Luna not sure I have posted on this forum before but WOW that was terrific I am Canadian and have a good friend in Black River Falls Wisconsin whom I was thinking to visit, Might just be what I shall do, so as I could have a look , as well at that fantastic stone work. Huge undertaking it was And indeed thanks for making at available for others to see

Yes, the comment about throwing away the pan really cracked me up. As I read the thread I kept wondering how a quick dip in boiling oil was worse than a smash with a rock or shoe. Lots of people used to just use a jar of water for pests and let them drown. This seems rather humane to me. Well except for throwing them at the boys..lol. I didn't respond on that thread either. Your restraint is noticed. Smiles. They probably don't like the parasitic wasps either. Hmmm... wonder if any of them would pick the wasp eggs off and then 'release' the worms to the 'wild'.

Beautiful shots, Lisa! Have you seen that RSP lately? Do you have cherry or willow in your yard? I'm trying to attract them with Wild Cherry and Willow both, but haven't been lucky enough to see any yet. Nor a Viceroy! Susan

Thanks for the info regarding the convention. I will keep that in mind. I was wondering about sources on plants that I'd probably not seen before, so being able to find them at the convention explains a lot. I'm not worried about the work with conifers as I had already determined that they were very much less labor intensive than my perennials and shrubs - dramatically less! I won't be giving up my perennials anytime soon, but I feel this strange "force" pulling me...and if pics of the arboretum do this, just imagine seeing it in person! With my newfound knowledge that everyone has shared about conifers never stopping growing, etc., I'm a little disappointed on one hand with the stuff I planted last year. Not my windbreak (I'll die before it fills in), but other places where I didn't do just trees. I figured so carefully last year, thinking I was calculating to fullest space needed - until death do we part sort of thing. Now, it seems I may have calculated out only 10 years at best - at least on my hillsides. (I was hoping to plant them and water and forget it and never dig up or worry about overgrown plants again).I'm trying not to be disappointed because that's a long time off and why worry now and what's done is done! Worst case, I move or trim at a future date. However, I do have a very large flag pole area 50 x 50 that I started last year with the thought to add to over the next 3 years and I am pleased to 1)know I can move things around still, 2) there's plenty elbow room, and 3) glad that I will have the opportunity to learn more and avoid a "boring" ending to the project. I made the decision last year to keep it in conifers with the exception of the cannas around the base of the pole, and now that I've discovered all my friends at Gardenweb, I'm so happy about the decision. All in all, I'm pleased and will enjoy the next 10 years and not worry. It's too bad I didn't look beyond local providers for more variety on what I'ved already done, but I'm sure I can always find some room to add a new plant! Are any of you readers just done with buying plants, or is this an ongoing obsession that never ends? Coming from a background of southern gardening mothers/aunts, who incoporated a lot of flowering shrubs into their flower gardens, I tried to do the same when we moved up to a zone 5. I "accidentally" got into "this" by using evergreens in place of some of my flowering shrubs when I saw that I wasn't going to be able to duplicate many plantings that I was accustomed to. I must say that I had my first attraction to all this conifer business when I discovered that Japanese gardening used a lot of conifers and other evergreens to produce a soothing and calming effect. Anyway, I digress. Seems that conifers has it's whole own brand of nice people for the most part, too, and that's very nice! OK Battle Star Galactica usurps everything else and I must cut this off. Sorry for the long post. Snow must do that to me.