Yes, my sister and I sing the flag decal song. It ought to be played on the radio, and the saga about "Sam Stone", too. Sam Stone is really relevant now with all the young men and women serving around the world who are coming home with shattered bodies and shatter minds. Jeez! SAM STONE - written and performed by John Prine Sam Stone came home, To his wife and family After serving in the conflict overseas. And the time that he served, Had shattered all his nerves, And left a little shrapnel in his knee. But the morphine eased the pain, And the grass grew round his brain, And gave him all the confidence he lacked, With a Purple Heart and a monkey on his back. Chorus: There's a hole in daddy's arm where all the money goes, Jesus Christ died for nothin', I suppose. Little pitchers have big ears, Don't stop to count the years, Sweet songs never last too long on broken radios. Mmm.... Sam Stone's welcome home Didn't last too long. He went to work when he'd spent his last dime And Sammy took to stealing When he got that empty feeling For a hundred dollar habit without overtime. And the gold rolled through his veins Like a thousand railroad trains, And eased his mind in the hours that he chose, While the kids ran around wearin' other peoples' clothes... Repeat Chorus: There's a hole in daddy's arm where all the money goes, Jesus Christ died for nothin', I suppose. Little pitchers have big ears, Don't stop to count the years, Sweet songs never last too long on broken radios. Mmm.... Sam Stone was alone When he popped his last balloon Climbing walls while sitting in a chair Well, he played his last request While the room smelled just like death With an overdose hovering in the air But life had lost its fun And there was nothing to be done But trade his house that he bought on the G.I. Bill For a flag draped casket on a local heroes' hill Chorus There's a hole in daddy's arm where all the money goes, Jesus Christ died for nothin', I suppose. Little pitchers have big ears, Don't stop to count the years, Sweet songs never last too long on broken radios. Mmm.... ------------------------------ Annie

Don't underestimate the UV in foggy climates. It can actually be higher than one thinks. Looking down at plants is very different than viewing them at eye level. I have a bed that I view more often looking down from above, out of my kitchen window, than I do while passing by to work in my front or furthermost back yards. This is the triangular bed viewed as standing in my neighbor's yard on the left side of it: This is the same bed viewed from above, although the coleonema (which surrounds the lamppost) isn't in bloom here: Everything I plant in this bed is planned to look good from above. I have 15 separate beds and this is the only one I treat this way. I have fiddled a lot with the plants in it since it lives on runoff so is one of my few truly xeric beds. It gets very little direct sun but a lot of very bright shade (it looks south/southeast, instead of north like yours), so it can take even sun-lovers like the purple Lantana trailer on the RH side. One small shrub I have in a north-facing bed MIGHT work for you, but I'm not sure. It is a regular water lover, not drought resistant. I love this plant! It is a variegated fuchsia, "Firecracker". A bit tender, so it would probably do better for you in SF than it does for me in the Oakland hills.

I'm assuming that you'll be going down I-40 to Little Rock. There is a good nursery off the interstate in Clarksville called Blossomberry. Beerhog and I have made several trips there over the last few years. You can find many plants not carried by the box stores and at reasonable prices. He propogates, I understand, for the U of A. I found a dwarf elephant ear there two years ago that had just come in from Costa Rica as well as other plants I have not seen elsewhere. Worth a stop. Blossomberry Nursery 2662 Highway 21 Clarksville, AR 72830 479-754-6489

Sedum sarmentosum - hardy in zone 4 http://www.itsnotworkitsgardening.com/2013/06/stringy.html My mother called this Gold Moss and had it all over her rock garden. This plant spreads quite well and needs very little soil. In fact, Mom thought it spread a little too well. It even grew in the spaces between the stacked rocks. It's a perennial that comes back even after a hard winter. It flowers in the spring.