Ahh...great pics as always, koijoyii. What a treat. Wish my cress looked like that but never gonna happen here in the deep south *sigh*. On the other hand, the duckweed in my settling pond looks like yours...glory! Still countin' your froggies :) TFS. blessings, ~digger

I don't think that there is a forum here that I can point you to but my hubby is a contractor and he would recommend putting a sign out in front of your property that you are accepting fill dirt with clay in it. Clay will not pack down like topsoil will and will be a good heavy medium to use for the majority of your hill. Then I would top it with fill dirt after any threat of heavy spring rain has passed and seed it with grass. You will get tons of folks stopping by and they will be happy to drive back to the section of your property that you wish the fill dirt to be deposited. Ask for clean fill, no rocks or debris otherwise you will end up with concrete, gravel or shards of clay tiles in the mix that might poke through with some settling that will occur. You may want to rent a Bobcat for a weekend to move the dirt around and tamp it down firmly between layers of new additions of clay and soil. I wish you luck and boy would my kids love to play at your house once that big hill is finished!

I used to post a bit on Roses and Antique Roses - haven't been around much in the past few years though. I love the Name that Plant Forum, I think it's the best one on GW besides the FN.

I am a new member of this forum. I have really enjoyed looking at the terrariums linked on these pages. The info regarding certain harder-to-keep varieties of plants has also been helpful. When I read this thread, I felt that I had to reply. PDF's are not hard to keep. There are 10 year old children in my neighborhood who are successfully maintaining a vivarium with the frogs, and even breeding the frogs. Personally, I have over 50 vivariums in my home. Each one contains some poison dart frogs. Any and every color you can imagine. Orchids, bromeliads, tropical mosses, waterfalls, you name it. I really like the terrariums, but when you add a pair of bright, electric blue frogs, now you have some life!! Yes, you do have to culture, or purchase, the fruit flies. The flies we use in the hobby cannot fly. They are non-invasive and very easy to culture. They do not smell either. I have 200 cultures going at a time, there is a slight smell with this many cultures, but most visitors to our frog rooms do not even notice it. Mixing the frogs and plants to create vivariums has been the most rewarding journey of my life. I encourage everyone, not to base your opinions of keeping PDF's based on heresay, or an experience of a friend from 10 years ago. The hobby has changed drastically over the last decade. The frogs are easy to obtain, and there is soooo much info on keeping these precious little gems. Remember, everyone starts with no experience. Please fell free to email with any questions. I live in the Chicago suburbs. Pete