Interesting comment, dbaron, about the pink poodle, elephant, etc. I tend to agree. I have to say that Hot Papaya and Guava Ice are now my least favorite Echinaceas. I was initially impressed, but now I find them just a little tiresome. Upon reflection I do prefer flowers that are more natural looking. Though Salsa Red may be my favorite Echinacea, the young plants of it that I've added this year all look like they've been raised on steroids, sort of huddled looking, all flower, little plant, no grace. Fortunately, the plants seem to outgrow that state as I don't like that very ungraceful look. As above, to me, it's not very natural looking.... I've made quite a hefty $$$ investment in Echinaceas this year and I'm finding that the Cheyenne Spirit series is about equal to any number of fancy named and fancy priced Echinaceas I have and, according to many, they do seem to be a safer investment as far as the potential to overwinter. Next spring should prove very instructive for me, and I hope I don't regret buying so many!

Jeanie, Sometimes the does who live near us bring their fawns to the edge of the woods just outside the garden and leave them there while they go off for a hour or two. I don't know why, but they usually do it when I'm in the garden so I've always felt like they were wanting to leave their babies where I could watch over them while I worked in the garden. This sounds silly, but they've done it on and off ever since we moved here 13 years ago, and I believe it is the does who actually live on our land and the adjacent property and who grew up here. I don't think it is just random does who wonder onto the place. Sometimes I put out deer corn for the deer to eat in this hot weather, but not every night. When the deer start feeling desperate for deer corn, they come stand in the driveway and stare at the house. If I don't come out and put out deer corn, they leave and come back with their fawns. There they all stand, hot, tired, thin and hungry-looking. I feel like they are using the fawns to manipulate me into feeding them "Now!". Does it work? Heck, yes. I'm not going to let a little fawn starve. I feel sorry for all the wild things. They are so hungry and so thin. I am putting out limited food (it certainly is not an all-you-can-eat buffet) for them every morning and evening, and put out water daily too. Mostly we're feeding all kinds of birds and cottontail rabbits, but also possums, armadilloes, raccoons (unfortunately), turtles, and deer. Lots of small flyers like butterflies, moths, and dragonflies come to the wildlife puddles for water. The longer the drought and heat drag on, the worse things get. People near us who have a different water company than ours are being asked to restrict watering, but so far our water company isn't having issues, knock on wood. Conditions are deteriorating here really quickly because of the drought and the heat. Jeanie, All that works for me is fencing, period. Anything that is too 'precious' to be eaten must be grown behind fencing. It took me 5 or 6 years of fighting the low fencing battle and losing it before I finally decided to stop planting deer chow. Now, any potential deer chow is fenced behind tall fencing. The hotter and drier the year, the more the deer devour. In a hot, dry year like this, they'll eat stuff they never eat in a "normal" weather year, not that any of us ever have a normal year anyway. I wish I could train the deer to eat the grasshoppers. That would be one way to kill two birds with one stone, so to speak. Dawn

I have 2 more thingscompliments of the squirrels! Guess theyre good for somethingmaybe! I was gonna pull these out and just throw them away, but........... The first one I pulled out came with the acorn still attached to it, so I dug up the second one and theyre both now in pots! I have 2 oak trees! I assume theyre Gamble Oaks (Quercus gambelii), just because thats the most commonly found oak in this area, but I really dont have any way at all to be sure! If they are Gamble Oaks, they could wind up being anything from a single trunked smallish tree to a multi trunk bush kind of thing that looks more like scrub oak! There are two of them planted in one of the display gardens at Paulinos (they sell them), and one looks like a tree and the one right next to it is more "bushy!" Since I dont even know for sure what they are, theres no way to tell what theyre gonna look likebut they do have oak leaves!!! They will also spread somewhat, underground, I believe, and when they produce acorns, they will reseed fairly easily! So if somebody wants to take a chance on what they are and give them a try, Ill bring them along. I recommend them for somebody with a bigger yard, rather than just a tiny residential yard. Theyre still attached to the acorn and have very few roots. I would recommend growing them in the pots for a month or two so you can control the water better than if they were in the ground, and Id recommend you use a wet/dry cycle. Theyre completely saturated now, let them dry almost completely, then resaturate, let dry, resaturate........ Assuming they are Gamble Oaks they like it dry, and letting them dry almost all the way before watering again should help them form roots. Anybody interested? Skybird

