Anitamo, here's a picture of a seedling from may 29, they are bigger now. No way I would have missed these last year, they don't look like anything that grows there. Prairiegirl, I lucked out and got some at a local nursery that has the occasional quirky thing, castor beans and such. Chris, there were no seeds last year, the plants set seed in '06, that's what confuses me. Maybe conditions were somehow perfect for germination this year? Here is a link that might be useful:

Stan: Thats a beauty! Whoever owned mine before me wasn't giving it quite enough light, so many of my branches are a little etiolated. Yours has much denser growth. It looks really nice. It's also too bad that mine lost the main growing point. I'm hoping another branch "takes over" for it to maintain the columnar shape that yous has. I assume yours get full sun all day? Robs: It is probably Euphorbia mammillaris. The variegated version of this plant is much more common, and has a whiteish purple/pink color instead of the green. However, it came from Home Depot, so there is a good chance it is really some sort of greenhouse hybrid... Caudex: How about some pictures of yours?

Those are all good ideas. I already have some experience with keeping track of various papers and with filing systems--I have "my own" filing areas for the kids, for family health records, for my hobbies, and when each of my parents (who were divorced) developed health problems and dementia, I kept all their accounts, papers, mail, sales of homes, etc in "my" study. And I have some idea of how I would set up a filing system for all of this other stuff if I were doing it all for me. What is a bit more difficult is first, getting to the point where I can help and second, trying to see whether "we" are setting up a filing system that works for him, or me, or both. Meaning, what's a bit new in my thinking is whether ultimately he might never be able to keep up any system and so I take over more of the system and the filing and then tell HIM where stuff is, or whether he would collaborate and let me be "the consultant" so if h e wants labelled shoeboxes instead of files, that's fine, etc.--what I am trying to go to a new level on is, how to "feel out" the situation as to whether he is overwhelmed and will never ask for help but really wants it, or whether it is some line I can't cross. So I'm moving into being more pro-active but trying (very hard for me, sometimes!) to keep saying to myself, remember the big picture, the long haul, and not instant gratification, and also, bite my tongue when I'm tired and cranky and feel like saying something that is accusatory. Since he almost never asks for help, with anything, we all in our family probably think of him as invincible, and I'm kinda hopeful that he might actually want help if it's done right. harrietthehomeowner, I don't think outside help is right for him. But again, what will help me most in trying to do something now is to focus on family needs--that clearly I would never be able to take over, or even help out, with our papers and stuff if anything happened to him(illness or other) and I'm hoping even he can see that that would be a bad situation for our family. Whereas, if it's the guy's toolshed or hobby shop, you could just shut your eyes. cocontom, great point about the electronic conversions--he is actually the most "on line" person in the family and is probably receptive to doing more--mostly we have the busy-syndrome, where you have to make yourself carve out time to do things that will save time in the long run. One thing that is obvious is that I will have to find an extended period of time--don't have that until later in the fall--to actually start the project physically, but could be planning what types of shelving or filing equipment needed. I'm free to play around with floorplans on my own! This is one of those things where, since you can't move in the room, you need to haul everything out and say, what goes back in? It's like, you can't really sort through boxes of stuff until you have alternative destinations for each category. Here is one more interesting point that may test how committed I am. When we moved to this house, "his study" was to be this destination financial stuff, tools,etc, and "my study" was the combo guest room, photo file repository, various family-use items, and whatever I wanted, I guess. So I have guest linens, out of season decorations, hobby supplies, gift wrap, family mementos from my parents, and just "stuff" of mine, pretty well organized. And folks can get and use stuff from there, or I can get it for them. So--and wonder if folks can relate to this--I have a tendency to think I am using my space "well" for the family and he is not. You know how as the DW, you tend to think that ultimately all spaces are yours--it's hard to view any areas as sacred and off-limits to your organization and cleaning and meddling. So, if it somehow turned out that he could not "share" this filing concept, but said, well, if you're going to take over, do it somewhere else than my room, I don't know if I'm big enough to sacrifice my space to put all of it--I would have to completely re-do how my space is organized and would not have room for some of the fluff and stuff I have. I don't think that would happen, but I just wondered.

I'm thinking now that yours bloomed, they are finished and will die? The Vicar's Mead is very nice too. My gardens are too small for growing huge Angelicas and Lovage. I stick to smaller carrot family plants like Zizia aurea and aptera, Cnidium monnieri, Siam suave, dill and cilantro. I've been trying to start a few others from seed, but so far with no luck. Those would be Heracleum maximum, Thaspium trifoliatum, Polytaenia nuttli, Periderita. The most desired of them all is the small spring wildflower Erigenia bulbosa. I got a A. gigas a few years ago, but it perished before blooming. I grew the Japanese Angelica keiskei. It bloomed in its 2nd year,( last season), but never returned this year, even though it is perennial. Heracleum is the exception I make for growing the large species.