Heliotrope Marine, even though an annual, is still putting out new little flower clusters and I love the fragrance. Does anyone grow the perennial Heliotrope I've seen on some sites and know if it's as fragrant as the annual? The second & third flush of rose blooms were great until the DEER ate every bush the other night...bent over the 4' rabbit fencing to get to EVERY bush. There are 4 tiny new own root bushes they hadn't touched before. Of course they had a fragrance rating of 8-10 but that's no excuse for the deer. Echincaea Fragrant Angel (white) really does smell like a rose as advertised. The one Cherry Cleome up in full sun mailbox bed is up to 16 stems...another annual. I wouldn't call its odor a "fragrance" exactly but it sure smells...LOL. When I'm bending over watering or deadheading I ask myself, "What's that smell?" and realize it's the darn Cleome. I sniffed my Joe Pye Weed after seeing it noted but the scent on mine is very light. The bees don't seem to mind the lack of strong fragrance. Again, foliage on Agastache Honey Bee Blue (flowers petered out already) and Scarlet Sage have their scents. Was counting on those beautiful roses for more scent over next 2 weeks. Drat and double drat...the deer don't care about the 4-5 repellant scents I rotate or the fact they had to bend the fencing to get at the roses. I never really thought about missing floral scents this time of year until this thread. I'll have to note what people have said still holds scent and see if it's rabbit and/or deer resistant. How many years before I admit it's a battle in vain and the war is already lost? Probably not for next year since I'm already making notes about what stays and what I need to replace that's more suitable for various spots...LOL.

Amanda, you're not the only one. Shame on us, but as long as you aren't killing or damaging the plant, taking from someone elses yard without asking first, I don't see the harm in doing it. I've been doing it for years and don't feel bad about it either. Never damaged the plant etc. never taken from someone's home. Sure have "helped out home depot, walmart, kmart, lowes in pruning their plants, dead heading all kinds of plants. In july actually had someone in walmart thank me for cleaning up the "ugly plants" by dead heading them, right into about 10 different baggies. Looked the woman in the face, smiled and said, "my pleasure, anytime I can help, glad to do so." She kind of looked at me like a sprouted another head. Got caught collecting dianthis firewitch seeds from a local garden center and was told "you realize those seeds will take a couple of years to grow and bloom, don't you?" I smiled and said "that's ok I'm young and can wait." Got in the car and couldn't stop laughing long enough to drive. couple of years, ya right, mister. My WS dianthis firewitch where blooming in my yard when he said that, the WS ones I transplanted in June 2005. Oh yes, he thanked me for doing some of his work, deadheading the plants for him. sometimes you wonder about these places don't you. and in August I went to a nursery, wanted this beautiful huge coleus, new breed called black night. This one was in a huge 15 inch pot. Marked down to half price they wanted $20 for it. Spent lots of time talking to the guys there about it and they said it is for outside and will not survive the winter indoors. A coleus that won't grow in the house all winter. They kept saying it and I kept thinking "you guys are nuts." almost bought it, put it in the cart, figured I could get cuttings and all. then spotted the seed heads on tons of coreopsis sunray. You know the rest, while I was busy, my friend got very rough, nicely rough with that huge coleus. cleaned up the six small pieces that had the "poor accident", put the injured parties in her purse to "nurse back to health" and yes she's a nurse and returned the monster to it's rightfull place. We have 10 small plants well rooted, planted in pots and growing well. (Yes, she's a great nurse, isn't she?). They look nothing like the original plant, but in the spring out in full light, they should be right back to what they are supposed to look like. don't feel guilty, I don't see where we did or do anything wrong. Just don't post on the aroid forum about it. Fran

I am settled on a mild antidepressant now, but still unsure whether it is really helping. My husband has quit drinking, 3 weeks, now. I only drink socially, margharita at a mexican restaraunt is about the extent of my drinking. My son is taking an anger management class at school, but I think I am going to go ahead and make him an appt with someone to talk because he is dreaming now, the other night he sobbed for a solid 30 minutes after dreaming of my poppa, and he worries about every little thing, he is scared he is going to die, this can't be right for a 10 year old child. March 16th will be one year since he passed, I still struggle, but am trying to be strong for him and my daughter. It's funny and silly but I have a small dog who used to love going down to his house and sit with him and get treats, and now we are trying to clean the house up, and she will not set foot in the house, if we pick her up and take her in she whines and scratches at the door the whole time, weird, i don't know why she does this...just strange. I talk to him all the time and catch myself sometimes talking to him at random times, but it actually helps me i think...not sure, maybe not. Anyway thanks everyone for the advice!!

I mentioned the borders to dh this morning and he likes the idea. Each of the long sides is about 14'. The shot side is about 10'. The other short side is there the 'bridge' is. I'll look at it tonight with dh and see what we can work out. As far as the layout of the living room. As the furniture is now. Looking at the back of the chairs, you are stading by the dining table and behind you, the kitchen. That opening is about 10' wide. Still looking at the back of the chairs, next to the chairs is the couch. And in front of it is the fireplace and the stairs that lead to the upstairs. The couch is about 12 feet long. I would love if it could put the couch where you could see the back, but it is just too big. We did every arrangement we could think of when we first got it so that we wouldn't have to close off the door way (the blank wall that is now behind the couch). Just to give you a little background of the house. When you stand looking at the back of the chairs, you are standing where the carport used to be. We added about 40' to the end of the house about 6 years ago, doing most of the work ourselves. So that is why the layouts ended up a little strange. The now TV area used to be the dining room and kitchen.