Hi SimbaSue, I'm afraid I can't be any help when it comes to installing a sprinkler system. My knowledge is all aimed at the fun end of gardening, the PLANTS! I do know that underground sprinkler systems are VERY expensive, so are you sure you don't want to forgo that luxury for now? Also, I checked out the Irrigation Forum, and it looks to me like a lot of people have a lot of problems with their systems. There's a system in here at the house I bought last year, and I don't even use it in the back yard. I water by hand with sprinklers. I do use it in the front yard, but I turn it on manually only when I think it needs it. However you decide to water don't make the mistake a lot of people do and water for 10 minutes every couple days! That's the worst thing you can do for grass and almost everything else! When established, most plants will need about an inch of water a week. When you do water, water slowly and thoroughly. Water at least an inch (get a rain guage--they're cheap!). If you're watering a slope and it's running off (as it probably will do with our clay), turn off the water, wait 20 or 30 minutes and turn it back on and repeat until you've got an inch. What this does is waters the ROOTS, rather that just watering the FOLIAGE. Watering the foliage makes the humans happy---but not the plants! By watering deeply and not too often (once a week should be enough for established grass or perennials), as the surface of the soil dries, the roots grow deeper looking for the moisture that's still in the soil. This establishes large, healthy root systems which almost always means healthy, good looking plants above ground too. There are also a whole lot of Xeric perennials that will require very little supplemental watering after they are well established--usually after about the first year. Paulino's and Timberline have great Xeric Perennial sections. If you stop by Paulino's, be sure to ask for one of their perennial catalogs. It lists everything by Latin name only, but you can start to look up some of the Xeric ones in books and online and see what a great selection there is. If you want to get a really good basic perennial book (and Paulino's should carry them again this year), get the Heritage Perennials, Perennial Gardening Guide by John M. Valleau. It has lots of pictures and brief, simple descriptions with information that is unusually accurate for our high plains conditions. It's about $15. If you can't find it, ask John at the front desk for it! The reason I suggested the things I did is because of our current drought! Since you've got a blank slate to work with, if you start with a lot of xeric perennials (and consider the ornamental grasses too--they're great!), in a couple years you won't need to be using or spending a lot of money on water. For the things you want that aren't drought tolerant, group them together in beds that you'll water more frequently. If you mix the xeric and non-xeric, you'll need to water everything more! Since I'm sure you'll be putting grass in somewhere, you might want to put the non-xeric stuff near the grass areas where they can be watered along with the grass--how about a big perennial bed right in the middle of the grass?!! Don't be afraid to experiment! Half the fun of perennial gardening is the trial and error of it. Some things work--and some don't. There's always next summer! And there's always all winter to be looking at books and catalogs and planning and dreaming. I do definitely recommend using some kind of mulch around whatever you plant. I prefer small bark mulch around perennials, and I found you can get the big bags fairly cheaply at Lowes. If you prefer rock mulch, that works too (but it sure is a lot heavier to work with!). Whatever you use, you need something to help conserve the moisture and to keep the soil surface soft so the water soaks in rather than running off. And certainly don't be embarrased to be "50 and moving into your first house"!!! Just be glad that now you can "get down and dirty!" After all, some people live in apartments or condos their whole life. I'm considerably older than you, and the older I get, the more fun it is to learn new things! Oh, how I wish I had a lot as big as yours! Start looking in books and actually getting out to look at plants, and before long you'll want one or ten of each! A lot of things can be grown from seed, which can save you a lot of money, but it will take a lot longer to get a large plant. But you get to watch them while they're growing! I love to grow things from seed. It's incredible what you can get from a tiny, little seed! For this year at least you might want to consider putting in some annuals for color and to help that bare look you're going to have at a new house. Even just a few large planters or whisky barrels overflowing with annuals will help (and would be easy to water). I'm not a big annual person, but they are great for a lot of color. Have fun learning and deciding what you're gonna do, and happy gardening, Skybird