So they finally refunded my money after seven weeks, three emails, and four phone calls. For those who want to defend Rogue Valley Roses - (1) The reason I describe RVR as "under new management" is, the not very polite man I spoke with told me, during the first of my four phone calls, that "the owner had fired everyone and put in new management" and, according to him, that was why they hadn't responded to any of the emails I had sent them. (2) If you are personally acquainted with the owner and have reason to sympathize with the owner's problems, that's fine. If you have had a recent good experience with RVR, that's fine. But, in the real world, those of us who deal with internet businesses need accurate information on whether they can expect a good experience and this means that individuals should post accurate accounts of their own experiences. My experience with RVR between February and May 2017 (typo corrected, this originally said 2015 causing confusion infra) has been absolutely horrible and I strongly recommend against dealing with them until they get their management issues straightened out.

Not certain if you are speaking about painting for the exterior or interior. Hardi Plank is, I believe, a concrete product. Therefore pretty unafffected by mositure and a quality latex paint should be fine. For the interior, I always provide rather contrary advise for new construction. That is to select a neutral paint which will please you for the first year. During that time you can get a feel for the lighting, furnishings and personal preferences for your new home to repaint - which will then be necessary. Reason it will be necessary is that during the first year your home will settle and the materials will dry. Accordingly you will begin to see nail pops and taping seam splits. These are inevitable and is why your builder will provide a 1-year follow-up inspection to repair these issues. But they won't repaint - that's your job! That's when a quality paint will be your best investment because better paints generally cover more area per gallon, cover in fewer coats, clean better and maintain their appearance for more years. Truly a $40 per gallon paint is worth the difference (and quite possibly less costly) unless you're planning to move shortly after completing the paint job. Personally I like SW Duration but many here like BM Aura - both top-of-the-line products. I'm not a fan of Behr, though I used it in our basement. I felt is was unusually thick and applied differently, and after about 5 years I notice it getting a chalky surface. Where in Iowa? I grew up on a farm near Newton and went to college in Iowa City. Know the climate well! Enjoy your new home.

Funny pineapple story. We go to Jamaica twice a year and anyone who knows me is aware of my use of cannabis. We don't go for just that reason, but well, let's go on. On my morning walk up and back on the beach, I met a local who swore to me that he had pineapple flavored herb. He claimed that he grew it in the cored out shells of pineapples, planting the seeds in a bit of soil and growing them to maturity in the pineapple husk. His scientific explanation was that the seeds absorbed the pineapple flavor as they were growing. Drawing on my extensive botanical knowledge, I informed him that what he was saying was simply impossible, but this did nothing to dissuade him. He sited several biblical references and even offered to take me to his grow... as long as I would buy his $20 bag of ganja. We walked for several miles up the beach and back to the resort, his price for the bag of what he called "Pineapple Kush", dropping faster and faster as we approached the resort. I finally gave him $5 for the bag and another $5 for the company on the long walk. No. In case any of you were wondering. It didn't taste like pineapple, didn't smell like pineapple when it burned, and it wasn't worth the $5.

Ann in an earlier post asked some questions that haven't been addressed so I might give that a feeble bash... I think all the plants mentioned are alright except for the oxlips, they are I think out of step, as I'm not sure you would see them in flower after May month... ...but I'm not convinced they need to be blooming, just they exist and thrive there, but surely it's poetic license all round isn't it? considering it's a Greek play, and the immortal verse places this wooded bank near Athens, - Athenian Titania sleeps there, and I'm pretty sure you wouldn't find oxlips in southern Europe. The rest you could though, and if the bank was exclusively Greek, then I would favour R. moschata for the musk roses, but I think it must have been written to relate to an English audience and his own experience of musky roses I suppose would be R. arvensis, or howsoever he knew that rose... I know a bank where the wild thyme blows, Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows, Quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine, With sweet musk-roses and with eglantine. There sleeps Titania sometime of the night, Lull'd in these flowers with dances and delight.. ..does this make any sense or should I go back to sleep?...