Summersoff, I believe the plant you have in the first photo is Chamaedorea elegans, also known as Parlor Palm. As to if it will grow into a larger palm from it's current size, I cannot say (I do not know that much about this particular plant, but at least a name will help you if you want to research it online). As to the second photo, I saw one of these just the other day, I don't remember what it stated the species was, but it is a species of Dracaena, I think it might be Dracaena sanderiana, which is also known as Lucky Bamboo. Lucky Bamboo as you mentioned, is also a species of Dracaena, not bamboo as some people think. It looks to me that the stems present on this plant are stems of the plant itself, but its top growth (leaves) has been stunted (by growing the plant so its stems become a certain thickness and then chopping off the top section of growth, causing new "shoots" to form at the tops, creating the foliage you see). To me, it looks like a really thick version of Lucky Bamboo, which makes me think it might be Dracaena sanderiana. It is similar to your Corn Plant, which is also a species of Dracaena (usually Dracaena fragrans). However, your Corn plant is not growing on its original stem (see below). Just some information on your Corn plant in case you didn't know but were interested: It is a piece of cane rooted in the soil (the foliage on top of the corn plant is the Dracaena fragrans) with some Dracaena "grafted" or "air layered"-- I don't know exactly how they do it-- into the cane which creates what you see and know as a Corn Plant. I hope this information has been helpful. Planto

Although it hasn't been seen on camera before, there have long been hints that plants detect chemical signals from nearby plants and respond to them like this. But the article doesn't really provide enough information to support its implication that there is an "intent" by the damaged plant to communicate. To put it in human terms: Say you're walking down a sidewalk and see fresh bloodstains. You would determine that someone was recently hurt there, and consider that you might be in danger as well. You can't assume that the bloodstains were left by the injured person as a warning or call for help. They might have been - but they may just be the unavoidable result of the injury. On the other hand, if you hear someone scream "Help!" you know that's an attempt to communicate. We can't determine from the information in this article if the release of the methyl jasmonate is more like a bloodstain (direct or instinctive response to the injury) or a cry for help (attempt at communication). Still, it's fun to speculate that plants "talk" to each other, and wonder how extensive the communication is. :-) Straying OT: Bacteria and other single-celled organisms have been observed to respond to chemicals released by nearby members of their species, and some bacterial colonies may chemically coordinate activities. Science fiction writers have been speculating about plant, bacterial, and cellular communication for decades. Some of them depict plants as evolving a sort of group mind, with each plant acting somewhat like individual neurons do in our brain. Communication between each plant "neuron" occurs chemically, either through soil/roots, airborne chemical releases, or more rarely, pollen. Interestingly enough, the plant colonies are usually depicted as benign, but the bacterial or cellular intelligences are often depicted as the end of humanity. (Look up the "grey goo" hypothesis if you're interested. Be prepared to be creeped out!)

No, Lass, no new pics of the little sunken garden. It doesn't look very nice right now with all the digging and rocks out of place. The only thing I'm going to plant yet this Fall is some Indian Grass, which I saw in a prairie garden at the OARDC arboretum. The guy that designed the garden answered my inquiry about some starts and I plan to go to his place to buy some. He said they would be plugs and only cost a $1 or $2. He didn't have anything bigger available right now. He also said this variety of grass is a slow grower. Kathy, corkscrew vine grows as an annual here. I was just inspecting the morning glory vines on the picket fence and there are still buds coming on, but I'm not sure they will get the chance to bloom. The trunk of one vine is as thick as one of my fingers if not more! Never saw them that aggressive and wonder if it might crush the wood, beings the picket fence is a vintage wire variety with thin pickets. It may take more of an effort to tear down those vines than I thought. mosswitch, I'm trying to make a river of blue with chiondoxia but it's slow going. Hope you can post some pics next Spring.

Thank you for all of your thoughtful comments. This forum is a great tool for thinking things through. I think I'm going to keep it as is, but next time I have movers over for anything I may be tempted to try it turned 90 degrees just to satisfy my curiosity. So many of you are correct in your assessment that any piece in a home that has a function should be placed so that it works best for those who use it. In this case, the piano is not used as much as it was when the kids were home, but I still use it, mostly with others who sing in a group with me. In that case, we do enjoy pulling up chairs around it or sitting in a larger circle in front of it. So for me, the placement as it is does work, even though I never really thought about why. The acoustic isn't really an issue as the room is not large and the sound is great as it is. I thank all of you for helping me through this. I do agree with the assessment that it looks a bit lonely where it is, so I'll work on that!!