Front Door Greetings

Visitors to the LipsYard House (mostly the Mail Carrier and Paper Person) are greeted with a splash of Crimson in the flower box.

Coleus (Solenostemon) sounds like a scientific name already, and in a way, it is. It has undergone a species name change, and the old classification was Coleus.

Coleus are usually selected for their colorful variegated leaves, typically with sharp contrast between the colors; the leaves may be green, pink, yellow, maroon, and red. The plants grow well in moist well-drained soil, are heat-tolerant, but do better in areas with some shade.

Coleus also make low-maintenance houseplants, and can often be propagated by clipping a length of stem just below the leaves and putting the stem in water to root.

Barack Obama was greeted in a similarly bright fashion on his recent Middle East and European tour, and as a result, now leads John McCain among national registered voters by a 49% to 40% margin in Gallup Poll Daily tracking conducted July 24-26.

This represents a continuation of Obama's front-runner position evident in the last three Gallup Poll Daily tracking updates. The margin, coincident with the extensive U.S. news coverage of Obama's foreign tour, is the largest for Obama over McCain measured since Gallup began tracking the general election horserace in March. A key question remains as to whether this "bounce" is short-term (as happens to bounces in some instances following intense publicity surrounding a convention) or if his lead will persist -- the answer to which will become evident in the next several days.