Lee - Up to a point I incline to agree with your antipathy to exotic plants in a Japanese garden. Perhaps it amounts to feeling uneasy with anything that looks somehow out of place because few things of that shape grow in the wild here? For instance, I feel a bit uneasy if I see Phormium Tenax or Pampas grass. I'd probably feel even more uneasy with a Monkey Puzzle tree, especially since somebody who'd seen them growing in their native habitat in S. America said they looked out of place even there. On the other hand, a restrained use of bamboo doesn't (to me) give that feeling. That brings me to what I'd call exotic artifacts. I wonder for instance, how a sleeve fence made from cedar lath compares with one made from bamboo? Here in N. America does the one made with cedar lath look more at home in its surroundings? I lean towards using the cedar lath. Coming back to the Bear artifact, I've got some more pictures of it (of them actually - it's a mother Bear & her cub). The carving is rooted in the ground - the owners told me that it used to be a big tree in their garden, & when it got too big, they had the top removed, leaving an 8ft high stump - and a young fellow then carved the bears from it with a chain saw. They said he did it in no time. When I consider those stone foxes with a red bibs round their necks that you see in some Japanese garden settings, it makes me think of the Bears as their western equivalent (though the red bibs don't suit!). Another artifact that I saw illustrated a year or two ago - I think it was in this forum - was a wooden post or tablet, carved in the style of Native Indian work, that somebody had positioned in his garden. He may have referred to it as a Stele, but I'm not sure. (It certainly wasn't what you'd call a Totem pole), It was in just the right place & it looked entirely at home - it was just as effective as a stone artifact like a lantern. Does anybody remember it? Herb

Murihilin, I joined the garden web because I was hoping to meet people that would be helpfull when it came to growing tropical fruits. Ishouldhave realized that people are just giving there honest opinions but I did ffeel that you were attaking my ability, especially when Jay stated that this trtee would fruit at 2.5 tall, and even after I emailed them and got there confirmation that it would fruit fine for me. Now I knew that there was a good chance that I would not get a lot of fruit until I would be able to have a greenhouse. I only gave you my expeiences because i felt like you were attacking my ability. Something that I am very proud of. I guess we were both guilty of miscommunication. I was honestly not trying to get worked up, but I constantly here from people in my community that I am really stupid for "wasting my time and money on growing things I know wont grow here." That is partly why I got defensive. I apologize for coming acoss as a jerk, but I was also misinterpreting what you said. I thought that you honestly were trying to be hurtfull. It didn't help that I have had some really bad news come my way. I found out that I have to have a major operation, and I lost my wallet and none of these are reasons to act that way with other people. Please except my apology, and I hope we can still exchange information that might be usefull for each other. I will still say (in a non negative manor) that I love the challenge of being able to grow and fruit tropicals that are difficult and not thought of being able to grow and prosper here. I hope that clears things up and once again I do apologize. I hope your tree grows and fruits well. It looks like I will either have to wait for my seedlings to fruit(if they ever will, LOL!) or hope that I can get one of the trees from the seller on ebay. Andrew

I bought some garlic from WGG last year, they have very reasonable prices and good quality. I have been waiting impatiently for a few months to see when they will start taking orders for this year! dcarch: I would suggest using an Asiatic variety such as Korean Mountain or Asian Tempest for making black garlic. The Asiatic varieties are generally short storing which is probably why the black garlic curing/aging process was invented in the first place. A Turban variety might make a good substitute if you can't find any Asiatics.

Hey off_ltd, I bought the JD S240 from a local JD dealer. I didn't buy the extended warranty because it's basically a waste of money. My final considerations, after much research, were the JD 155, the JD 170, the JD S240 and the CC XT2 LX46. I went with the JD S240 because of the upgraded deck and transmission, which are the same as on the X300, and the Kawasaki engine. I prefer the Kawasaki engine over B&S and Kohler engines, although I will admit the B&S and Kohler engines offered in the models I was looking at are good engines. I've had B&S and Kohler engines before and I never had any problems with them. If I had it to do over again, I would have gone with the JD D170 with the 54 inch deck or the CC XT2 LX54, even though I don't really like the boxy front ends of the new CC lawn tractors. Oh well, to each his own. The 42 inch deck on the S240 just doesn't give me a wide enough cut. I'm not dissatisfied in any way with the S240. It seems to be a decent lawn tractor, although I wish these companies would put some kind of suspension on these lawn tractors. I put a mulching kit on it, the one that has the interior deck insert and I went with a set of Gator mulching blades. It does a really good job mulching and I get a nice, uniform cut. I'm thinking about getting a twin bagger attachment for it but I refuse to spend $350.00 for a few pieces of molded plastic. I won't buy it unless it's on sale at a much lower price. I think the CC LX2 would have been a nice lawn tractor. I think I would have bought it if it had a different style but then again, as I've said, to each his own. CC offers a better warranty than JD.