Thank you, believe me I do every time I go up and down them. They were dangerous, a horrible eyesore, was worried more about someone else falling and getting hurt than myself, I knew how to navigate those things and did frequently but am getting up in years. As usual, I had trouble with the guy who poured the steps, sidewalk to the landing and landing, he got mad at me after I helped him build his website for free because I didn't take his advice and get rails at Menard's, have him install them, and got more expensive ones instead, had the ironworks install them so quit. I had to clean up and pick all the concrete chunks out of the good dirt piled up in back, finish with the backfill myself, had to put in a lot of new topsoil which was good. He did have to work like a dog what he did though, but it wasn't hot yet. Heh, my stories. The ironworks sent out one skinny young kid by himself on the hottest day so far to set the rails. I just happened to notice him finishing the ones on the porch in front, didn't know anybody was coming, asked if he'd done the back yet. He said no, he was dreading that (knew without being told it was the post hole digging and heavy railing), and had already almost passed out from the heat the previous job, asked if he wanted something to drink. I called them and informed them that this was my doing, but no way was I having anybody doing that kind of work for me in that heat, said I will pay you for all of it right now. No. no. We'll come back. They sent two hefty guys out a couple weeks later when it cooled down :-). I still picked out all the clay chunks they threw back in and replaced with more topsoil myself, didn't gripe about that to them.

Im sorry jmcbackyarddigger!! I didnt mean to steal your post!! very sorry for that!! The poison ivy is gone (Thank someone, probably the doctor that put me on steroids!!) And yes Ken i am surrounded!! but i love this little city of Ferndale, MI!! cant think of anywhere else I would want to live!! But the yards are SO small and the double lots here are too expensive (and a double lot here is probably a 1/4 acre! I dont know!)It would be nice to live out in the middle of no mans land, but I really hate to drive over 40 miles to work one way. and that is how it is around here!! even the city of South Lyons (which was farm country 10 years ago "and is only about 25 minutes from home on the xway> now even has a McDonalds!!! would you believe that!!! it is so built up now!!! my parents used to drive out there when we were kids (8 siblings, and not much money) to go see a movie for less than a dollar each!! That is where I get my hair cut ( friend owns a barber shop) so I know how much it has changed in the last 10 years !! I would love to go back when nothing ws open after 9 pm and life was SOOOOOO much slower (not even a gas station was open on sundays!!! let alone a BEER STORE!!! (and this is not the Quadrillion acre woods that winnie the pooh lived in) this house was built in 1918 and so was this tight knit comunnity) probably spelled wrong there!! OOPS!! I am rambling..... uh oh yeah now I know, Pics on the hosta forum SORRY!! Ken you are bad for distacting me!! now i am onto wine cause i forgot to pick up the BEER when i got out of work!!! okay now for some answers I guess and hopefully in order as they appear to my eyes ( the wine is starting to hit me faster than the beer ever does!! ) and this cat is sitting in my lap which makes it more diffifcult to type (she is really ornery tonight!!) sunny east texas pic 3 the three hostas in the pic are Francis williams (behind the begonia) to the left of that is Sagae to the right of sagae is aureomarginata something (or Oreo Margaritta)! Pic #6 That is Perrilla Magilla (not sure on the spelling) grows just like a coleous, no flowers that i know of (which means no picking out flower buds, and is REALLY easy to start from cuttings, usually i do those in the fall) the one on the right is planted in a pot (with some blue hosta seedlings that you cannot see, and neither can I when i look at it, around the base)the perilla was about 6" tall when put in that pot, and the other in the ground, the hosta in the middle of all of this is Rich Uncle. and the black things in the background are my neighbors garbage cans that I cannot photograph around!! Thanks for the nice comments (always love to here them, dont we all?) Hey upnort!! I didnt even see myself in that pic until i read your post!! (there is a ghost in my yard, or did you get out the microscope to check out the pic? now i see the bird feeder in there, hope the birds arent hungry!!) was having a hard time juggling the two, (the beer can just wasnt taking the pics i wanted!!)so I had to hold the camera!! DARN and i was so thirsty!! Carol ( I should have said Sunny and Carol, Sorry!!) oh wait!! the dryer is done (have to fold and put in the other load) back in 15!! thankyou for the nice comments!! my head is swelling as my glass gets more empty (does that make any sense, this is the wine speaking , it is so much different from drinking BEER) Actually my pond does not get that much sun, only a couple of hours a day, (well maybe 6 at different times) I have a large canopy of MAPLE, elms and oak, all of them are mature. I love the shade that they all make!! which makes it so nice to sit on the deck and just watch the yard grow. and then go pull another weed b4 i take another picture or go grab another can of beer(or grab the 5 gallon bucket and fill it from the pond to water another hosta). that plant is also in pics #1 to the left next to blue angel #3front and center #5 to the left (which is the same plant in pic number, oh jeez #6?) Hey starina thanks for the Zanfel tip!! is that a cream? it only cost me $10 (and 2 hours)to see the dr and $10 for the steroids (insurance). which started to work on the second day!! but took about 2 weeks to finally clear up after 2 weeks b4 seeing the doctor!! oh carolreall tough! (well, and gross!) hey mctavish6! Thanks for the nice comments! pic# 2? is wide brim if i am correct or pic # (soory i have to go back and count) oh, have to go count again...oh and again... lost my thought here... #4? to the lower ledt (i think the wine spelled that one!!) uh left? is ... darn, one more time (darn wine, not like the beer)...hold on, let me go back....oh jeez! what is that!! let me think!! ummmmm oh yah ,,, uh uh uh OH!!! summer breeze next to the uh japanese painted fern. WOOO!!! that was hard to do (LOL) okay, and for the sculptures, there are actually 3 total, only 2 in these pics, a very nice friend of mine was living in an upstairs flat, just around the corner from me, such a really nice guy. was helping him move to an apt around the corner from where he lived, they were in his back yard when he moved there. when he moved out the land lord told him that he could take them with him if he wanted to. they are made of ceremic and weigh between (depending on which one) 150 to 400 pounds each. he told me and my partner that we could have them. (had to leave one behind because after moving 3 we were pretty well worn out) (and kinda upset to leave one behind) they were made by a previous tenant which the landlord (or my freind) didnt rememner the name of. so we picked them up( and not really that easely) and brought them over the couple of blocks to our house! and what a chore that was!! but they are SO WAY COOL!! oh and mctavish? I store my elephant ear in 5 gallon buckets over winter. no holes in the bottom in a sunny window. they like a lot of water. except the Xanthosoma in pic #(have to count again, DARN)4!!! (yes!! okay,getta grip) in a very large pot, in a window. my dining room in the winter time is pretty much a over winter plant area, I have a 7' ficus and some orchids and others to deal with. and for some reason i take the tropical waterllily in for the winter too!!(which all my freinds can attest too!! and the second load in the dryer is done, hold on, more folding and hanging stuff!! AAARRRGGHHHHH!!!!!'' did i tell you that i dont have an eye patch or a parrot? If this doesnt make any sense at all or I have spelled something inkorrectlie, I will blame it on the "charles shaw" wine that i am drinking!!! (or 2 buck chuck for those who shop at (oh no !! i forgot the name of the store!! oops sorry!!) well any who thanks for all of the nice comments (except for KEN, there are no cows in FERNDALE!! LOL!!) Paul ps I hope i got to everyone here! and id this message is rejected i will be so POed

