stage_rat, yes it is I who has an interest in heirloom tomatoes. I WSed about 35 varieties this year with astounding germination rates. I only wish that I had been better prepared to bring more with me to share but my decision to come to the swap was literally last minute so I threw what I could in the car. If anyone happens to be in the western burbs this week and wants some though I still have plenty to share after farming out what I could to family and friends. All those that haven't found homes by Friday get brought to the year-end picnic at the kids' school with a "free to good homes" sign. I'd love to talk tomatoes anytime. I'll be scouting out the farmers markets this summer for some fun new varieties to save seed from since my saved seeds from last year did so well. Thanks again to everyone for the wonderful plants. I came home totally inspired and have been ripping my way through previously neglected beds and overhauling them dramatically. Ellen, that gorgeous bleeding heart is the star of a new little shade garden in a newly-beautified corner of the garden...speaking of stars, shooting stars you say? I was just admiring them at a nursery the other day...making notes for next year's wish list :o) -Corrie

Jackarias: 1. The Missouri Botanical Garden If you haven't been to the Missouri Botanical Gardens in St. Louis, I recommend that you spend some time visiting this extraordinary and wonderfully delightful garden. For a look: travel here to their web site - and explore it thoroughly. You'll find an online tour of various parts of the garden. http://www.mobot.org If you link to the site below, you'll be able to take a virtual tour of the garden. http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/Plant.asp?code=Q260 They have an excellent resource of information and one link - this one to Paeonia lactiflora 'Duchesse de Nemours' - will give you an idea of the extensive information you will find on line. http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/Plant.asp?code=Q260 2. The Art Institute of Chicago Of course, the Art Institute of Chicago is a must. The Art Institute is located on Michigan avenue near Adams street. If you walk out the door and head west on Adams for a few blocks, you'll find "The Berghof" - a very nice German restaurant and moderately inexpensive. This link will allow you to explore what's in store for your body, mind, and soul. http://www.artic.edu/ After a long, enjoyable, refreshing tour of the Art Institute, you'll be in need of some liquid refreshment and some excellent German food. So here's the link to the Berghoff: http://www.berghoff.com/ The second link will get you "inside". http://www.berghoff.com/Berghoff/home.html 3. The Second Presbyterian Church Off the beaten path - a bit - is the Second Presbyterian Church, which is once part of the "Gold Coast" of Chicago around the turn of the century. Hidden behind the facade of this old church are several huge stain glass windows by Louis Comfort Tiffany. Here's a link to explore: http://www.ci.chi.il.us/Landmarks/S/SecondPresbyterian.html 4. Prairie Avenue and the Glessner House Prairie Avenue is a short distance from the Second Presbyterian Church. Following the Fire of 1871, this street became the city's most fashionable neighborhood, home to the Armour, Field, Kimball, and Pullman families and once referred to as the "sunny street that held the siften few." Here's the link: http://www.ci.chi.il.us/Landmarks/P/PrairieAveDistrict.html 5. Located on Prairie Avenue is the famous Glessner House designed by Henry Hobson Richardson. If you're up to doing a little "homework" before your journey, I'd highly recommend the reading of Lewis Mumford's small book: "Sticks and Stones". It is still the best introduction to American architecture from colonial times to the beginning architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright. Tours are avaiable. Again, here is a link: http://www.ci.chi.il.us/Landmarks/G/GlessnerHouse.html 6. Then there is the "Biograph Theater" on Lincoln Avenue, which is near the campus of Loyola University - Chicago. When I was a graduate student in Library Science at Rosary College - now Dominican University in River Forest, IL, I used to take the Green Line "L" and "haunt" the many used books stores located just down the street from the Biograph Theatre. After exploring the used book stores - which are now mostly gone due to increasing rents - I'd have some good English food at a genuine pub - The Red Lion - I think was it's name - located on the opposite side of the street and just north of the Biograph. Fortunately, it is still there and the food is still very good along with the atmosphere. Here's the link to the Biograph Theatre: http://www.ci.chi.il.us/Landmarks/B/BiographTheater.html 7. Again - off the beaten path - a bit - is the wonderful Garfield Park Conservatory - a turn of the century conservatory of more than several huge greenhouses featuring a wonderful array of plants, sculptures, and other things that delight the senses. From their web site, it appears that this unique conservatory is growing into something even more spectacular. Again, here's the link: http://www.garfield-conservatory.org/ 8. Of course, what would Chiago be without exploring the home and studio of the world famous architect, Frank Lloyd Wright. His home and studio along with many of his designs are located within a very short distance of each other in Oak Park. Again, here's a link to explore. http://www.wrightplus.org/homestudio/homestudio.html And here's a link to the Oak Park Visitor's center: http://www.oprf.com/opvc/ 9. Of course, if you're traveling by car from St. Louis to Chicago, you'll probably traveling on I-55. On your way up to the "Windy City", you may wish to stop at the Dana-Thomas House in Springfield, IL - designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in the early 1900's. Again, here the link with extensive information about one of his better "Prairie Houses". http://www.state.il.us/hpa/Thomas.htm Had you been traveling during the summer, you might have enjoyed a concert at the Rees Carillon in Washington Park - located west of the Dana Thomas House. 10. While some folks would head you up to the Chicago Botanical Garden in Glencoe, I suggest, instead, a nice trip to the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, IL. This arboretum contains over 1700 acres with winding roads, hundreds of walking/hiking paths; an outstanding horticultural library; a wonderful restaurant and gift shop. The link to their main web page is listed below. http://www.mortonarb.org/ This link will provide a link to the visitor center and other related places. http://www.mortonarb.org/branching_out/branchingout_visitor_center.html Here's the link to the map of the Morton Arboretum with many, many related links. Here's the direct link to the Sterling Morton Library at the Arboretum. http://www.mortonarb.org/visitor_information/smlibrary/smlibrary.htm Again, for the sake of history, here's the link to the history and mission arboretum. http://www.mortonarb.org/visitor_information/history_mission.htm Of course, since you're traveling in October, what better way to enjoy some fall color at the arboretum than to link to here. http://www.mortonarb.org/color/Oct2005.htm Of course, if you have a little time available, I've also provided a link to events for the month of October. http://www.mortonarb.org/events/Oct2005.htm And, finally, if you're really interested in exploring the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, IL, you might also wish to have a link to visitor information in Lisle, Il for housing, dining, etc. So here it is: http://www.lislecvb.com/ 11. Finally, well - not really - there's too much to enjoy in Illinois or in the greater Chicago area, here's some information on the Chicago Botanic Garden. While it is a very nice place to visit, I personally much prefer the Missouri Botanical Gardens in St. Louis and, again, would highly recommend a trip to the Morton Arboretum instead of the Chicago Botanic Garden in Clencoe. So here's the link: http://www.chicagobotanic.org/ Well, I hope that this little "tidbit" of information has most useful in enjoying your visit to Chicago. Oh yes, there's one final thought - especially if you have the time and inclination to visit either the Garfield Park Conservatory or the Morton Arboretum, bring your camera!!!! Best wishes for an enjoyable journey to my former native state. Bill

