Ashcraft here are a few plants I grow for the hummingbirds and are used by them. Like Donna your hummingbrid populattion could be the greates in August and September when they are on their migration sout for the year. A plus with these plants is that butterflies will use them too. 4 O'clock Purple Coneflower Truks cap' Lions ear Black and blue salvia (for sure) Greggiis Shrimp plant Mexican bush sage (blooms in late summer in time for migrants) Honeysuckles(goldflame, coral, and Alabama crimson) Davie 'verty' cuphea Lady in red salvia (annual) Subrotunda salvia (annual) Yvonne's salvia (annual) Cannas (Robert Kemp, Peach Giantum There are many others but you will not go wrong with these. Other than the ones I have noted as annuls are perinnals and unless we have an expremely hard freeze here in zone 8 will come back year after year. The annuals will reseed. It is also easy to save the seed from them.

Deb I know couple of people who do this kind of work. One of them will be for sure at my plant swap, if you here I will introduce you, another one might stop by, it is busiest time of the year for them. If you looking to hire someone to do makeover garden or give you plant design Bob Nickolson from Lurvey's is the very best. He does have talent and vision, I am always glad when he gives me tidbits of his wisdom. If you are just frustrated by not having a perfect garden right away- join the club, that is where most of us are and that is why we have shovel... My best advice will be to visit as many gardens as you could and see for yourself- what kind of garden makes you feel good- do you need to stuff everything on top of each other or do you like formal arrangements, do you want to have separate beds for spring show, summer and fall or as I do, make sure that every bed has at least one plant at any given day that holds interest. It might never have look of the beds shown in magazines- where everything blooms at same time, but every morning I come out in the garden I discover something new and different- works for me but might not work for you. My garden start early Feb with snowdrops and continues till late fall with aconitums and fall crocuses. but I am messy and double and triple plant everything on top of each other, and yeah, you would not find any empty space here too ;)- saves me from mulching... do not have "vision" so have to see plants grow before I have ideas what I like where so fall is my favorite time for moving plants and redesigning beds.

Your other thread has gotten multiple responses. But, you are gonna have to be shopping the scratch and dent sections for your budget. You are speccing some non budget friendly components here, especially for a rental property. The budget and use go together, but not your specs. Just the fridge and range put you above your budget wwithout any others added into the mix. You don't have the luxury of specificity. You need to accept that what you find for your number is what you're gonna have to buy.

My mom is from a large family where there are definite "favorites", and I have friends from families where there are definite "favorites", so I think I can relate to your post. The situation you describe with your future MIL sounds similar to situations I've seen. With the people I know, however, it wouldn't be anything personal with the future MIL judging you or taking anything out on the child because of you. Here's the way it would play out in some of my friends' and my families: Grandma would form a strong attachment to a particular grandchild - either the oldest grandchild, or the grandchild who lived next door, or the grandchild who she kept while mom worked, or the grandchild of the "favorite" child (maybe the baby of the family). For whatever reason, grandma has a strong attachment to this particular grandchild. For 9 years (you said your partner's daughter is 10?) this has been grandma's special grandchild. If the mom of the special grandchild gets along well with grandma, of course the mom of the special grandchild will have a bond with grandma, too. Then the grandchild has a sibling (your partner's ex's baby), and that sibling is a package deal with the favored 10 year old grandchild. Of course grandma is going to keep both kids - they're a package deal. And of course she's going to take them both shopping together, they're a package deal. Grandma is going to keep them together, she's going to take them shopping together. There are probably reasons why she doesn't want to take your son shopping with them - a 1 year old, 10 year old, and 7 month old is probably too much for her. And if by some chance she doesn't have the 1 year old along, grandma probably doesn't want to take your 7 month old shopping along with the 10 year old because she relishes the trip with just her older granddaughter. And the grandmas I know who are like this would naturally be upset if you forbid her bringing the 1 year old with her to your son's celebration, if she was keeping the 1 year old on that day. To her, asking for the ex to stay away might be reasonable, but asking her not to bring a 1 year old baby wouldn't be. I'm not saying what I'm describing is the "right" way for a grandma to be, or that it's fair to your son. But in my extended family, grandma would have a routine and a relationship she's comfortable with, and that's the way it would be. She'd have 10 years of history with this child and this routine, and your 7 month old baby wouldn't change that. In my experience, grandmas who are this way don't change. If your partner has tried explaining and grandma hasn't budged, then I doubt it will do any good to get mad or be hurt. If I were in your shoes, I'd just accept that it is what it is, and move on with life. It's your partner's mother's loss if she passes up the opportunity to have a close relationship with her grandson - boys are a blast. Many, many people have extended families that have strong "favorites" among the cousins or the grandchildren. Accept it and move on and you'll be much happier in the long run. You're certainly not wrong to wish grandma would reach out to your son and be the terrific grandma to all her grandchildren. That's a normal and natural wish, but it doesn't sound like you're going to get it. Try not to take it personally, it's probably not about you or your son - it's probably about the bond and the routine grandma has with the older granddaughter. My mom is wonderful, and she would always work hard to make things equal among her grandchildren. But not all grandmas are that way. One piece of advice I'd give a young mother in your situation - your son will take a lot of his cues from you. If it doesn't bother you that grandma plays favorites, it probably won't bother him. You and your partner create a warm, loving home that is a fun, happy place to be, and your son will be fine. My kids' grandparents don't exactly have "favorites', but because of circumstances they are much closer to their other grandchildren. They babysit them, take them on trips, go to their school functions, etc. It doesn't bother me at all and it doesn't bother my kids, either. Good luck!