The forsythia is about 10 years old, I think, PV, and it's the love of my life :-D There is nothing like sitting at my desk, glancing out the window and seeing the first sign of yellow that tells me spring is coming! Henry, that kalanchoe is a bit of an experiment, never had one outdoors before. It was a gift handed to me when I was first planting out, and I decided to keep it outside for color til things started to bloom. It did ok in the sun for about a week or so, before the sun got as hot as it is now, then the leaves started to get sunburned. Then I put it in full shade, and it started losing some petals. Where it is now, it's mostly in shade, with some good reflective light. Still experimenting, but that spot seems to be ok for it. When we woke up yesterday, hubby said: Hey, wanna go buy some more plants? What a question :-D So everything is changing again.

Barry it has a bunch of settings. I used to do so manual photography when I was in college and appreciate being able to control things like ISO, depth of field etc. It is amazing when I reviewed my photos in macro I can see what the plants need. I am going to send some to shutterbug and have them do some prints like 11 x 14 just $ 5 bucks. Thanks for the tip. Wildflower I was an abused kid. Happy Birthday Merry Christmas all rolled into one. Now I celebrate it on the 1st. It is a lot easier that way. Birthday cake and Christmas Turkey do not mix real well. If I could I would let it slide by. Barbara was in Rockport today and drove by I could tell you were not there. It looked like my yard. LOL You manicure yours. Holler on the cell when you get there. I do not need anything. I would just kill those brugs. Sure I will post pictures of you new garden. You are a lot better gardener than I am. I have to have survivors to have a chance.

Thanks everyone for the kind words...and sorry the pics are so big. I realized afterwards that I need to resize them. I'll try to figure out that process! About the fuschia, tina...they don't do well here but my variety is unique as it was sent from Massachusetts! It gets low light now although during the winter it was in full sun. I don't expect it to last through the humid summer but I have rooted cuttings that will stay indoors until next fall and I hope that works. You do see lots of them now for sale and it irks me, because they just won't last long outdoors. I just love the delicate flowers. Carol (yes, me too sweltering in Sarasota) - I've had that orchid cactus for years and it doesn't always bloom but this year, I've had 6 blooms. It is really neat, I think. Thanks again all, Hester

Carol, The tree is a: FICUS The pink flowering plant in the back is: IMPATIENT The fern next to the large deer is: RABBITS FOOT FERN The 2 low growing light green plants are: BABY TEARS The hanging plant on the right side is: CREEPING WHITE STAR The pot is 12" round & 5" deep. I was told about a nursery in Norwalk, Ohio that sells all mini plants...lots of them....all kinds of minis. I've been thinking about a fairy garden so I went to check this place out. It's called Mulberry Creek Herb Farm. I found this shade loving fairy garden all ready made up that I liked, but it didn't have any hosta in it. So, I picked out a mini hosta, upgraded to this fairy that sits on the rock that I liked better than the one that the pot originally had, added the turtles on the rock and the gazing ball. I than went to TSC (Tractor Supply Co) for some vole killer and just couldn't resist a few of their miniture animals that I saw there. I bought the cute doe & fawn. Also, if you look closely to he left of the hosta, you'll see 3 little raccoons playing. My idea was to buy the pot, plants and figures, but when I got to the nursery I realized that I had no idea how I wanted to put a fairy garden together.(I'm not too visual, I guess) So, I got this already made one and added to it the way I wanted. These are the instructions that I was given: Bring it in the house this winter and put it a cool room with some light. Keep it moderately moist. Fertilize it every 2 weeks. Don't be shy about keeping the plants trimmed back..they're tough. BTW, the total cost of this was about $95.00 I think the smaller the figurines, the more they cost. lol