Billy Rae, they grow wherever they can, LOL. I started collecting plants seriously when I lived in Los Angeles between the years of 1985 and 1992. I was able to bring a few here to Florida when we moved here in the summer of 1992. The house we moved into initially and lived in for 11 years was a 1920's Historic Home that had a 240 sq ft sunroom, what is called here a "Florida Room". Almost every house built between 1890-1930's has a Florida Room, which is basically a large screened porch where people would sleep in summer because it was cooler there and there was no air conditioning. The people who we bought the house from had glassed in the screen portions with 8x8 plate glass windows and it was climate controlled. The room had a tiled floor with a drain in the floor and an indoor hose spigot so in the old days they would just wash the sand that blew through the screen out via the floor drain. Of course I immediately started collecting plants once here, LOL and ammassed a huge collection very quickly of orchids, bromeliads, heliconias, and many others that could not stay outdoors in winter and had to be drug into the house and into the Florida Room. We outgrew that house, and in 2002 we moved out to the "country" to a 5 acre property and I was able to build this greenhouse. The Florida Room we have here is very small and gets poor light, but I do keep some houseplants in there year round. Everything else that would have had to be a houseplant, or and "in and out" plant, became a greenhouse plant. I didn't want the artificiality of benches and shelves, the plants that I had did not lend themselves to that anyway, I had 30+ gallon tubs of 15-16 ft tall heliconias and ultratropical gingers that needed to be planted. SO I decided to use the greenhouse in the style of a botanical garden tropical conservatory. It is in its 6th year and I tinker with it constantly. I have collected shells, driftwood, rocks, and all sorts of stuff to use to make it look like a natural setting. I have planted everything I can, mounted as many of the orchids and bromeliads as I can, and tried to minimize the use of containers, but there are still a lot of containers, especially hanging ones, because floorspace is, well, gone now. I can only plant new stuff if I remove other stuff. So I Have had to be creative. I wanted water in there so I have a 20 ft stream and a pond, and am building a drop fall/fountain that goes into a stone basin now. Here are a couple more photos...a prime example of why I can't keep some of this stuff in my house (and its not hardy here)...this is a rare palm called a Salacca magnifica. It is heavily armed...the undersides of the leaves have large rigid spines. Its what is called an "entire leaf" palm...there is basicaly no trunk. The leaves at present time are approaching 10 ft in length, at maturity a single leaf can be 20 ft tall/long. I have only had this palm for a little over 2 years, it is very fast growing. It would be way too dangerous in the house, and I would not be able to move it. So I had to plant it! This is another example...this is a photo from last year about this time when the Jade Vine was in bloom. This is a very highly sought after rare Tropical liana, Strongylodon macrobotrys. Tons of people want this vine, and are willing to spend $50-100 for a plant, thinking that they will be able to keep it in a pot on a trellis and bring it in the house in the winter. But in reality, that can't be done. This vine is a tropical creeper, its name in Phillipines where it comes from is Emerald Creeper. It will engulf everything in its path (I have to prune mine constantly) and won;t bloom until it gets a big woody trunk (usually 3 years after planting). I got mine as a trade when I still lived at the old house, and would never have been able to see it bloom like this as a houseplant: I don't look at my greenhouse as separate from my house. My original dream was to build this kind of place ONTO the house, where you would just open a door and step from the house into the greenhouse, and they would be continuous. We tried to figure out a way to do that when we moved here, but the renovation would have cost over $100,000. It just wasn't doable. So, I consider this my "second Florida Room". I just have to walk a few steps down the driveway, not out a door, LOL.

Hello, I am mostly a lurker here. (I do post a little on the Texas Gardening forum!) I really enjoy reading this forum and only wish that I had a cottage style garden! I have also tried lots of differnt tagging methods. The most successful is the latest. I use the metal EON plant markers, spray paint them a sage green, and then adhere a waterproof label that I have printed on my label maker. It does look a little odd during the winter months when the plants aren't covering them up! But, it doesn't bother me. One of the little neighbor boys said something funny to my dd's one day. He said, "why does your mom label all of her plants; can't she remember their names?" I thought it was cute! And no, my memory isn't what it was when I was 12 and I can't remember all of the plant names! LOL Necia

Hi Sedum ...yes, I was thinking that people who work with plants are probably not usually that interested in computers, I suppose, but what about all of us here on GW? We are all pretty good in that department? Does it take that much to update a website? More than adding an entry to a blog, let's say? I can't imagine that it would be more than an hour job once a week and many of their employees might be capable of doing it. Am I wrong? You are right Mahoney's doesn't update theirs, BUT they do have an email newsletter, in which they send out specials with photos and everything. I get one. Weston Nurseries...not sure if they update theirs, but they have that gardener's club and when you join they send regular email letting you know what is on sale and if they have special seminar weekends, etc. I receive that one too. I can understand that they are below their usual sales. There has not been a lot of planting weather so far. Once I get past a certain period, I sometimes will just forget my plans and make do with what I have. Soon it might be a little hot to be planting or moving anything without having to really babysit them. I will usually wait for the fall to start making any other major additions in the perennial or shrubs category. Thanks for the link...I missed that article yesterday. Well...I am still in a buying mood though, as I have hardly bought a thing! Two NG impatiens, 1 six pack of pansies, 3 tomato plants and one coleus and one abutilon and that is it. I attribute that to winter sowing more than I do the weather though. Actually though, the last time I was at a nursery, a lot of their plants looked worse from the rain than mine did at home. I do have a hankering for some really new and cutting edge annuals...maybe flowerfields or proven winners and some really exotic coleus, but of course those are the most expensive and anyway, I am not seeing anything I really can't live without. And the PRICES!! Wow, I am having sticker shock and so thankful I did winter sowing this year. I really don't think I would feel comfortable buying everything that I would want for the season at the prices of plants. I think I used to buy 6 packs for around $3. Am I remembering right? Now I have to buy one special annual for $5 or $6. If I could buy 6 packs or even 4 packs for around $4. I would be buying a lot more. If nurseries would offer the quart sizes like Lexington Gardens does for perennials, I would buy more. If they would stop using the most popular sought after annuals to make up $40. hanging baskets and not sell them in smaller sizes, I would be buying more of them. That reminds me of something else that Lexington Gardens does that I really appreciate and use. They print up a simple typed list in booklet form of everything they are planning on having in stock for the season. They just leave them at the checkouts, so the first time I visit there in the early spring, or whenever they come out with it, I pick one up and the next time I am looking for something, I can see if they have it. Thanks again Sedum, for the link and the conversation. :-)

Leslie, if the tree is close enough to spit out seeds/helicopters in your yard or on the road or public property, take a few and start your new tree. Put the tip of the seed into the ground and protect from critters, and even start some in a pot to increase success. My neighbor has several Silver maples, and the seed/helicopters fly very far from the tree onto my land pretty far out. I personally have gone onto "someone?" elses property along the road to collect acorns before. They had so many acres they never saw me. I don't advise it. But, I grabbed about 10 acorns. I had dug up trees from the woods before, never thinking, this is someone elses property. It was right by the road. It was stupid of me. But they were among larger trees and would've stayed small for years. That was before I got a computer and knew you could order trees. Leslie, I would ask for some seeds and get it over with, unless they were getting blown all over your yard anyway. Good Luck.