Seems to me (speaking as a brug seller) that you should have immediately contacted the seller and emailed her a photo. If there was a thought of freezing temps- (which are the DEATH of angels) she should have offered insurance. Contact her now and let her know the condition it arrived in. Packaging is very important too, I've learned the hard way. You have to wrap the roots in plastic, and then the whole plant in newspaper. Then you have to tape the whole thing down really well so there's no shifting. If this seller wants to maintain happy customers, they should ether return your money or give you store credit for next year! Just my opinion! Good Luck! :)

Hair, the winters here are bad enough. New England is much worse. But you gotta do what you gotta do. I did see a large, beautiful baldcypress at Niagara Falls (Ontario), and the nearby northern red oaks & sugar maples were impressive. Regarding hemlocks & woolly adelgids, the little suckers swept thru here a decade ago, but seem to have disappeared mostly. I was hiking at the drainage of nearby Rocky Gap Park lake where there are some stands of mature hemlocks (100' plus). Some dead skeletons showed, but the majority of them seemed mostly recovered. Nothing like the complete devastation in Md's Catocton park.

Here are Jake's grasses: Where there are no numbers by the grass that means it is already counted for in another bed. Not all the grasses look really healthy as some had trouble getting through the winter. I know the wife has a couple of grasses in her perennial bed but I do not have them listed as grasses in my beds. Have a look as this is all I've got. (I might have missed a grass or two. Need to take a REALLY good inventory). Jake Grasses EAST FENCE BED 1) Panicum virgatum "Heavy Metal" (7) 2) Miscanthus sinensis "Puncktchen" (3) 3) Miscanthus sinensis "Morning Dew" (3) 4) Pennisetum alupecuroides "National Arboretum" (2) 5) Miscanthus sinensis "Malepartus" (2) WEST FENCE BED 6) Miscanthus sinensis "Jailbird Ben" (3) 7) Miscanthus sinensis "Yahu Jima" (3) 8) Miscanthus sinensis "Mt. Washington" (2) Pennisetum alupecuroides "National Arboretum" (3) 9) Calamagrostis acutiflora "Karl Foerster" (1) Miscanthus sinensis "Malepartus" (1) ORIGINAL BED Briza media " Hardy Quaking Grass" (9) Festuca glauca "Blue Fescue (3) Stipa tenuissima "Ponytails" (8) Festuca glauca "Elijah Blue" (2) Imparata cylindrical "Red Baron" (3) Eragrostis trichodes "Sand Love" (4) Panicum virgatum "Rehbraun" (1) Calamagrostis acutiflora "Overdam" (3) Festuca cinerea "Dwarf Fescue" (3) Koleria glauca "Hair Grass" (1) Deschampsia caespitosia "Northern Lights" (2) Herlictotrichon sempevirens "Blue Oat Grass" (2) Calamagrotis acutiflora "Karl Foerster" (2) Schizachyrium scoparium "The Blues" (1) Calamagrotis brachytricha "Reed Grass" (2) Panicum virgatum "Prairie Sky" (2) Miscanthus sinensis "Morning Light" (1) Schizachyrium scoparium "Blaze" (3) Miscanthus sinensis "Silberfeder" (1) DECK (North Side) Miscanthus sinensis "Grtacillimus" (3) Erianthus ravennae "Hardy Pampus" (1) DECK (South Side) Miscanthus sinensis "Silberpfeil" (2) Miscanthus purpurascens (3) NORTH BED Miscanthus sinensis "November Sunset" (2) Pennisetum alopecuroides "Hameln" (2) Pennisetum "Karly Rose" (2) ROCK GARDEN BED Miscanthus sinensis "Nippon" (3) Miscanthus sinensis "Bubbler Ben" (3) IN THE YARD Miscanthus sinensis "Bitsy Ben" (3) Miscanthus sinensis "Sarabande" (1) Chasmathium latifolium "Northern Sea Oats (2) WAITING TO BE PLANTED: Calamagrostis acutiflora "Kalr Foerster Varigated" (2) (Not yet readily available to the mass market). Miscanthus sinensis "Little Nicky" (2) Deschampsia caespitosa "Tuffted Hair Grass" (2) Back at everyone later. Jake

