carp ... you know.. conifers is the first place that i learned.. solely .. the latin names .... and now i have problems because i dont know common names ... i confused my death march Cupressus glabra 'Blue Ice' with your request for info on Cedrus libani [was atlantica] 'Glauca Pendula' i got my twisty trunked glauca pendula .. late season.. super bargain from bigboxstore .... first winter ... the 5 foot spiral tree died down to snow cover ... or about one foot .. thank god for snow that year... or it was a goner .... thereafter .... for 5 years.. it has survived .... pure sand.. irrigation... in the winter.. in the shade of some arbs ... but full sun in summer .... i now change SKIP IT.. to give it a try ... if it is cheap ... its really neat.. and worth a roll of the dice for 10 or 20 bucks .... try for local or northern grown stock .... gee tree farm near Jackson MI ... or girards nursery near saybrook OH .... both do mail order ... or OR in VERY EARLY SPRING ..... though you may need to protect it until z5 weather catches up to z8 OR .... ken

You're right, I keep getting On Stage confused with Knockout because I got them at the same time. The mis-identified hosta is Knockout. I have two of them, and my other one is only half the size of the one in the photo even though it is older. Same soil, same conditions, I don't get it. Lainey

Alan...this sounds fabulous!! I love the concept and all you've done with it. Can you show us pictures?? I'd love to see it. Yes, where is this park? Thanks for telling us all about it. I have wildflower asters that were given to me many years ago. They came origanally from New York. I was told they are probably New England wildflower asters. I really don't know if there's a big difference between wild "ditch" asters and New England Asters...anyway - you would be welcome to have some of mine for your garden, if you like. Just let me know. ...Beverly

Wow, that's a lot of plants! I don't have a list of what I'm growing in my little gardens -- sometimes it takes me a couple of weeks in the spring to realize that that weird looking weed in the corner is something I've had for years. I just assume that more plants than not will grow in this area! One of the more unusual plants I grow is agapanthus. Not a particularly hardy variety, this was simply a florists' plant my mother gave me four years ago. But it's come up reliably every year for the past three seasons in Central Ohio. It's planted against a south-facing brick wall with excellent drainage, and apparently doesn't realize it's not in zone 8+ anymore! One of my mother's more spectacular plants is a 15 year old calamondin orange that arrived as a little "get-well" houseplant. It spends the winter on the unheated glassed in back porch in Cincinnati, and now stands over 6' tall in the pot, and is nearly 4' around. It always has flowers and fruit on it, and we've picked 200 ripe fruits at one time.