Pitimpinai and I agree - grow your own from seed or cuttings. WS is really fun, and you will learn so much through different techniques of propagation. Join the local botanical garden or gardening club and go to the plant swaps. Or wait till the fall sales and clearance tables for the $1 plants. Our local arboretum has a class on propagation from cuttings and you go home with 10 cuttings to grow on by yourself. RE Landscaping and the idea of investment. I'm going to try to say this so I'm not misunderstood. I think of perennial gardening as more of a hobby, not landscaping or investment. I say this because most people's taste in form, color, etc is different and new owners are likely to change what is there over time and make it over into something that they like. The last house we owned was bought by a guy whose father in law was a builder, and they promptly tore out all my hosta garden, mature clematis, really most of my perennial beds and planted some easy care shrubs. They had small kids and Mrs. didnt' care about the yard - definitely a C'est la Vie moment when I saw that. I really like foliage and lots of colors. My Sis-in-Law I don't think has ever done anything outside the pastel range in 40 yrs of gardening and hasn't got the first red or dark leaved anything in her garden, not even the bold hostas in her yard - we choose very different plants and combinations. I think hardscaping and shrub and tree installation really is more of "landscaping" for the long term because it should incorporate the total view of what you see, not individual plantings. All this is to say - don't think of your $300 or $500 of plants as an investment because the next owner may not like them at all. Maybe think of them as your creative hobby and ask yourself what you'd spend on a hobby. If you're comfortable spending that on your hobby - go indulge yourself and don't get upset if they die or the next owner removes them. If you can learn more and get more plants by propagating, wintersowing, bargain shopping or swapping plants - its really about fulfilling your creative instinct. If you invest in a nice tree or shrub, then its placement is more permananent in the total landscape - besides the fact that they are usually a lot more expensive too. I think trees and shrubs are also an investment in landscaping because they grow more slowly and are not as easily moved. 5 years is a long time - I look back and realize how much my own taste has changed in the garden. What you buy and grow today may bore you in 5 years, or it may die out and you replace it with something else that caught your eye. Actually that is one thing I love about doing containers for the summer - every year I do something totally different to accent the perennial beds. This year I'm doing dark red cannas with dark dark foliage in jade green pottery containers around a large planting of Japanese Blood Grass. Last year it was chartreuse potato vine and red verbena. Ok, I'm rambling on, go have fun and don't spend more than you would on a hobby is my 2 cents worth.

Early, quiet morning here and as I read, it takes me right back to the feeling of chaos that seemed to prevail during our remodel. Whole house really -- as of today there is not a room that will not have been "touched" in some way, not including the three level addition that had to be situated just so to "save" two beloved trees on our property. My GC just kept shaking his head at that one -- they are right next to the house and whenever the guys were working they would jokingly say -"Lord, don't throw anything out the windows, you know, you might hit a tree." We began in July, estimated finish date was Nov. -- last install went in 2 DAYS AGO! I spent yesterday madly unpacking boxes, just b/c I wanted to see our stuff again! While we had a fabulous GC, it did not lessen the pressure of making the "right" decision every single day for something. I was here most of the time and saw it all in minute detail, then my beloved DH would come home from work and say, "So, what DID they do today?" and expected a re-hash of each and every thing, wanted an updated timeline on a daily basis, wanted me to enlighten him on what "process" I used for each decision, etc. I finally said, "Look, you and I have talked this to death, I know what is important to you and you are just going to have to TRUST that it will happen." I was so exhausted at the end of every day that it was like re-living it all over again. He finally got it, and I tried hard to give him the Reader's Digest condensed version on a regular basis. I eventually convinced him we were going to be on the "holiday" schedule -- nope, not hosting Thanksgiving dinner at our house; there will be no Christmas office celebration here - unless they don't mind unzipping the plastic wall to view our Charlie Brown tree in the roped off corner of the family room; New Year's is out; Valentine's will be an intimate affair; St. Patty's Day will have to be celebrated next year; April's Fools' - yep we can do that, b/c there have been definite times during this that I have been a complete fool -- embrace it, just don't expect there to be any furniture to sit on; Easter Brunch for the relatives - nope, not happening; Mother's Day - not too sure about that, but we CAN celebrate the fact that the Port-A-Potty has been loaded up and carted away, the dumpster vacated the premises the next day, and the plastic storage POD that has graced our front yard since October has been emptied and removed! All furniture is piled in the front room, but at least it is IN THE HOUSE! A parent of a teammate on my son's lacrosse team asked me last week -- "We had such a great time at that picnic/party at your house at the end of the season last year -- do you think we could do that again?" "Um, let's see," she thinks to herself, "last game May 9th and you would like to do it that afternoon and....have families and sibs of everyone included - hhmm, back yard/field is currently a sea of red clay, boxes and furniture stacked to the ceiling to unpack/organize, but.....bathrooms work, kitchen is functional --- Oh, why not -- let's do it!" Nothing like a deadline to work toward, right? Hang in there -- it is so hard to see the forest for the trees when you are in the midst, but, it is not eternal damnation, although I know it feels that way at times! Hug your husband, partner, kids, pet, neighbor, grocery clerk, mailman -- whoever is willing to lend you a shoulder for a bit. This will eventually end and you will live in it and love in it and cry in it some more and have your life back to "normal".......

It's very frustrating Jen. I'm old enough and was brought up in an era where more folks cared about their work. They did it to the best of their abilities whether it was "their job" or not. I remember being called into the managers office once. Many of my coworkers asked me what I did wrong or laughed saying something like "you're in trouble now". I had no fear because I knew I did my job and then some. When I got there, he asked me to sit down and proceeded to tell me he noticed how when walking through other's departments, if I saw something out of place, I stopped long enough to fix it. That impressed him and he wanted to be sure to thank me. His taking the time to tell me really impressed me too. Sadly you don't often hear of that in retail anymore. Or many other service jobs for that matter.

Hey Ingrid have you ever tried or heard of silicon to help makes plants stronger against heat/drought? I just started using it sporadically... maybe every couple weeks or so. I think I read Henry and Nik recommending it in the roses forum. In the citrus forum it's a very popular topic too. I just started using Protekt by Dyna Grow. It is supposed to help make foliage/petals stronger and thicker among other things, which will help them stand up to things like drought and radiant heat better. I apply it with a hose end sprayer, otherwise I would probably apply it more often. It's recommended to apply it with every watering, but takes so much time to get the hose out and apply that way. I have only applied it 1 time so far to my roses and 2 times to my citrus so I don't really have an opinion on if it's working or not, but it might be worth looking into. Maybe just for the problem roses, before you dig them up and get rid of them.