Elisa, I got the onions form a friend who was tilling up his garden late in the year. He didn't use them and thought they were too big and old. I say waste not, want not. I think they'll make it just fine, but some of those onions are about the size of an entire bunch that you'd buy at the grocery store, so I'm not sure about the whole "old tasting" thing. And thanks for the recommendations on the other lettuces. I'm always willing to try new crops. Jay, I've actually got row cover on order so I should be good there. The only problem is going to be with my job. I am a professional FireFighter and work 24 hr shifts, so if it gets too cold during the night that I'm at work, it won't be covered for that night. Hopefully since I chose all cold hard plants, it won't be a problem. The napa cabbage and kohlrabi sound great to me, but I'm afraid I'm all out of room. Thought I might have a little room to try a thin row of peas, but I have to research if they'll make it or not. I also gave a fleeting thought about heating with manure in the spots that I use to walk in there, but I've been reading of a lot of sites that say the minimum size of a pile to produce heat has to be 2 to 3 feet deep. I don't think I can get that much manure on a monthly basis, nor do I think I would have the room to dig the trench in there without crushing/messing up some plants. Guess I'll just stick to the milk jugs for now.

Okay--another question for ya--have you considered miniatures, since you'd prefer something more mannerly? Many of them have fabulous bloom form that never collapses, especially if you're looking for that perfect, tight spiral. Most minis aren't that fragrant, but there are a few that are fabulous. I'm sitting outside right now, so I'll give you a rundown of some of mine that fit the bill: Voodoo - Tall & narrow grower. Lovely orange-juice colored blooms with yummy fragrance that are phototropic and change in sunlight to a screaming scarlet-orange. Pretty darn good disease resistance. Jean Kennealley, an apricot miniature. She has the bonus of fragrance, and gets pretty big for a mini. Spent blooms will flatten out & fade to nearly white, but I think she's spectacular. She's held a very high rating for a long time. Folklore is a hybrid tea with perfect spirals & yellow reverses to coral petals. Lovely scent, big shrub, good disease resistance. Grows taller than it does wide, at least for me. Gemini is a drop-dead gorgeous hybrid tea. New blooms open ivory with just a hit of a deep coral picotee, then it changes with sunlight to almost a completely coral flush. Mine like to pitch candelabras and I think that's due to the Grandiflora breeding line. Great scent. Flawless is a true, medium pink miniflora with a nice scent. It is very disease resistant for me & blooms like crazy, but it tends to have more decorative or frilly blooms than the classic high spirals. I love it nonetheless. I really want to recommend Secret, but I have to spray her to keep her happy. The scent and the blooms are worth it, though. It does not mind the heat and rain does not spot her blooms as badly as most of my other light-colored roses. How white is your white requirement? I grow Irresistible, another miniature. It has no scent, but oh MY!! The blooms retain their form for at least a week and a half, it grows spectacularly, it's very mannerly, and disease resistant. It is a bit cream-colored upon close inspection but looks white from a distance. Also in my white-ish category is World War II Memorial. It's technically a mauve, but from a few yards back it appears to be white. It has glorious scent, very good disease resistance, and I just cannot describe the way the blooms contrast with an almost forest-green set of foliage. The aroma is incredible. It does spot with rain, unfortunately, but it's one of the few whose spots aren't that unattractive. If we get rain while there are blooms present, it looks like a white rose with pink freckles. One of the hardiest I have is Garden Party, but I'd describe it as an ivory rose that likes to have pink petticoats every now and then. Very good disease resistance and AWESOME fragrance, but mine grows like Audrey from Little Shop of Horrors. I think I witnessed her eating a rabbit this morning. [Or maybe it was that Swamp Tea.] All of these are repeat blooming, and I'd say that Flawless, Folklore, and Irresistible are the quickest to repeat. Gemini is sluggish, but when she blooms, she chucks out about 30 at a time. I live where blackspot pressure is very high due to silly nighttime cooling and condensation. I spray for blackspot, but these are the best of my 60 roses that fit your bill. And since I am too lazy to edit my post [Swamp Tea again...dangit], I totally forgot Tahitian Sunset. I am in love with this rose and put her in a bad spot where I can't admire her while on the deck. It is a skyscraper of a hybrid tea with apricot to pink blooms that have a perfect spiral, and the scent is unusual. It has been described as anise, licorice, myrhh....but everyone at work loves to stick their nose in her when I bring her in. Very, very good disease resistance. These are some of my faves, and if you haven't been over to HMF to check out people's rose pics I would encourage you to do so. There is no better enabler for rose buying than this website and that one, combined.

Its a very nice needle palm! I think its a great size for $2 dollars so although it may be a little small, it was worth the price. I havent had luck with asking home depot to ship certain plants. I actually went to a home depot away from my location and asked if they could ship a plant to my location, but they said they couldnt and all of their plant shipments are random for the most part. -Alex

If it were me and I was going to redo the front walk I would just do poured concrete in an oval shape to mirror the bed around the trees in front of the house. That's the least maintenance. Yes, remove the yews, they should not be trimmed in an unnatural box shape for a home as natural looking as yours. Don't know what the tree is next to the yew shrubs, maybe blue atlas cedar or blue spruce? Either way, it is going to get big so you may want to move it now while you still can. It's a "specimen tree" meant to be viewed from afar, so I'd put it in the back yard, "afar" from the house where I could take it in while sitting on the back patio or looking out the back window. You could take out the front set of birches with two trunks, that is the one that blocks the view the most. I wouldn't do that, but I am a tree hugger. Where the yews and that blue green tree are, I would put some flowering trees or shrubs that would remain small, and maybe something that smells nice to greet me as I walked up to the front door. You don't say your zone, but it appears to be a 4 season area so I'd put in some rugosa roses (but that's just me) maybe mixed with hydrangeas. That's what I have in my front entrance way. Roses can get buggy, so if you want something even less maintenance, shrubby cinquefoil and low growing spirea are just about as easy peasy as it gets. "Knock out" roses don't smell as great as a rugosa but are more foolproof, depending on your zone. BTW, there are small evergreens you could put next to your house. There are some small junipers that would fit the bill, or a bird's nest blue spruce (which I don't particularly care for but some folks love). But like I said, not sure what that is by the yew hedge, it may be a dwarf for all I know but it doesn't look like it from my casual glance.