You might want to enlist a responsible local teen. If you show him/her how to do what you want, they will be much cheaper than some "pond guy."

Rue thrives best on benign neglect. I rarely water it and never fertilize mine either. Treat it as a typical Mediterranean herb. except that in my zone, it prefers some shade. It should grow just fine in Florida. Maybe it needs more of a shady location, with excellent drainage, as most herbs require. Rue does need to be watered until it is established, and then very little once it is. I consider it a short-lived perennial. After 4 or 5 years, it will probably need to be replaced. Some say it self-sows for them, but for me, it never has. It does, however, root readily in water. I have cut stems to put in my caterpillar containers, and it has rooted, despite the foliage being eaten to the bones. Some people also have problems with contact dermatitis from handling the foliage and exposure to sunlight which then triggers the dermatitis. I am not allergic to it, but use caution just in case you are. I find Rue in the local nurseries that have a large Herb section, for a couple bucks a plant, so it's not expensive. That means it's easy to propagate and grows quickly, contrary to herbs like Bay Laurel that grow so slowly and can be difficult to propagate, hence they are much more expensive plants. Susan

Hi Stardust! My friend, Storygardener aka Beverly does the central Ohio swap (I help.) We may be coming to yours. We'll have to see as time gets closer. You can check out how we do it on our thread, "Central Ohio Plant Swap and Pot Luck May 15" This is our fourth year and out way seems to work really well. Everyone has a good time and goes home with something and a full belly. We don't worry about what folks bring for the lunch. I figure that the stress of keeping track of how many of what kind of dish is coming is more of a problem than eating dessert for lunch. (One meal of sugar hasn't caused me to suffer malnutition yet!) We do a round robin swap so that everyone gets at least one thing that they really like. You can read the details on our thread. You are also welcome to come to ours to see how we do it. We have folks from as far away as Michigan and Pittsburgh come. Let us know if you have any specific questions. I hope that we can make it to your swap! Happy Spring! Mimi Hope that we can come.

I agree with elly that covering the mirror is the thing to do(a washcloth you can grab off when you go out?) As for the windshield, if putting the wipers up doesn't work, how about putting one of those accordion-style cardboard dashboard protectors (that keep it cool in hot weather) in your car, the kind with big eyes maybe? It might confuse him and/or scare him, and block his view of himself so he isn't rewarded for standing there. Just an idea; good luck!