that is a great link! I included it on my blog, where I've put together all kinds of great gardening info, news, links, gurus... so that my blog is one giant gardening bookmark. Thanks for posting this link. The photos are great. Cameron

Here are some native ferns of Ontario: http://www.gvta.on.ca/flora/ferns.html (not all will be from southern Ontario though so you have to look at other resources as well) Here is a University of Guelph site which is a good resource for this region: http://www.uoguelph.ca/foibis/index.htm The native plant nursery "Acorus Restoration" sells ONLY natives to southern Ontario so anything there is regionally accurate: http://www.ecologyart.com/index.php And any field guide for southern Ontario is good. We usually grab some from the library with titles such as "Weeds of Ontario", "Wild Flowers of the North East" and so on. And lastly, doing searches online is the last method I use to determine if a plant is native to our southern Ontario region. Sites with range maps are MOST helpful but few and far between. Just going for walks in conservation areas and local parks helps a lot to learn what is native and what is not. Barb

There is a book by USDA Forest Service that is free for the asking...color photos...nice book. Order a box of 40 copies from pubrequest@srs.fs.usda.gov; ph. 828-257-4830; mail: Southern Research Station, PO Box 2680, Asheville, NC 28802. You can download this book from three different sites, but I think it would be better to get the books. Who wants to print all of this out?? Even better, there are downloadable powerpoints of conference presentations to use for free.I could use the ones on the plants to make my own presentation, but some of the others would need someone a little better versed on the problem. Anyway, it's all free. Here is a link that might be useful: Powerpoint invasive programs

Gee I don't know if I can help you more than NYWOODSMAN (joking of course) ;o) Are you planning to fill in the page with all the growing zones in it? That seems like an awful lot of work. Why not just start with your own state and get it all filled in rather than posting all the zones and leaving people scratching their heads as to why they are dead links. Most people get annoyed with links that don't work. The index page (main page) really needs a punch of colour so why not create some photo images (using your own will be easier) to make a montage of your state's native flora. Use it as a logo for each of your pages. Articles page and links looks good but again, very plain. Contact page good...easy to use Botanical Dictionary... will you be adding to it on an ongoing basis? If so, you may want to create (I think they are called...) jumplinks or hotlinks or something like that where you can jump to a spot on a page without having to scroll down looking for it. So say you want to look up "leaf roller", you will just click on "L" at the top of the page to jump down to the "L's". The Language of flowers page... I don't understand why the title "Language of flowers" is written 3x before you get to the text and then the hyperlink is located in the tiny green word "this link". I would either get rid of all the "Language of Flowers" titles leaving only one and hyperlink to the title in addition to the "this link". this page also needs something pleasing to the eye, either a logo or a few pictures of native plants, shrubs or trees. Soil/Mulch page...good but again needs some pictures. Drive around and take close up photos of your hand with each type of soil in it. Simple but effective. If your camera is fast enough to capture it, spilling a bit of each soil off the side of your hand will show the density of each soil type in addition to the general appearance. Garden Supplies page... use store logos if you can to showcase your sponsors. It's visually more pleasing and attractive to potential customers. You might also make suggestions for tools that work with various soil types. State Trees and Flowers... cool idea, possibly hyperlink each tree's name to an image of the tree species so that people can look at it as well as read about it. native plant societies page... looks good, very plain but in this case, plain is ok. The only thing that might make the page a bit more user friendly is to place the "state name" in Bold print. Public Garden of the month page could use a photo or logo from the park, otherwise it's good and complete with a map link. You 'could' provide a direct link to each featured garden but it's not necessary as you have the form there already to do the search. Book reviews... a work in progress as well. Have you considered to add comments on what you found useful and not-so-useful for each book? The reviews don't look like so much "reviews" as they are "synopsis". you could also consider letting readers submit their personal reviews using an online-form. Of course you will want to review the submissions before they are placed on the page but it will give a better rounded perspective on each book if you allow comments from other readers. Free Gardening Books page... looks good but again lacks "punch". You might consider a logo at the top of the page and then thumbprint photos of the book jackets (if that's legal to do, which I expect it must be if the books themselves are already in the public domain). Hope that's somewhat helpful. You have a big job ahead of you with some of those pages, esp. the Growing Zone pages but best of luck to you in creating them. Barb southern Ontario, CANADA