Everyone, thank you for your excellent suggestions. I think I now have some good ideas on what to do with my front yard. Gonativegal - thanks so much for listing your plants. I need hardy plants in my area as well. Although I;m listed a zone 5b in Canada, I believe my area compares to a US zone 4. Eduardia - nice to hear from you. I've always admired your garden. Just love those roses particularly the one that looks like a pink/peach double cup rose. Are these David Austen types? Threedogsman - love that look. It may just work for that median I was talking about. Although it faces a south east direction, it does have parts that are shaded and so your ideas could work out for that part of it. Some of the ideas I could also use for my backyard fence which has lots of light shaded areas. herblady I still love the idea of the wildflower garden and will use this idea for the main garden. I can imagine the wildflowers peeking through the ornamental grasses I have in that area.

/TPH. I like the white caterpillar photo a lot! It's kind of neat when we import plants and yet local arachnid camouflage still works fine. /Mike. Awesome caterpillar! He looks about ready for a hookah. We saw a giant mantis roaming around on the front window of the pub last night and it looked so brilliant highlighted against the golden backdrop that I really should have taken a picture. I guess it was looking for prey, but it was a bit odd to see it in such an urban environment. Although I guess if they live on Quinn's ceiling that's evidence that they are city proof.

Well, I finally got the Spigelia marilandica. It was in the Dominion Seed catalogue late last year. I bought 3 plants via mail order. They were very small (less than 6" tall) but healthy. I plunked 2 into the ground and left 1 in the pot, exposed to the elements in our zone 8 environment. The one in the pot didn't survive the -10 c winter. But the two little ones in the ground survived, grew to nearly twice the size this year and actually flowered in late summer and fall. I didn't know that they would flower while the plant was so small. Couldn't see any seeds though. Can't wait to see what the plants look like next year.

Another Canadian here! We spent Aug and Sept of last year operating the campground in Stone Mountain Provincial Park in British Columbia and will be doing it again this year. We are full time, semi-retired campers with a 5th wheel. The Alaska Highway is the place to travel! Lots of provincial parks and campgrounds or wilderness camping beside water if you prefer that (we do.) Muncho Lake and Liard Hot Springs are great places to visit in the summer for wildlife, hiking, fishing, etc. and sitting in the hot springs! The mountains and landscapes are breathtaking along the Alaska Hwy in the north BC and Yukon! We were camping in all of Aug and Sept last summer and had no bugs in Stone Mountain Prov Park but it was cool at night - afternoons warm enough for hiking in shorts and cold enough at night for a quilt and blankets. We loved hiking the trails through the tundra and visiting the Flower Lakes. Great places for tenting near water all along the way. The wildlife in the northern Rockies is amazing! We saw a lot of moose, caribou and wild stone sheep, as well as some elk. There are also occasional wolves and bears but so far we have not run into any, thank goodness! Lots of camping between Fort Nelson, BC and Watson Lake, YK but no stores and no cell phone coverage or internet. It is 600k of true breathtaking wilderness!