As a longer term person at this forum, and also someone who does this professionally for a living, I think I can say that there need be no fear in posting with 'newbie' questions, for fear of being shot down. It is a courtesy of sorts to reply/thank the people who do respond to your questions, or at the least respond to their comments in subsequent posts, rather than do a "driveby posting", and never be heard from again. I tend to respond to those postings that appeal to me, rather than answer ones that don't, and especially like responding to posters who show they have done some research already, rather than posting something obvious that they could easily get answers to if they only did a search before they asked the question. I think the antagonism towards newbie posters is mostly directed at those who seem to want someone to provide a free design for the entire garden, rather than ask specific questions about a design consideration, or comments on something they are considering, or simply seeking feedback on an idea. The open endedness of "Please design my backyard for me" is less appealing to someone who does it for a living and gets paid for it, and less interesting than helping someone through their design approach after they have made a first effort at it, at least to me. I'm sure we all have have little idiosyncracies about what strikes our fancy on this forum, and what prompts us to reply, so take this with a grain of salt. It is interesting to see Laag's perspective on why he posts in this forum; to sharpen his communication skills, and it shows. I'd say that my motivation is more about loving what I do, and feeling that I have the gift of being able to really visualize space, and knowing, growing and loving the plant part of design and being able to suggest appropriate plants for the abilities of the potential client. I am quite sure that my expertise is better suited to those posters who garden in California, West Coast and Arizona/Florida, as these are climates with which I am familiar in working professionally. I especially enjoy it when I have suggested something new to the OP, and they further research it and then post about it. This is the "sharing" part of this forum that I find particularly interesting. I also know that it would be a lot more visually interesting if I were one of the ones who posts photos on line of their work, or of the plants that I suggest, but find this a bit too much work on a forum that doesn't respect the control of original content, and appropriates the rights to such postings to themselves. It would seem that I'm not the only one to feel this way, as the few professional designers who would regularly post photos of their projects, such Michelle in Zonal Denial, is one who specifically stopped posting because this forum changed their control of images and content position. As few other designers on this forum have ever posted photos of their own work here, it would be interesting to hear their reasons, as well. I think I can speak for most of the other professionals on this forum, when I say that few are using this as a springboard to getting new clients, and more in the nature of sharing opinions and giving advice, so there is no bias or competition in what gets posted.

It would be an almost ethereal experience to see the cranes in migration. We've seen some Canada Geese in formation, but not anywhere near what we have seen in the past. Perhaps it's still early, or more probable is that they are just not migrating so much anymore from our area. It's not because they're scarce, that's for sure. They just have found out that they can make this their permanent home. Ask my friend the golf course groundskeeper. LOL. Goose poop expert, now.

☺ That explains so much! Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for the info Henry. I hope it doesn't spread over here. I have got enough diseases on my roses to worry about.