TY! Yes, one of the Hamelias . A Monarch and a Gulf Fritillary nectaring side by side. I have several different firebush plants through-out the garden. As for feeders, I keep feeders on hand and only put them out when after I see a hummer. I keep them clean , replacing small amount of sugar syrup every other day in hopes it may be just the extra encouragement too keep hummers in the garden. The one year we did have hummers nesting, they were so illusive, we only saw the male once, the female once, then suddenly there were babies :) I never did see any of them use the feeders :( Luckily, the babies followed a schedule, feeding on flowers every few hours. :) We found the nest months later blown onto the ground in a storm. As soon as the male babies started to develop their ruby colouring, they all departed. I wish I had videoed them, but at the time, had my hands full with my own babies :)

Oldhousegal, I am in Portland, Ore! I haven't gotten the soapstone yet -- just ordered it on Monday. They told me it will take 2-3 days to leave the warehouse, and then another 5-10 days of transit. Our cabinets will be here in 2 weeks, so I was holding off on getting the soapstone until we had an ETA on the cabinets so that we didn't have too much construction stuff clogging up our staging area (the garage). I will post pics once the stone comes, though! I ordered 4 slabs of Barocca. I was also told by several places that soapstone was not readily available in Portland, but you can find it at Pentel (on NW Yeon). You can visit their warehouse and see the slabs in person -- the slabs are beautiful, but they only have one variety. The frustrating thing is that Pentel only works with fabricators, so they will give you a list of fabricators, but won't tell you how much a slab costs! Annoying. Our contractor has an account through CFM, who is one of the fabricators on the list at Pentel, so we asked them for a quote -- they said it was going to be $4,700 for the soapstone, including installation. Ordering from Texiera and getting my carpenters (who I love) to cut and install will cost about half of that. So far I have been pretty impressed with Texiera. They have been very responsive to my emails, and phone calls. The sample pack that I ordered arrived within a few days, and they were happy to answer all of my questions. I ordered my slabs, but could not find a way to order the tinted epoxy w/o ordering the entire DIY kit (my carpenters have the necessary blades already), so I emailed them -- they got back to me within 10 minutes and added just the epoxy to my order.