Here are the lists I promised. This is from the Smith County (Smith County and is about 90 mi. east if Dallas) Extention service trials about 10 years ago. Smith county is in East Texas and is not as dry as the DFW area, but just as hot. I think it's 7b. Everything shifts when I post this. It's copied from a PDF, but you will be able to see the results, but it won't stay in columns. The hosta were evaluated by master gardeners in June, August, October and then averaged. There was a problem with the irrigation system in an area so �So Sweet�, �Sugar & Cream�, �Royal Standard�, and �Albo-Marginata� didn't get sufficient water. NAME DATE AVERAGE June August October Blue Angel 9.8 8.8 10 9.5 Sugar & Cream 9.2 9.4 9 9.2 Blue Cadet 8.7 8.8 10 9.2 Francee 6.0 8.8 10 8.3 Gold Standard 6.3 7.6 10 8.0 Honeybells 7.1 8.8 8 8.0 So Sweet 9.4 5.6 8.5 7.8 Royal Standard 7.4 9 7 7.8 Lancifolia 7.3 7.8 8 7.7 Grand Tiara 7.8 7.2 7 7.3 Albo-Marginata 7.6 5.8 7 6.8 September Sun 6.2 7 7 6.7 Sun Power 6.8 6.8 6 6.5 Elegans 6.0 7.4 6 6.5 Emerald Tiara 7.8 7.2 4 6.3 Patriot 4.6 6.2 7 5.9 Bold Ribbon 6.5 6.8 3 5.4 Guacamole 6.7 5.4 4 5.4 Gold Edger 7.1 6 3 5.4 Fragrant Bouquet 5.1 4.8 6 5.3 Sagae 5.2 4.6 6 5.3 Shade Fanfare 5.5 4.6 3 4.4 Summer Music 3.8 2.8 6 4.2 Undulata 6.3 3 3 4.1 Temple Bells 6.1 3.2 3 4.1 Krossa Regal 4.2 3.8 4 4.0 Resonance 4.3 5.2 2 3.8 H. fortunei 'Aureo Marginata' 4.3 3 2 3.1 Aphrodite 3.5 2.4 3 3.0 Colossal 4.3 2.6 2 3.0 Fried Green Tomatoes 3.8 3.4 1 2.7 Invincible 4.5 2.6 1 2.7 Halcyon 2.8 2.8 2 2.5 Big Daddy 2.3 2.8 1 2.0 Daybreak 1.7 2.4 2 2.0 Sum & Substance 2.1 1.8 2 2.0 Hadspen Heron 1.5 1 1 1.2 *Master Gardeners were asked to rank each variety from 1 to 10, with 1 = worst/almost dead, and 10 = outstanding in every way. These are the recommended varieties from a trial at the Dallas Arboretum. There is also a large trial in progress right now. I can hardly wait to see how they look this spring. Invincible (plantaginea Hybrid) Sugar & Cream (Honeybell sport) Dixie Chick (Invincible x Masquerade) Abba Ready Sweet Standard (Honeybell sport) Emily Dickinson (plantaginea hybrid) Potomac Pride (H. 'Blue Umbrellas' x H. yingeri 'Treasure Island' cross) Plantaginea Honeybells Royal Standard Regal Splendor (Krossa Regal sport) Krossa Regal Francee So Sweet (Green with cream edge- compact) Blue Cadet (Blue green medium) Patriot September Sun (Chartreuse green/yellow with dark green edge) The going theory is that certain "families" of hosta do better in warmer areas, which makes sense. If the parent plants are from warmer climates, then you would think that the progeny would do better in warm climates. It was explained to me that some varieties pass on their heat tolerance better than others. Sill, I don't think you can go wrong with anything fragrant, which comes from plantaginea. This is a recommended list: The families of hostas that do well in southern gardens are: clausa gracillima kikutii longpipes montana Nakaiana plantaginea rupifraga sieboldii some species tibae ventricosa venusta yingeri nakaiana How I tell the parentage is to look it up on the Hosta library http://www.hostalibrary.org/. Then say you are interested in what "so sweet" looks like. Look in the S's on the hosta library. On the left above the first photos is a link to the the myhosta.net database. It will usually tell you how large the plant will be and what the parents are. Sometimes, they are many generations removed and this is no longer relevent, though. Good Luck, I'm not sure when the trial at the Dallas Arboretum concludes. However, when it does, I'll post the results. bkay

Yes sue36, we'd absolutely have them bid on the total project at a fixed price, ie a contract...but my point is that if they say it'll take them 3 weeks, then they'll want to be paid for 3 weeks of work, whereas in reality, they could have completed work in 1 week. These are obviously slow times in the building industry and as such, some tradesman might be inclined to "stretch" the length of time that they need to complete the job and therefore the price, and I'm trying to understand the time that'll be needed to complete the work in a timely manner. But yes, you bring up a good point about the standard in Mass. and the post plumber/hvac "surgery" that is bound to take place to fix their joist cuts.

Slide in is just a style. Slide in ranges come in radiant electric, induction and gas. (I LOVE induction.). Ranges also come in free standing and, more rarely, drop in. Free standing is usually cheapest. I second the suggestion to poke around the AJ Madison website. It gives a good idea of what's out there as they carry most things. And they give a pretty good idea of what the real price is for items. Downdraft ventilation doesn't work as well as overhead ( heat rises--it doesn't go horizontal to the back of the cooktop).

If you're not going to water in the summer, then anything but St Aug will be better than St Aug. It will die if not watered once a month or so. If the zoysia does not do well in the shade, then St Aug is the only option. So then, in prep for sod, no need to rototill or aerate. Just rake or scrape off the surface dead growth. Then lay the sod. Make sure they leave no gaps between sod pieces. The sod pieces should be staggered meaning that it should not look like a checkerboard. They should roll the sod down to ensure good contact between the roots and the soil. Then start watering briefly (5-10 minutes), 3x per day (breakfast, lunch, and dinner times), for the next 2 weeks. Then check a few pieces to see if they have knit to the soil. Try lifting a corner. By then the roots should be biting into the soil. Then you can back off on watering until you are watering deeply (1 inch) and infrequently (once per week max during the hottest heat of summer). That watering schedule may be much different from what your neighbors say and all your local advice, but their daily watering schedule does not develop a great root system. Daily watering also encourages every weed seed to sprout, and you don't want that. So as soon as the sod knits down, start backing off on the watering frequency. Are you interested in an inexpensive organic fertilizing routine. Here is a picture of a zoysia lawn with a handful of alfalfa pellets (rabbit chow) applied a month earlier... You can see the improved color, density and growth. Alfalfa is usually applied at 15-20 pounds per 1,000 square feet. You can buy it at any feed store in 50-pound bags. You and your daughter might appreciate organic.