dwrector - 1.) Celebration is a natural selection of common Bermuda. It can and does cross-pollinate with any common Bermuda growing in its vicinity. Therefore Celebration does not necessarily come true from seed and over time variations can occur. TifGrand is a seed sterile triploid hybrid and will not cross pollinate so the stand will remain absolutely consistent in appearance, maintenance requirements, etc. 2.) I mis-spoke with the % - it's actually a value. If the difference between any two values are greater than 0.05 then there is a statistically significant difference - this means that the difference is the result of more than just chance, that it is a meaningful difference. The Clemson Study(2007)was conducted with pots, over only 8 weeks, in greenhouses - but even at that, TifGrand outscored Celebration in most categories including shade tolerance. You can take a look at http://www.tifgrand.com/tg42cultivarstg2.htm for a more complete discussion of this study. There's a photo from TPC Prestancia showing TifGrand next to Celebration at http://www.tifgrand.com/tgphotostg2.htm (6th one down) you might want to take a look at, too. texas-weed - See above, please. Celebration is not a hybrid, it is a natural selection of common bermuda. The science is way over my head, but, genetically hybrids have a specific chromosome signature and common turfgrasses have a different one - for the lab guys it is a simple matter to determine what's what. Here is a link that might be useful: TifGrand-the world's first sterile hybrid Bermuda for shade!

I suspect the idea that Tifgrand is shade tolerant is a lot of marketing BS, but you're the first I've read from someone who actually installed it. Weeds would be expected in a normal bermuda lawn in the shade, so that sounds like what you're getting. By fertilize regularly are you saying you use a high N fertilizer every month? That would be normal for bermuda if you want it to look good. How high/low are you mowing? Bermuda will become the most dense (to keep weeds out) when mowed low. It thins out when it gets up above 1.5 inches. Are you watering once a week? When you water more frequently you are encouraging weed seeds to sprout and take root. If you let the soil surface dry out for several days and even get really warm, that usually keeps the weeds out. Of course sometimes Mother Nature will send rain that you can't control. If you're doing all the above, then the problem in the shade almost has to be the grass itself not being all that shade tolerant. There is a zoysia variety called Shadow Turf that sort of looks like hybrid bermuda and will tolerate deep shade. You might look into Diamond zoysia. Supposedly it is shade tolerant and is likely more available in your area. St Augustine does not look anything like bermuda but it would likely grow dense enough to keep weeds out in the shade. Or you might decide to change to a different kind of ground cover altogether.

"Yeah I am constantly amazed by the crap they stop at the border. Not terrorists or anything, but oranges and trees and, you know, critical stuff." Corkball, dude, you really gotta get out more! There are real, real, real good reasons that we attempt to keep certain foods and plant materials from coming into the country. I thought anyone that was on Gardenweb would be familiar with the problems involved with bringing pathogens into the country. As for terrorists, we seem to be doing a dang good job, now, of keeping them out of this country and monitoring the ones that may be here (knock on wood).

The "cold weather turns the plants to mush" would also apply to the herb fennel. It is a hardy perennial but that doesn't mean the stems stay green and fresh all winter. The flowering stems and seed heads die and remain standing in the garden while, in my climate at least, the crown of the plant produces green fronds all winter at ground level. In cold areas I imagine these leaves could well turn to mush. But I agree that it is sloppy writing. It refers to rows and I can't believe anyone needs a row of the herb fennel, unless they're in business. One plant is plenty. By 'warm' soil for Florence fennel I mean summer warm, not merely above freezing. That's one reason I can't grow it. The ground here doesn't get warm enough early enough for it to really take off. And it never gets anywhere near 80f. This article is quite useful I think. And this version of the website you referred to is more accurate Growing Florence Fennel