Awesome website! Thanks for sharing this! Several of those photos depict the types of container arrangements I like to plant using my large clay patio pots... I really enjoy putting together shape, texture, color and size, and watching it all come together as it grows! Whether the color palate is subdued or in-your-face, a plethora of plants or one distinct type, large or small... nothing adds to a home's entrance like large containers of annual or perennial plants! That website has some great ideas for those who might be unsure of designing their own container arrangements!

What I understand is that generally a 3:1:2 ratio fertilizer with all micronutrients will meet all your plant's needs through the growing cycle. I have found this to be true in my vegetable garden and with my house plants. In fruiting annual plants like tomatoes, reducing the amount of N at the point in the life cycle where the plant is flowering and forming fruits can slow down vegetative growth. If the plant continues to get adequate P and K, while getting slightly less than adequate N, the theory is that flowering and fruiting will be enhanced. The way I have tried to do this in the past is to cut the amount of Dynagro Foliage Pro I give the plants in half and also give them Dynagro Protekt, which has a 0-0-3 NPK formula. Recently I found some FoxFarm Grow Big hydroponic liquid fertilizer on sale for 80% off. It's formula is 3-2-6, and it has almost exactly the same micros as FoliagePro including calcium and magnesium. Plus, it doesn't use urea as a nitrogen source. I bought it and intend to use it to try to encourage my clivias to bloom this winter and my tomatoes to fruit next summer. I have only just started using it on the clivias, so I don't know how it will work. It's normally about $25 a quart, but I got it for $5. Note that I am talking about container plants, not garden plants. The grower needs to be more focused on providing all nutrients in the right ratio to one another in a form the plants can use when confined to a container. This post was edited by Ohiofem on Sun, Nov 24, 13 at 19:04

This may seem like an overwhelming task to you right now but it can be quite fun and will give you a great deal of satisfaction once it's done. I think one of the better ways to get some ideas is to drive around and look at the landscaping that other people have done especially around home styles similar to yours. There are a lot of factors that go into plant choices for landscaping such as: - the type of soil that you have (sand, clay, or something in between) - sun exposure (full sun, part sun or shade, or full shade) - size of the area (keep in mind the mature size of the plant; some plants do not tolerate pruning) - style of home (eg. an island of wildflowers would not look good next to a formal colonial like it would next to a cottage-style cape) - contrast (my neighbor planted several yellow roses next to his yellow house; it looks terrible; red roses would look so much better because of contrast; green tends to be more neutral and looks good as foundation plants such as hollies, boxwoods, etc.) Some advice that I would give is to make sure that whatever amount of lawn that you have is in good shape. It cost relatively little to add seed and fertilizer to your lawn. A lush green lawn looks great and adds the perfect backdrop for a lot of landscaping. Also, don't overdo it with certain types of plants. Trees or shrubs with blue, red, or yellow foliage are meant to be used in moderation. Put too many red-leaved plants in your yard and you might as well hang a "Welcome to Hell" sign on your house. Post a picture of your house here and in the Landscape Design forum and I'm sure you can get quite a few suggestions to get you started.

She likes to get out and go places- not senior centers, though. My own Mother took her around to several and they were "full of old people!". She would love nothing more than to go shopping every day, but won't use her wheelchair- insists on walking with her walker. Which would be fine if she could go better than 0.001 inches per minute. So from the front door to Wal-mart and back takes something like two hours for a bottle of shampoo I could have picked up in 15 minutes by myself. I am most decidedly not a shopper as I hate leaving home. I am also restoring a older home by myself and do have other duties around the house so have limited time for this sort of thing as well. I take her where she needs to go but recreational outings are between her and her son (my husband) on weekends. That was the deal when I took this on- I do the caretaking necessary but I am not a paid companion, nor am I the entertainment committee. Her mind is plenty sharp and I do expect her to take some responsibility for finding things to stay interested in. I'm harsh, I know. I watched my Mother throw away her own life in order to take care of other people and I will not do that. There's a limit and this is it. Wow. I got really aggravated there. That alone tells me I need to think about it! Great resource, this venting thing!