I cannot just limit this to ten trees. So here is my second set of ten: 1) Katsura (Cercidiphyllum japonicum) - Fantastic tree. How can you not love a tree with heart-shaped leaves. The fall color on this tree is usually a bright peach color mixed with a little bit of orange or red. The tree gives off a distinct scent of cotton candy when its turning. You feel like you are in the land of Willy Wonka when it has this scent. This tree is finicky though. It does not like drought, sandy or compacted soil, or high wind and will start losing it's foliage in the summer in response to these conditions. 2) Green Ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica) - Some may be surprised to see this tree on anyone's list. It's considered a trash tree by many. I love it. If you drive down Memorial Drive in Cambridge in late September - early October, you will see all of the Green Ash trees turning their bright golden - yellow color. It's a beautiful sight. This tree produces good shade and is tolerant of just about any conditions. Several male cultivars are now on the market, which avoids the prolific seeding observed with the females. I do hate the fact that this tree is one of the last to leaf out in the spring and one of the first to lose it's leaves in the fall. 3) Norway Spruce (Picea abies) - I love these trees. Giant Christmas trees the whole year through. The have a very dark green color and I really love the way the branches curve up at the ends. It gives this tree a very graceful look. A very large tree in time. A fast-grower for a spruce. 4) Japanese Zelkova (Zelkova serrata) - Zone 5 is the limit for this species. It would be wise in that zone to get the "Village Green" cultivar which has greater cold tolerance than the species. The vase-shape of this tree makes it a good replacement for the American Elm. Between the shape and the tree's tolerance for just about any conditions, it makes a great street tree. Zelkovas are in the Elm family and consequently are not totally immune to Dutch Elm disease but they tend to be highly resistant and this disease is usually not a problem. This tree can have spectacular fall foliage (ironically they did not this year around the Boston - Cambridge area) turning a bright burnt orange color. The Village Green cultivar has the best fall coloring that I've seen. 5) Northern Red Oak (Quercus rubra) - Had to include a member of the red oak family again. Oaks are not thought of as fast-growing trees but this species is definitely an exception. Becomes massive in time. Fall color is variable but can be quite good. A very strong, shade tree. 6) Canadian Hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) - One of the few evergreens that tolerates shade. Very graceful foliage. Probably the most graceful of any evergreen. The tree likes moist soil (found in shade). The woody adelgid is killing many of the hemlocks in New England. Hope they find a way to eradicate it before it kills all of them. 7) Black Birch (Betula Lenta) - Absolutely beautiful tree. The bark is a shiny, dark grey and peels to a certain extent. The bark looks very similar to the bark of many cherry trees only with a dark color. Very ornamental especially in winter. This birch has very good bright yellow fall color, too. 8) Crabapple (Malus) - The perfect tree. An explosion of white or pink bloom in the spring. A ton of crabapples in the fall. Beautiful bark on most varieties similar to cherry bark. Hundreds of cultivars to choose from. Most of the modern cultivars have resistance to fungal diseases that were a problem on older varieties. These trees tolerate drought and bad soil rather well. 9) Weeping Cherry (Prunus subhirtella Pendula) - Beautiful tree. So graceful and very striking in bloom. It get quite large in time for a flowering tree. Not as prone to problems as most cherry trees. Needs to be sited in a moist area though. 10) Kousa dogwood (Cornus kousa) - Wanted to put cornus florida here but zone 5 is pushing it for that species. I like this one too. Flowers in early summer and can put on quite a show. The giant red fruit of this dogwood is more visually appealing than cornus florida. Fall color is spectacular. Many cultivars to choose from.