But the cliffs aren't littered with the dead bodies of hang gliders. Alot of sports have reasonable risks. The problem at Everest is that there are hobby climbers who are seriously unprepared for the challenge. There's a difference between them and those who train and get experience and are realistic about their talents and limitations. One of the guides said that anybody that's reasonably in shape can get to the top of Everest with the help and support of a team of professionals. But that's where things can go terribly wrong as happened in 1996 when one of the professionals made some bad judgments. In potentially dangerous situations, whether it be mountain climbing or scuba diving, you must be able to handle any situation and make good decisions by yourself. Beck Weathers book was an encompassing look into the mind of a driven hobby climber. In 1996 he was poised to lose everything - his marriage, his family, his hands and nose, his career and possibly his life. His wife had made the decision to leave him when returned from Everest. His passion to climb was not a passion but had become an obssession and his "mistress". He was left for dead twice on the climb. On the verge of death and out of oxygen he had a vision of his family. He dragged himself several hundred feet to where he thought the tents of high camp to be. His wife, upon learning first hearing he was dead and then that he was alive but near death, mounted a rescue effort from her home. She enlisted the help of a Nepalese military helicopter pilot who risked his life to attempt a fly out. Weathers has had to come to terms with the chaos and pain he has caused others and himself. Another good book on the subject is by David Breashears. This is from another viewpoint, that of a consumate professional who has been climbing his entire life. The first episode chronicling the 2007 climbing season features a woman who is dangerously unprepared for the climb. She's a journalist who interviewed a member of last year's team and caught the climbing fever. She hasn't climbed a mountain in 10 years and has forgotten climbing technique and is unfamiliar with the newer equipment. She claims to be a fast learner. The expedition leader reminded her that advanced base camp on Everest is no place to start.

Freezing the plants in pots and sinking them in the ground has one major drawback... they tend to hold moisture in the cold spring... the early spring rains are cold, the soil is frozen or only partially thawed, and the moisture builds up in the pot as it really has nowhere to go. I mostly pop the little ones out of the pot and right into some well drained soil for the winter. In spring, I dig them up and repot them. One danger here - watch for frost heave in the spring... nothing sadder than a cute little hosta with small roots laying on top of the soil drying out... For my big pots - I let them freeze hard and then hope we don't get a huge snowstorm in November... cause I go around and tip them on their sides. That way they don't build up excess water during the winter and early spring. When they thaw, I set them back upright. And just in general - water is the thing you always want to control in pot-grown hostas. Pots tend to dry out faster and get hotter than plants in the ground, so you need to keep them well watered. On the other hand, I've talked about the dangers of too much water and rotting. So be sure to have good drainage, including a layer of gravel or whatever on the bottom to let the excess drain away - and then water them very regularly. And do consider how much sun they are going to get - a clay pot can get too hot to touch sitting in the sun... that is not a soil temperature hostas are happy with. I just remembered - one of Bob Solberg's tips at the convention this week... clay pots are not hostas friends - they like plastic. His position is that clay wicks moisture and retains heat. I, on the other hand, don't like plastic, so I either water more or pot the plant in plastic and then place that into a pot I find more attractive.

froggy, why not take the "glass is half full" view of this? An ecotourism approach would serve to make more people aware of the importance of ecological restoration projects. Participants would learn how restoration is done and where it is done; they would learn some interesting facts about the plants and animals involved, and they could come away with a better understanding of the importance of this work and the need for funding. As a result, the professionals would have more opportunites and therefore be better paid. Back in 1988, my husband and I went to an outing sponsored by the local Nature Conservancy chapter. At that time, I was unaware of ecological restoration. As a result of that simple half-day walk in the woods, the following has evolved: 1. I became a volunteer at the site. 2. I took several classes, including a series of restoration classes taught by Steve Packard. 3. My husband and I eventually bought property with some natural areas worthy of restoration. 4. The payoff to froggy - we have hired some professionals to assist us! 5. I have become a board member of a local environmental group. While restoration work does need to be overseen by someone who understands what they are doing, I think there are a lot of opportunities to train volunteers on specific tasks and then use them. Consider this: start the day with breakfast and a lecture on buckthorn - why it is a problem, what it looks like, how to control it. Then out to a wooded area for a few hours of buckthorn removal. After a lunch break, the group moves on to another wooded area that has been cleared of buckthorn, and they see the end results of their morning's work. That evening, a lecture by a rep of a non-profit group that supports such restoration efforts. This would be along the lines of educating the participants as to the group's mission, not a blatant pitch for dollars, but of course the appropriate info would be in their packets. Substitute your local ecosystem and restoration problem accordingly. Some of those people will leave and become supporters of the cause, and eventually more professionals will be hired. Some of the people will go home and find similar projects in their own back yard, and still increase the opportunities for professionals. The more the word is spread, the better. Yes, there is a seasonality factor. But remember, tulip time in Holland is big, as is cherry blossom time in Washington. No one makes those trips in August. Seasonality does not mean it can't work; it just has to be scheduled. V.

I professionally managed an urban prairie restoration for a couple of years that was initially overrun with canada thistle. There are a few herbicides that specifically target things in the asteraceae and fabaceae familes that did a great job on thistles. However, for those without the license to buy these chemicals, RoundUp (especially the concentrated powder forms) work wonders. Mix it up a little stronger than recommended and dribble it into the actively growing tips of the plants. It will keep them from flowering and if they don't die, a second application often does the trick. Like others have said, it will take a few years for every last root to die, but the worst thing you can do is to try and pull them out. They have a rhizome that sends up thistle plants every few inces, pulling the plants can break the rhizome and essentially creates more independent plants. A friend of mine recommends applying herbicide with 'The Hand of Death'. He takes a chemically resistant glove and puts a worn-out winter cotton glove over the top. He dips his gloved hand into the herbicide and grabs the plants he wants to kill. He says it works like a charm. And NEVER use wildlife as an excuse to grow invasive weeds. Native animals prefer native plants.