Thank-you all for the warm welcome! I love my little piece of Maine. lindalana, those pink plants are old azaleas that don't get the light they would like to have, so are very sprawling. I trimmed the left one up when I did some cleaning in the bed Wednesday PM in preparation for planting day yesterday. The one on the right is gone, but I do have an old Bleeding Heart that peeks through. This is that bed this AM in the rain - The 'multi-unit' birdhouse is temporarily on top of the granite birdbath. The white stones that are sitting on the stone wall for now are pieces of white and rose quartz from a mine in Albany, Maine, where we had a camp when I was growing up. They'd been buried back in the bed, and I'll decide what to do with them. I re-edged the sod in front that bed to give me a border to plant some of the hosta, so I could get them in the ground for now. I planted the JMs approx. 10 years ago, and they have FLOURISHED! I have more at various spots in the yard and they all do well here. This pic was taken this AM of a front border, and you see the JMs there left of center. There is a hidden pathway to the left of the JMs, and granite steps that go down to my 'puppy pen' in a lower part of the yard. I have always had Brittanys, and the current three are rescues, and any future ones will be. They have doggie doors to get into their 60 x 80 part of the yard, which is hidden behind 6 ft cedar fence. To show how well the JMs do, this was 7/16/16, when I was planting hosta in the shed garden. The JM on the right has grown so much that you cannot see any of those hosta, unless you crawl in under the JM now.I had a week's vacation at that time, and it was SO hot that this was my setup -

Waking up my thread again: I visited a nursery a couple of hours south of me today and they had all the quart pots on sale for $ 1. That included ground covers. So I got several kinds to try for different areas. The 2 I got for possibly this area between the stepping stones have very small leaves, are very short, and would look appropriately in scale : Veronica Repens. (Flowers white or blue. Tags and signs conflicted.) Scotch Moss. Sagina subulata ( I had tried the golden version in a different area and that never made it through the winter. I saw on signs today that that is hardy to Zone 5 (I am Zone 5); whereas the plain green is hardy to Zone 3 to 4). So I got the plain green one. Given both the SLOPE for the upper part, and the LOW area that floods when it rains, which would you suggest? Has anyone tried either of these in a similar application? Thanks.