Review the link I attached - the depth of the berm is dependent on the area it covers, rather than determined by what plants you'd like to grow on it. If the berm is intended for a small area, then the maximum soil depth for planting will not be as generous as it would with with a larger berm with a greater depth. About 20 years ago, I constructed a large berm (about 750sf) in a portion of my backyard to correct a slope, help establish a privacy barrier and provide a planting area under difficult soil conditions. The maximum depth was 16-18" but it was not uniform - other interior portions of the berm were not as deep. I planted the berm with a variety of trees and large shrubs and filled it in with smaller plants. Everything established rapidly and grew well - the berm plantings thrived in every respect. Today, this is a lushly full privacy screen with mature plantings......I've never lost a single plant. I recently planned and supervised the construction of a series of berms for a large design project I was doing - the smallest was around 150 sf, the largest about 600. Logically, the largest plants (intended mature size) were planted on the larger berms. Berm planting tip: do not plant trees or your signature plant on the exact apex of the berm - it will look awkward (ok - dumb!!). Instead, plant just off to the side. IME, the larger the berm you can manage to fit in, the better it will look - think generously :-)

Thanks, Shazam - those are really good tips! I had no idea that Calgary has such alkaline clay soil. I will remember that. Guess what? I went to Canadian Tire today to get a sprinkler, and then I saw a couple of 2 gallon Hydrangea Bombshell on sale at 50% off!!! I just had to get them.... I know, I know, impulse buy is not good for me! LOL! However, I think that they will look great against the front porch. Xaroline, thank you! That is a great idea - I should look up the Calgary Horticultural Society and learn about gardening in this area. Thanks! Is September usually a bit late to plant shrubs and perennials in Calgary? Being the thifty person that I am (ha!) I used to buy these 50-75% off plants in September/October in Ohio, and sometimes I would even over-winter them in my insulated garage there, so that I can plant them in the ground in early spring without paying the early spring full price. Can I do the same in Calgary? Or will it be too cold in my insulated garage here to do so? If that is a bad idea, how about leaving them in the basement overwinter? Your advice will be very much appreciated! Thanks.

Some think it is a little expensive to attend conventions. It might seem that way but for what you get it is worth it. You can congregate with hundreds of folks that just love to garden and use "Hostas" as an excuse to get together. Once your at the convention feel free to go up to any other attendee and introduce yourself. I usually spend at least a day getting or giving "hugs and handshakes" While convention times are work times for me it is still a great chance to meet face to face with all the forum members you get to chat with on the WWW. Start saving now if you want to add to your hosta collection. If you have never perused a vending room you will probably be overwhelmed at first. You will be face to face with some of the nicest vendors you will ever meet. They are all patient and want to talk to you. You will find there will be a wide selection of companion plants and garden items in addition to the best selection of hostas in one room anywhere. There is always an auction with unique selection of donations up for bids. Some go for unheard of prices yet others seem to go at bargain prices. It's all fun and the proceeds of the auction help support the American Hosta Society. If you bid on nothing the commentary that goes along with all the hostas presented for auction is very educational and at times very entertaining. If you cannot afford to register for the convention the leaf show, seedling competitions, and vending are made available to the public at no charge. If you live close join the local society and volunteer your time to help with the gardens and convention. You will meet some great people and have fun for sure. The Minnesota bunch are a fun bunch to be around. If you get to the 2010 convention and see a fellow with a big smile and a bullfrog voice sitting in a japanese maple forest introduce yourself. Lee

Yes Bill, I'm the upstate NY person who distributed seeds for Polish C RL, actually here at GW, with the comment that it should be PL and that I would ask folks NOT to share seeds of the wrong leaf form. At that time that variety was not being sold commercially and I had depleted my store of PL correct ones and decided to let folks enjoy the fruits anyway. I'm delighted that so many like it, as well they should, even with the wrong leaf form. For me the correct leaf form is the one that was present when the variety was originally discovered, described, and made known to others. Dr. Carolyn Pink was not a wrong variety or bad seed. It was a mutation from the original Dr. Carolyn sent to me by Robert Martin, an SSE member, in 1999, and he had already named it. AS I've said many times, it does give some plants with fruits the size of Dr. Carolyn and some plants give fruits that are larger. I prefer the smaller fruited ones, but others seem to like the larger ones as well. The title of your thread is bad seeds, but then you go on to show how many wonderful varieties arose from natural cross pollinations, such as Lucky Cross, OTV Brandywine and others. Not really relevant to bad seeds at all. Just varieties that arose as the result of X pollination and the hybrid dehybridized to a stable OP. No bad seeds at all. For me bad seeds are when I or others purchase seeds commercially and what we're sent is not what was ordered, whether it was another variety, stray seed, or crossed seeds. And the same comment holds for bad seeds re seeds received in trade. Sure, a stray seed in a commercial pack can be a real bonus and an example of that is the variety Orange Strawberry which Marjorie Morris grew out from a commercial pack of Pineapple seeds. And sure, if someone gets something they didn't expect , as in "bad seed", what they get may also turn out to be great if it was a X pollination and they want to take the time to genetically dehybridize it. I don't think you were posting during those years when each year I started a thread here at GW titled Wrong varieties. Now there we had documantation of wrong varieties received from commercial sources. But bad seed to me, in a larger sense, means just that.......seeds that are not what they are supposed to be for a specific variety as originally described. Carolyn