eradication effort in my area, and may get worse due to people doing nothing and not knowing what they are. I hope the scientific community (or savvy lone experimenter) comes up with something better and more foolproof, probably not in my lifetime but I keep hoping. Decided to let my roses start setting buds again Aug 1, will see how that goes. Time to make the first sweep of the day.

I received a lovely card from Melinda! It showed the a beautifully decorated home with snowflakes bringing added beauty to the peaceful scene. Thank you, Thank you Melinda! I have addressed and licked the envelopes for my three fellow members. They will go out in the mail tomorrow. Hooray!! I have matched one word with Bingo. Hoping to increase that number in the coming days??!! perhaps ;) The family is preparing for Christmas... my son will be here for Christmas!! We are so excited about his time "off" from the Air Force. We will pick him up in Seattle this weekend and for that we are hoping for good weather. It has been in the 40's these past few days... no snow .... yet... hopefully it will remain that way until we make the drive over the pass. I hope everyone is doing well and that you are enjoying the your days as you prepare for your holiday celebrations.

I bought a Toto Eco Flush CST784EF for our master bathroom and it is terrible. You need to have a toilet brush scrubber by you each time you use the bathroom because there is not enough water or pressure to clean the toilet. And, it was $600. The biggest waste of money I ever spent. Go with American Standard. We bought one of those for our powder room and it is amazing for 2/3 rds of the cost.