Not hosta, but several others were run down, in a true hit run. Someone came into our driveway presumably to turn around too fast, hit the gravel then skidded over a daylily, clematis roots, catmint and several annuals then hit a picket fence. We assumed the speed/gravel part because they took off, and neither us nor a neighbor saw this. They picked up the fence and righted it using plants they hadn't run over to hold it up. I noticed the squished plants (the pansies were goners, everything else has come back to some extent, the daylily only has distorted leaves to show for it, the clem is fine, the catmint is still stunted). Couldn't for the life of me figure out how they missed the fence...until it tipped over on it's own revealing the broken posts. The VERY NEXT DAY an elderly gentleman came to get some lily of the valley, and backed out over the squished daylily and pansies again! That bed has been there since we bought the place, seems that was some seriously bad timing because it never happened before that.

I cannot just limit this to ten trees. So here is my second set of ten: 1) Katsura (Cercidiphyllum japonicum) - Fantastic tree. How can you not love a tree with heart-shaped leaves. The fall color on this tree is usually a bright peach color mixed with a little bit of orange or red. The tree gives off a distinct scent of cotton candy when its turning. You feel like you are in the land of Willy Wonka when it has this scent. This tree is finicky though. It does not like drought, sandy or compacted soil, or high wind and will start losing it's foliage in the summer in response to these conditions. 2) Green Ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica) - Some may be surprised to see this tree on anyone's list. It's considered a trash tree by many. I love it. If you drive down Memorial Drive in Cambridge in late September - early October, you will see all of the Green Ash trees turning their bright golden - yellow color. It's a beautiful sight. This tree produces good shade and is tolerant of just about any conditions. Several male cultivars are now on the market, which avoids the prolific seeding observed with the females. I do hate the fact that this tree is one of the last to leaf out in the spring and one of the first to lose it's leaves in the fall. 3) Norway Spruce (Picea abies) - I love these trees. Giant Christmas trees the whole year through. The have a very dark green color and I really love the way the branches curve up at the ends. It gives this tree a very graceful look. A very large tree in time. A fast-grower for a spruce. 4) Japanese Zelkova (Zelkova serrata) - Zone 5 is the limit for this species. It would be wise in that zone to get the "Village Green" cultivar which has greater cold tolerance than the species. The vase-shape of this tree makes it a good replacement for the American Elm. Between the shape and the tree's tolerance for just about any conditions, it makes a great street tree. Zelkovas are in the Elm family and consequently are not totally immune to Dutch Elm disease but they tend to be highly resistant and this disease is usually not a problem. This tree can have spectacular fall foliage (ironically they did not this year around the Boston - Cambridge area) turning a bright burnt orange color. The Village Green cultivar has the best fall coloring that I've seen. 5) Northern Red Oak (Quercus rubra) - Had to include a member of the red oak family again. Oaks are not thought of as fast-growing trees but this species is definitely an exception. Becomes massive in time. Fall color is variable but can be quite good. A very strong, shade tree. 6) Canadian Hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) - One of the few evergreens that tolerates shade. Very graceful foliage. Probably the most graceful of any evergreen. The tree likes moist soil (found in shade). The woody adelgid is killing many of the hemlocks in New England. Hope they find a way to eradicate it before it kills all of them. 7) Black Birch (Betula Lenta) - Absolutely beautiful tree. The bark is a shiny, dark grey and peels to a certain extent. The bark looks very similar to the bark of many cherry trees only with a dark color. Very ornamental especially in winter. This birch has very good bright yellow fall color, too. 8) Crabapple (Malus) - The perfect tree. An explosion of white or pink bloom in the spring. A ton of crabapples in the fall. Beautiful bark on most varieties similar to cherry bark. Hundreds of cultivars to choose from. Most of the modern cultivars have resistance to fungal diseases that were a problem on older varieties. These trees tolerate drought and bad soil rather well. 9) Weeping Cherry (Prunus subhirtella Pendula) - Beautiful tree. So graceful and very striking in bloom. It get quite large in time for a flowering tree. Not as prone to problems as most cherry trees. Needs to be sited in a moist area though. 10) Kousa dogwood (Cornus kousa) - Wanted to put cornus florida here but zone 5 is pushing it for that species. I like this one too. Flowers in early summer and can put on quite a show. The giant red fruit of this dogwood is more visually appealing than cornus florida. Fall color is spectacular. Many cultivars to choose from.

Hi Misty, I would make sure the pots have adequate drainage holes and keep them either on a saucer or concrete slab.For fertiliser i would use a controlled release product such as Osmocote something with 15.4.8 NPK or around should be fine. As rhizomes(runners) pop out through the bottom of the pot just snip them off. At this time of year depending on the pot size watering 2 or 3 times a week should be fine-remember bamboo does not like wet feet ,in summer you may need to water every day,watch the plant for folding leaves and it will tell you. Again as with all plants bamboo will eventually fill the pot with roots and rhizomes and depending on the pot size,eventually will need to be removed and chopped in half ,then repotted. Dont be disapointed, despite all the hysteria associated with running bamboo it makes a gorgeous pot specimen especially nigra. Good luck and congrats on expanding your boo family!

Ooh, that storage compartment is pretty snazzy! We are looking at counter height models regardless of whether we stack or don't, so from that perspective not sure it makes much difference for folding--could have a counter for that either way. The one appeal to stacking is that we could conceivably use the remaining space to keep the table and seating, but I just have a feeling that will end up a bad move in the end. Right now I'm leaning towards doing them side by side with a 15" cabinet on either end, which fits perfectly in the space and is a slightly simpler project (just requires shortening a window, vs. stacking which requires narrowing the window too). We do currently run laundry at night so often leave the empty baskets and laundry in our garage overnight (but one appeal to moving it into the house is to be able to finish the loads without having to go out late at night). I'm assuming they will probably live on the countertop over the machines but we may also explore some other solutions. One of the cabinets will definitely be a pull-out hamper for the kitchen laundry. Still need to figure out if there's also a way to integrate a drying rack (since we use a freestanding one in the middle of the kitchen right now--less than ideal!)