Welcome back to gardening, Alice. I appreciate your delight in reclaiming your gardens. I've had similar issues with more recent injuries.

Janie- Mail order; what a kind thought. I'll let your know, thanks. We are in USDA 5a, and we plant for zone 4 whenever possible. We do have the long daylight this time of year, and the short day and long darktime of the winter, though the contrast is not as extreme as it is in Scotland, say, or Alaska. We're in Midcoast Maine, and have some of the few gardens that were not washed away by the rains of the last couple of months.

maeve