Karen- Your Jeannie should be more like the red one. My orange one is a seedling and may be a one of a kind. I also highly recommend Calif. Sally as one of the most prolific large pinks. Once established, it will not disappoint. Freak4- you have so many of the flowers I would love to see. Also, you gotta love Twilla- a gem of a lady. Thanks for your info on blooms- looking forward to your summer crop. I am cutting back and trying not to buy but I did get a Makaha Sunn and a Dazzler this year and I have a Mermaid Gem that is struggling to root, but that is all so far (ok 1 dwarf pink,too). Between Jim Little and the Thais there are so many I wish I could find room to have. You have many that I drool over, too. Hope your new digs have room for your collection. Bill

Thanks for the info. and I will consider the other two mentioned, though I'm on a very tight budget and hence, trying to keep down the expenses. I'd have to admit though , that even those young palms I oedered over then years ago from a Florida Palm sepcialist, weren't cheap even then and I think I did pay a fair penny then. Adjusted for inflation I guess some may have cost over fifty dollars by todays standards, but I did lose two of them. One never knows when trying varieties not generally common in indoor settings if they'll adjust to the less than ideal indoor conditions, but I've had good luck in general. As mentioned , some do too well over time and always outgrow my house. I'd almost be tempted to buy a small Chinese fan palm locally and would divide the ones crowded into single containers, but my last, one once it got seven or eight years old had fronds over three feet across and spread a good ten feet from the trunk, so perhaps those aren't a wise choice for me to grow once again. I never even expected the Chamaedorea elegans to outgrow my home , but even they got higher than my ceilings would allow after 12 years or so.

Hi Alberta, Welcome to RMG. I donÂt know of any books specific to your brrrrr-y weather up there, but hereÂs a link to an Alberta site that looks like it has a whole lot of good informationÂincluding book recommendations. Maybe you can find something there that will help you out, and I see they have a chat section too where you might find some very localized help. And I donÂt do much indoor gardening, but there are a couple other people around here that are into container gardening, so maybe theyÂll see this and have some recommendations for you. If you have a sunny (LOTS of sun!) window, and want to just get startedÂwithout the booksÂget some fairly small pots, a bag of good potting mix, and some basil and parsley (and chives and mint and more) seeds, and just go ahead and plant them and watch them grow. Basil and parsley, especially, are really easy if you have enough sun. And with something like that, you can always come back here with your questions when youÂre not sure what to do next. You can also get seed for "patio" varieties of tomatoes and other veggies, but if youÂve never done this at all before, it would be a good idea to start with basil and other herbs, just to give you an idea of what your getting into. If you get started, IÂm absolutely certain youÂll have a lot of fun! Stay warm up there, Skybird Here is a link that might be useful: Northern Garden

Kula- We didn't have to grade the property much as it was basically an empty lot in the middle of a neighborhood that is about 6 years old. So it was already pretty flat. We made the offer on the land in Sept 2006, closed on it the end of October 2006. We didn't break ground until March 2007. So all of those months in between was spent on getting permits, finalizing design plans, getting approval from neighborhood architectural committee...etc. etc. But that was also during a Utah winter so they couldn't really break ground until Spring anyway. Excavation and foundation took a long time not because of grading issues but because in addition to a basement, we built a 20 foot deep underground "sport court" below the basement. My dh loves to play basketball, and he just loves the option of being able to play ball indoors even during the stormiest of winter days. It will also be just a nice space for the kids to run around in while indoors. We moved from Southern California so these winters are new to us! So we didn't start framing until about June. Around the end of August, all of the roof trusses were starting to get installed. Shingles started to go on towards the end of Sept and they're STILL being installed (another storm today - so no roof work!). But all the other trades have been working this week like I said in my earlier post. But I really think everyone's timeline differs based on size, style, finishes, land, etc. We're building in a neighborhood where almost all of the homes are custom built and some people took a much longer time than we did (2 years seems to be the norm around here). For us..from the time we closed on the land, we'll probably be around 16 months. From the time we broke ground - maybe 11 - 12 mos. It also depends on the size of your house and how complicated it is. I have a lot of crazy roof lines and turrets which is probably why the roofers are taking such a long time (in addition to the inclement weather!). Now I really thought I wouldn't have a problem managing this from out of state. This is our first custom home and it's just going to be so much nicer than anything I've ever had in California (for the same money!) so I figured I would just let my builder do his thing and be thrilled with it. It would have just been the same as buying a builder spec home or pre-owned home which we've done in the past and it's worked out fine. But now that we're here, I've surprised myself at how much more involved I've become. With 3 young kids, I needed the house to really fit our lifestyle so I've been able to make changes (which my builder didn't think of) that could accommodate our kids. For example, I'm big into having my kids be self-sufficient so I made a "kid zone" in the kitchen cabinetry with a microwave at their level and low drawers for their snacks and plates and cups. I also changed the cabinets in the island to drawers for their crayons and homework supplies. My husband also reworked the mud room cabinetry to accommodate stuff for the five of us (originally the builder had 4 lockers but um...there's 5 of us!). In my last house, carrying groceries in were a pain because the garage was in the front of the house and the kitchen was in the back. In this house, the garage and the kitchen share a wall and while there isn't a door in between, I'm having my builder put in a "trap door" from the garage straight into the pantry for unloading groceries. Just little things like that don't take much work from the builder end but will make worlds of difference in making my life just a bit easier. It's hard to really know how well a house flows with your lifestyle until you lived with it for a while but being able to walk through it on an almost daily basis gives me a better idea. With that being said, we're at totally different stages in our life...I'm a busy mom schlepping kids everywhere and trying to keep them organized while trying to keep myself sane so I keep that in mind constantly during this build process. Since you're looking forward to a much deserved laid-back lifestyle in Maui, your approach can be totally different and it will work out just fine. For me, if I lived in Hawaii...a shack with a roof will be just fine with me!! ;)