Hi, yourself Matt, Thanks for the welcome. Do you know another Seana Ames? This is the first list I've ever belonged to. I only know a few other people who spell their name the way I do. It suprises me that there is another one with the same last name in the same area. The weather here has been beautiful. We're not too cold yet. I know people who live closer to downtown that have Rose of Sharon. They looked like they did pretty well here. Sometimes I wonder if some of the things like the Rose of Sharon do okay closer to downtown because of all the blacktop holding the heat. I never can believe that it really is zone 5 here, but thats what all the garden catalogs say. Every few winters it seems like we're closer to zone 3 or some thing & then the rest of the time it seems much milder than zone 5. Good luck with your driving school. Seana Hi Seana, Welcome to the list. I remember your posts on the G&G list a few years ago. Right now I'm down in Morgan City, Louisiana for 5 months for commercial diving school. Looking forward to visiting George Shirley some time in February. I always wondered how the rose of sharon did. Did they survive your winters? Take care and stay warm :-) Matt Trahan northeast North Carolina, USDA zone 8 ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com