Wellspring, it's pretty much a given that regarding point #2 you make, my name would come up as a primary culprit! However, I disagree that it is an imposition of solutions. It is always an offering and always in competition with anyone else who may propose a different offering. This is not to say that an offer will go undefended. If challenges are made, I always feel an obligation to defend what I offer since it is the result of reasoning, not whim. I've said that the 25 mph view is very important, but not that it's the ONLY important consideration. I've examined landscapes that are extremely interesting to explore at the slowest possible pace, but that fail in being quickly perceived and in their overall curb appeal. I love to walk around and look at these, but find they are usually dominated by gardening. This is not a dirty word in my book though some may think that's what I'm implying. But gardening rarely solves that problems that are demanded by the need for landscaping. My thinking is that landscapes should appeal at 25 mph AND at 1/2 mph. Regarding "what the poster wants"... My area of interest is landscaping, not gardening. And even though all the design forums here on Gardenweb are lumped together, I always click on Landscape Design and believe that's what I'm here to talk about. (I see this as a Gardenweb failing, lumping all these design categories together and not properly defining them.) For the most part, I believe that what posters come here looking for is landscape help because they lack sufficient knowledge in that department. Yet they often come with preconceived ideas about how to solve their particular dilemma. From the perspective of landscaping (not gardening) these preconceived ideas can range from underwhelming to atrociously bad. This is not uncommon. For the most part, lay people pick up their "ideas" about what to do from what they've already seen done. There are plenty of bad ideas out there to copy from and they are copied and proliferated ad infinitum. Usually when I explore subdivisions I notice that the preponderance of landscapes are modeled after bad examples; the "builders design" is what prevails. So when a poster proposes one of these underwhelming or atrocious solutions for their own yard, I feel a strong duty (again, entirely from a landscape perspective) to inform them that they are likely either leading themselves "down the garden path" or other posters are encouraging them to go there. Sometimes it's difficult to explain the importance of doing or not doing something a certain way and can't be accomplished in a single post. So generally, I might make a couple of stabs at it if I don't feel my point was properly comprehended. (I try not to use berating language, a nasty tone or anything like that... but as has pointed out, I can succumb to sarcasm! But it's intended in good nature.) If the OP is determined to go a wrong direction even after my couple of tries, I give up on them. Yesterday, I visited a homeowner who told me right off the bat that they wanted two newly planted oak trees (located mirror image on opposite side of a drive in front of a very traditional architectural style home) removed. In those same planting holes they wanted a pink crape myrtle on one side and a white crape myrtle on the other side. Well, gag me with a backhoe. Could I really just do as the owner asked without trying to counsel them out of that bad idea? I don't think so. But if said owner can't see the light, dammit, I will plant a stinking pink crape myrtle on one side and a stinking white one on the opposite... and hope that my name is never mentioned in connection with them. It is duty that requires me give an extra effort in an attempt to keep people from making mistakes. (Again, ALL from a landscape perspective... which I keep repeating as I believe this mixed forum structural arrangement inherently invites disagreements.)

I always hate to disagree with my distinguished colleagues, but I find it a little difficult to get worked up about a few imported seeds when you can walk into any supermarket and find fruit from all over the world. Apples, pears, stone fruits, grapes from Chile and Argentina; raspberries, mangoes, bananas and all kinds of vegetables from Central America and Mexico --- I could go on forever. We are in a world economy, and, like it or not, we are stuck with it. Sure, you may say, all this stuff is inspected and controlled by the USDA, but I would suggest to you that the USDA capability to inspect the large volumes of imported fruit is so miniscule that you might as well call it zero. For practical purposes, none of this stuff is inspected. Controls over the types and amounts of chemicals used to produce these edibles are similarly absent. Niptrix does not have a revolutionary idea here. Many other people who have lived for years in tropical South and Central America, including me (12 years), have seen all this stuff and much more. Some of these unusual tropical fruits are pretty good, some fair, and others downright disappointing. Anything that will grow and produce very good fruit in the US is already available here, and if it's not that's because it has some major defects. Some tropical fruits like mangoes are very good indeed, and we ate tons of them when we lived in coastal Ecuador, but here we can grow peaches and apricots that stack up well against any mango. I wouldn't go to a lot of trouble to try to introduce a new fruit from Peru into the US because everything that is worthwhile and will grow in subtropical areas of this country has already been tried, and most are already available from specialty nurseries and seed distibutors. Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

Carla in Sac, You are the answer to my prayers. The link you sent to me pretty much told me what I needed to know about the two apple trees in my back yard. I now know that The Home Depot, which is the place where I bought the apple trees, sold the top two warm climate apples according to the Kuffel Creek Top 10. This is my third year of fruit for the Anna apple tree and I am expecting the fruit to be larger and taste better than the first two years. It's so hard to thin the fruit because they look so healthy, but, I will do so if it means larger fruit. Again thanks a bunch and please keep in touch. My email is Islandscapes808@yahoo.com. I own a landscaping business and would like to incorporate fruit trees such as apples and blueberries into my landscaping designs. Unlike the peach tree, which still loses its leaves or turns brown, the apple tree stays nice and green year round and grows into an attractive tree. It also becomes a topic of conversation to guests since no one believes apple trees can grow here. Thanks, Kenny B

No, but if you send me a stamped and addressed envelope I'll send you anything I have that you want. However, on your list I only have Wolfriver and Limbertwig. Couldn't get you any wood till they go dormant, of course. I do have one you should probably try- Arkansas Black- also Winesap. I believe that many antiques lost popularity for a reason. Many are fiercely bienniel or otherwise not grower friendly and many just don't taste all that great compared to newer varieties. Also they tend to be much more affected by local conditions, in terms of quality. That said, some are totally wonderful, and half of the trees in my personal orchard are old varieties. If I lived where you are I'd carefully research which heirlooms perform well in your particular climate. There is a 2nd edition of a book about old southern apple varieties that would probably be useful to you. I have a letter from the author somewhere but couldn't find it and I've forgotten his name but I'm sure if you google "old southern apple varieties" you'll find him. I think you should consider some newer varieties like Goldrush, Granny Smith and Pink Lady as well. People who come to my orchard predisposed to liking heirlooms often decide that Goldrush is their favorite apple. I don't believe I have quite enough season to properly ripen GS or Pink Lady but I'm trying the latter because it still gets pretty darn good here.