thx much for that info.When i'm down there in a few wks for my pick up, if theirs looks great, for some reason [zone?] i'll consider it, but sounds pretty bad. Our gardens are so jam packed that 'looks weedy' is the defining thing that would keep me from growing a plant. These pea family plants must be pretty easy to hybridize; there are alot of lespedeza cultivars out there. I finally found a tag for one of mine- Pink Fountain. Very late (like maybe Oct) while the un- i.d.'ed one i have has been steady blooming awhile now, in 90% shade too! I hope i can focus enough for a hands- on lesson from the Br Arrow guys in HOW to tell the diff between lespedeza and indigofera foliage.

Ken, thanks again for your great info! I meant "Introduction", not "Information". (Short memory when I'm tired.) Thanks for the UConn site--VERY helpful for everything! I'd previously done a Google search, but had not come up with a couple of sites that appeared with yours that had good stuff. The landscaper who will put in our boulder retaining wall/long window well was over yesterday, and I told him what I had planned for planting in the area between the wall and the lot line. When I told him Canadian hemlocks and Capitata yews (on a previous thread, I'd tried to sort out which of these might be best--I figured that I had too much shade for spruces once the oak leaves were fully out), he said they'd be straggly due to the amount of shade. He said I have a perfect site for rhododendrons, which I love. (Oak tree canopy for some acidity, sandy soil for good drainage.) I'm a little confused since I thought rhodies needed less shade than yews or hemlocks. A guy at one of our largest nurseries also discouraged me from using the hemlocks--same reason. But maybe the openness of rhodies and fewer flowers in shade would be preferable to straggly yews and hemlocks? My sister has wild rhodies under pines at her house in the Poconos; don't know how close to this rhodies would look in Michigan. Right now I'm thinking to put a CN hemlock near the lot line to block the largest part of the neighbor's house on the south, and another one near the west lot line to block the opening to another neighbor's house in that direction. Then maybe scatter 3 or 4 Capitatas to block parts of the rest of their houses. And fill in randomly with tall-growing rhodies so hopefully the whole area still looks natural? Our lot and the neighbors' have lots of young to middle-aged oaks providing shade. Since some of the trees/shrubs I'm considering require "winter protection" (not sure if I'm understanding this term as it relates to my choices), will these tree trunks in the winter provide enough of a windbreak from the southwest winds? This would be along about 200' of the lot line. Would this work, or am I overcrowding things! The lot is an irregular shape, so there's enough space between the house and the lot line. I'm wondering if I might be making the LENGTH of the lot line to busy and less natural looking. I just want to screen the houses, not create a windbreak. Anne

Thanks for all the replies! Sheeesh, on further examination, we have decided that the big guy is NOT a butia, but a Phoenix canariensis. I took photos, but almost all of them got wonked in the camera, and are hardly viewable. If I can get one nice one, I'll try and post it. We won't be able to accomodate it in our yard, so I am hoping to sell or trade it w/a broker. I'd just HATE to see it killed, since it is so lovely. The washies I am going to give a try, because they are nice & healthy (and FREE!) and I just simply want to. Otherwise, they too will be just dug up & tossed in the trash. If one of you can give me a primer on how to transplant them properly, I'd appreciate it! Tx

"save the seedlings that are sprouting under one of the palms." Wait as long as you can to let the seedling get some strength before transplanting. I don't have any Bu. c. seedlings yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if, like Phoenix's, they put down seedling root(s) as deep to much deeper than the first leaves, so you will probably be more successful with a deep, narrow rootball rather than a wide, narrow rootball. Have you seen those weed unpluggers in the gardending departement? A steel tube about 2" in diam with a handle on top and a serrated edge on the low end. Sort of like a manual hole saw. Could be a pretty could tool for unplugging seedlings as if they were weeds! :) On you first seedling or two, wash out the dirt around the seedling to "see" what root disposition is before proceeding blindly with digging up the root+dirt together.