I have only a 2 foot chicken wire fence, but I've seen them jump over it. I would say 3' (but its harder to step over). And 1" hex holes in the chicken wire is the maximum openings. (The 2" is too big). Rabbits can crawl through anything larger.....like utility wire fencing. We have utility wire for a fence in our back yard, but it is lined at the bottom with chicken wire. I think they could also get through chain link fencing. And its good to bury the chicken wire fencing a little bit too, since they are such good diggers.

MeMo, I have dry, sandy soil, too, and Oklahoma is well known for it's radically fluctuating temperatures and weather. Lavender can be grown from seed, but it never does very well and doesn't seem to have the true qualities of those grown from cuttings. Your best bet is to buy some plants, then begin taking cuttings and start more plants. They root fast (about 3-4 weeks), and you can quickly fill your yard with these lovely plants. I like to grow mine along pathways so when I walk by them, the plants release their lovely fragrance from not only the flowers, but also their leaves. Here is a list of the hardiest Lavenders & Rosemary's I've grown: LAVENDER English Lavender (Lavendula angustifolia) - it actually is a French lavender, too. :) I have a huge old shrub of this. It's about 10 years old, now. Grosso - has big FAT spikes of rich purple flower heads - very tollerant of extreme temps and has done extremely well for me in this drought. Munstead - small, gray leaves and lovely flowers. Can be used in cooking, too, like lavender sugar cookies. (YUM!) Provence - the French grow this one for perfume and essential oil. Very tall. Blooms later than other lavenders and has very long flower stems. Hidcote - Deep Blue-violet flowers and wonderful fragrance. I get at least two blooming periods from mine. There is one variety of Hidcote that has very big, very fat flower spikes. Amazing color and fragrance. (Can also be used in cooking) ROSEMARY (Rosmarinus officinalis) Rosemary is not very hardy. It is native to the Mediterranean and the warmer Euro countries. Most are hardy only to zone 8. A few varieties can take zone 7, IF you experience a mild winter, and IF they are well protected, and grown on a south facing area, but it is risky. However, there are at least two varieties which I grow here in zone 6-6b that are more hardy than any others, although they still require some shelter and mulching in the winter. Rosmarinus officinalis 'Madeline Hill', commonly labeled as 'Hill Hardy' in many garden centers and even sold as such by vendors at Herb Festivals. I am very happy with Madeline Hill. I bought mine in the Spring of 2005. It has grown into a big fragrant shrub, about 4-5 feet wide and 3 feet tall, so far. It is a great culinary rosemary too. It is such a beautiful plant. I hope it will bloom for me this winter. Rosmarinus officinalis 'Arp' is the other good choice for zone 6 areas with winter protection. ( I grow them both in the ground and winter them over by piling mulch up around them. My other Rosemary plants, that I have had for years, are grown in decorative pots and urns and are taken into the greenhouse in the Fall to winterover. As with my Lavenders, I like to grow Rosemary along pathways so when I walk by them, the plants will release their lovely fragrance from their leaves. Below is a Link to the GW Herb Forum for a topic that was discussed back in November 2005. The topic was about 'Madeline Hill Rosemary' and "Arp" and their hardiness were discussed. Several wonderful LINKS to go visit and enjoy. (If only we could smell the plants) Interestingly, both of these fabulous varieties of Rosemary were developed in Northeast Texas by the same plantswomen, Madeline Hill. Yee-haa!!! ~ Annie Here is a link that might be useful: 'Madeline Hill' Rosemary

mkeister: Well, the first thing that I would recommend is to read Eleanor Perenyi's book: "Green Thoughts: A Writer in the Garden." It is still - by far - the best garden book ever written. Read the chapter on "Failure" and take heed. This book should be available at or through your local public library - either on the shelf or through their interlibrary loan system. It would be better to have this book added to your own personal library. As for the 'value' of this book, I'd also recommend that you read the reviews of this book at Amazon.com. Here's the link: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/037575945X/qid=1130287922/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-8113067-2564903?v=glance&s=books&n=507846 Copies of this book in used, but excellent to fine condition can also be found at either of the two sites below. http://www.abe.com or http://www.alibris.com The second recommended book is the "Color Encyclopedia of Ornamental Grasses: Sedges, Rushes, Restios, Cat-Tails, and Selected Bamboos" by Rick Darke, who also wrote "The American Woodland Garden: Capturing the Spirit of the Deciduous Forest." In addition to the sources noted above, you may sometimes find this and other excellent books at bookcloseouts.com or at overstock. A more condensed, but very excellent version of his "Color Encyclopedia" is "The Timber Press Pocket Guide to Ornamental Grasses" also authored by Rick Darke as well. I have his "American Woodland" garden in my own personal library and will soon add the "Timber Press Pocket Guide". Hope this information is more than useful in your gardening endeavors. Bill

Well heres the latest report from this side of Colorado! Spring has definitely un-sprung around here! Its 5 in my backyard right now, and still going DOWN! And INSIDE of my house the furnace has been running for almost three hours nowand its all the way up to 63! All last weekwhen it was WARMmy furnace was running just fine! I had to get up at 0400 on Sunday morningand discovered that my furnace QUIT sometime over nite! So at 4:00 in the morning, when Im supposed to be getting ready to leave for the airport, Im running around a cold house trying to figure out whats wrong with the furnace. The pilot lite was on, and the fan and the thermostat worked just fine. If the thermocouple goes out, the pilot lite goes out! Everything worked exceptthe burner wouldnt come on! So Im stumped! I left at 0600 with a little lamp under the kitchen sink, where the pipes are on the outside wall, and an oil filled radiator on near the computer! I left the thermostat turned up while I was goneI guess hoping for magic!!! Spent the nite last nite in a WARM hotel in Newark, and got back home early this afternoon. The temp in the house was 49 when I got back! Asked the neighbor to come look at it, but he agreed with meall the obvious things were working. He recommended somebody to calland the guy came right over! I found that kind of amazing! The neighbor said he thought it was a gas valve, and he was right! An hourand $300later I heard the burner come on again! And its been running ever since then! Heats a GOOD thing when its cold outside! But I didnt think of the Blackie sweet potato vines I have in the front windowtouching the glassbefore I left and theyre not happy AT ALL right now! Im overwintering a couple again this year to keep from having to buy more in springand I hope they make it! Wish I had thought to at least move them away from the cold window before I left! For tonite at least, theyre FAR away from the glass! No Rocky Mountain Gardening in Winter going on around here right now outside OR inside, Skybird