Aloha, I have 16 Sea Green junipers at my place. 2 of them have probably been in the ground 3 years. They were in 1 gallon pots when I planted them and are now roughly 2 ft tall and 3 ft wide. These 2 are on the south side of the house, in compacted, horrid clay with all day sun and are growing much more slowly than they would in better soil. They are tough, though. The remaining are on the west side of the house and were planted last year, roughly 3 ft apart. That's pretty tight, but I want them to knit together to form a wall of green. It's my understanding that they will get 4-6 ft tall and spread 6-8 ft at maturity. Hope that helps. Barb

First off, let me say that I'm not sure how having a family-only ceremony followed by a huge catered (albeit "casual") party is likely to save you very much money since the reception is usually the costliest part of a wedding anyway. However, there are LOADS of reasons for choosing an intimate ceremony over a massive one and you have every right to the kind of wedding you want! As to the whole "wedding gift-giving and receiving etiquette"... I have never in my life based my decision on whether to give a wedding gift (or how large a gift to give) on the size/fanciness of the wedding or even on whether or not I was invited to the wedding. Over the years I have sent wedding gifts to many many friends (and even more "children and grandchildren of friends") who chose to have family-only ceremonies or who eloped. I have never felt slighted about not being invited to such weddings nor skipped the gift just because I wasn't invited to the wedding. Conversely, there have also been many occasions when I have received an invitation to what was obviously one of those "invite-everybody-we-or-our-parents-have-ever-known" weddings. In such cases, if I didn't feel close enough to the bride/groom or to their parents to want to actually attend the wedding, I responded with "regrets" and NO GIFT. If I felt close enough to want to attend the wedding, even if I could not go, I sent a gift. In my opinion, a wedding gift is a GIFT to a couple I care about, either directly or thru their parents, which expresses my happiness for the couple. It is not "payback" for a chance to go hear them say their vows and/or attend a lavish party afterwards! And, even if some people do consider the wedding gift as payback for the party invitation... well it sounds to me like you're planning to throw a pretty, even if it be a "casual" bash. So, anyone who crassly thinks of a wedding gift as payback for the party will be expecting to give you a gift. Additionally, at least in my part of the country, it is fairly traditional to bring small congratulatory gifts (eg., tea towels, a potted plant, a nice bottle of wine, small gardening tools, etc.) to a housewarming party. Fewer people "register" for these events but enough do that I've started asking whether folks having a housewarming party are registered. So I say go ahead and register but don't mention that you are registered anywhere UNLESS someone asks you. Of course, this is the same advice I would give any bride regardless of what size wedding or what style/size reception she was planning to have! And BTW, when you do register be sure to choose LOTS of inexpensive items that you'll want and need as well as some of the pricier stuff so that everyone who wants to give a gift can find something they can afford without breaking the bank. Since you'll be moving into a brand new home, I'm sure you can find dozens of things you'll need for under $20 and hundreds for under $40. And again, this is the same advice I would offer to any bride... unless maybe she was from a family of zillionaires. But then, I would never get an invitation to that wedding anyway. LOL!

Annie, you are such a great person. You are always there when someone needs you and you do beautiful things with cakes. I just love this one. Yes, you could do cakes for a side business, but you do so much already. The young couple had their wish come true and will have such wonderful memories. When Darrell finally out and out proposed, a different story, I knew we had to have our wedding at my mom and dad's house. My dad had never seen any of his children get married. My first marriage took place in Tokyo, but the others were local. I decided if we couldn't get Mohammed to the mountain, we'd get the mountain to him. We were married in their living room in front of their white fireplace by candlelight. Mom and I used to do wedding cakes, so she made ours, the punch, etc. I made my sister's and my peasant style gowns from material I had had kept when I closed my fabric shop in Virginia. At the last minute I got my sister and I each a rose with baby's breathe. All under $100. It's lasted almost 43 years so I guess it was a good one. I hope this young couple is as fortunate. Oh, and when we made wedding cakes, one couple didn't tell us the wedding was actually taking place in her parents' back yard. Hot June day. We tried to tell her the four tier cake would melt, but she didn't care. Sometimes they aren't so picky.

Dianela, I’m so happy to hear that my pictures of Mel’s Heritage helped you chose him! I love the thought of “enabling” someone into my favorite rose! I think you will love him. I would suggest giving him the sunniest, warmest spot you have, and give him plenty of room to grow. I have no experience with growth size in your zone, but mine is rapidly becoming a monster. I haven’t been keeping up very well lately, and I will probably need to cut mine back some to get it under control. Small new roses some 15-20F away have what I thought were “odd new growth” from a distance, only to find it’s a meandering Mel’s Heritage cane.And to think, mine is really just a baby! I don’t think he will behave quite so rambunctiously in zone 7. I do think you will enjoy your two Mel’s Heritages. It’s wonderful for cutting, and the colors change with the temperatures and ageing blooms. It begins brighter coral and then goes girly pink. In cooler weather the blooms stay brighter longer, something I don’t often see in So CA. One spray in a small vase makes an instant bouquet. The effect is light and frothy from all those small, full, pink blooms. The blooms have a very unique fresh apple fragrance. It’s my very favorite out of my 50-70? roses, so that’s saying a lot. Lisa