Wow, great deal and only two blocks from your home! Lucky you! And how cool that you were able to help your DH see your idea. I bet you're having loads of fun. : ) I have Home Design software by Punch for my Mac. It's loaded but there is a bit of a learning curve. I've mostly played with it for the inside. I sure wish I had bought it before our kitchen remodel. For that I did the design the old school way - with graph paper and pencil, and quite a few erasers. lol! Have fun designing and post pics of your creativity! : ) Diana

dera kristen,The bird I saw in greentree (i also saw one in my yard ) was huge-Id been to our avairy once & seen a bald eagle-it wasnt that big!!but it was not a red tail hawk,or a peragrine falcon-Im familar w those from living in Pgh almost my whole life-Ive never seen a bird like this,but saw it twice when i was pregnant w my son who is now 18 months old(i bought a digital cam in case it returns too)It was two or three times the size of our falcons it could have easily taken my 15 lb (fat) cat who was outside staring at it ,as it ate a rat in a tree,it had a predator brak(looked very sharp ripping up a rat) silvery chest feathers & golden shoulders(i could only see its front)& it stood about 3 ft high-ive never seen a pic of a golden eagle,but it was definately an eagle of some sort-it was magnificent!!!-we first saw one while driving to parkway center mall(on a dead tree that sticks out of the woods on greentree rd & ridgemont),& saw one the same fall in my yard,in a tree,I was supposed to be on total bedrest w my pregnancy,but Pat helped carry me outside,so that I wouldnt miss this unbelivable bird!we even bought a camera in case we ever see it again,I checked pics of falcons in case,but as i thought ,it was much to big to have been a falcon-whatever it was,we havent had a pigeon problem since:) we used to be plauged w pigeons clogging our feeder-maybe thats what attracted it to my yard?Anyway that year our pigeon problem disappeared.I would love to know what that bird was,I really believe it was some kind of an eagle,if i ever see it again I will get pics,as this was a most unusual sighting of an unusual feathered friend!I will google for a pic of a golden eagle as im not familiar w them,maybe thats the bird? I can check for a pic & will let you know,I still look for it every weekend,when we drive my son to the yugio tournament at parkway center mall-we cant keep our camera in the car anymore(our car got stolen last year w 2 cameras in it) but I would drive home & get it if i see it again this year.PS does your monarda get powdery mildew ? mine have it so bad Ive pulled most of it up-i only had pink & purple too-maybe the hummingbirds dont like it?this year,Im planning a strategy,Im getting more salvias from TX(i missed bringing mine in & they froze!!),planted agastaches,lobelias(red & blue) planted penstemons,& am having red cypress vine seeds & red glads to go w the perennial foxgloves that i brought from moms house(SHE GOT HUMMINGBIRDS!!) ,I also planted delphenium(may have to replace if they dont make it,i planted so late)& texas red star hibiscus-& Im also adding red trumpet vine.if i dont get hummingbirds this year I will be upset,where should i place my feeders? Pat said they need shade,but if i plant them under my tree,the hummers wont see them,will they? He also said to move the feeders further from the house-mine is about 10 ft from my kitchen door,does placement matter?Im really willing to do or grow anything to get these birds-I saw some at my neighbors torch lily when i moved here,i planted torch lily-nothing!!!maybe I should visit the avairy!!!We all went once & the birds there are amazing!!I never realised the size of the bald eagles!!massive!!!A lady i knew had a job there feeding them-she said they eat on fine china?true or not? she was such an idiot that she lost that great job,so i didnt know if i should believe her or not?well thanks again for your informative response..I will check for a golden eagle pic,as that might be my mystery bird!!...jean

Here's my Rhino Hide a few days ago. It was new to me last fall and overwintered in a pot in my unheated garage. It is quite a bit larger than last year and the leaves are more rounded and thick. It seems to be pretty tough and I'm very happy I acquired it. :-) Deb

Hey Priscilla, I read the same about boron, but I also read that while plants like broccoli need a good bit of it, other plants are real sensative to being poisoned by it. Basically that what would be perfect for broccoli will kill something else. So since I plan to rotate spots, I decided to wait to see if I had symptoms or til I did a soil test. I haven't done compost tea yet cause I'm lazy, but I bought buckets and a little cheap fish tank pump-cause I read it's best to airate it. I think its a real good idea. I also like spraying with molasses (2T/gal) I think it boosts soil bacteria too-I think howard garret reccomends this. I'm a big believer in compost, I kinda think of it as tea every time I water-see I'm lazy :). My soil was amended with lots. But I was recently even more impressed when I pulled my mulch off and mulched with compost, my broccoli seems to be really taking off with it (though could be the fish emulsion too :). You will need a regular mulch during the summer cause the heat is brutal and you can't keep enough water in the soil without it. But nextime I'm going to do a compost mulch under the mulch. "cross between broccoli and asparagus" Ok I'm personally confused on this one too. I know when I bought 'broccoli raab' at a grocery in Atlanta that it was bitter and when I bought 'broccolini' it was like you describe, I've also bought 'rappinni' and i think it wasn't bitter but 'rappinni' is supposed to equal 'broccoli raab' see all confused. Though this was several years ago so I might have confused the names and they look really similar. But basically I like both, but I haven't eaten what's IN the garden yet cause it hasn't formed shoots, but I think it's supposed to be the bitter kind. I got it from cook's garden labeled as 'broccoli raab', so I'll get back to you, lol. Oh cool, I signed up for the group. Doesn't it stink the house up when you water the inside plants with fish emulsion? Or do you leave them outside for a while. If it doesn't stink, what brand is it!