I have to chuckle at Wellspring's aversion to my word choice of "display". Her lament is a mirror image of my aversion to the word choices used in the "Its about the journey more than the destination" thread. As long as I can stimulate the thought process, I consider my word choices a success even if an individual chooses to discard them for more favored prose. I will acknowledge that I also am a bit challenged how to best display the house featured in the currently running thread from Tennessee, "Landscaping Ideas". Admittedly, the word "display" certainly is not the first word that comes to mind. If more thoughtful consideration had been devoted before the purchase, the poster probably would have looked elsewhere. This situation certainly lends credence to Colebugs statement, "I get the feeling from reading many of the posts that many of us want to hide our homes, or at least hide portions of them with plants." On the other hand, I understand that personal circumstances often necessitate purchase of these ill-conceived house planning and siting blunders. I am sure that the owner enjoys their home it is just too bad that enjoyment does not include the landscape as well. As Laag so astutely noted, much of this morass could have been avoided by simply putting the garage on the other side of the house. My concern is not that persons aspiring to gain competency with their own landscapes use my term, "displaying". I would rather they use their own minds and develop their own terms. Too often we see folks wanting ideas to copy rather than effective concepts. I especially encourage people to take note of the sage advice from David (Bahia), an accomplished designer with a substantial body of work behind him. "If there was but one bit of advice that I would impart to anyone contemplating the design of a new garden/landscape, it would be to celebrate the local character of the region, to work with it, perhaps enhance it, but not to try and deny it altogether." I could not agree with him more. However, I wish he had told me that years ago! Instead, I had to blunder my way along and learn that lesson the hard way. I, too, started out parroting things I had seen. I was always left less than satisfied mainly because the advice I was hearing came from the east coast; but more accurately, originated in Great Britain. Horticulturally (and literally) the British growing environment is miles removed from my regional conditions. As I have been telling Midwesterners for years now: Gardening is like picante sauce Neither one should come from New York City. In a parallel way, Tony reinforces Davids advice in another thread where he said, "You must excuse British authors for not considering how a garden looks when covered in snow as this is rare in the UK. But if you live in a part of the world that has regular snow cover for a significant period in a year then it seems important to design around this rather than deny it." Clearly, this is essentially the same central thought; just expressed using different words. We always talk about thinking "outside of the box". Perhaps we need to also start thinking outside of the cardboard container or wooden crate maybe even start thinking outside of the packaging vessel. IronBelly

There's no problem with making the recipe without ClearJel. If you miss thickening you could add it upon opening. The issue is substituting thickeners like flour for the ClearJel and processing the jars. Leaving it out isn't an issue at all. Carol

If you keep seeds in plastic in the refrigerator, tomato seeds stay viable for several years. Your seeds are not too old unless they've been stored improperly (like in high heat, for instance). I agree with Helen about Jiffy Mix Seed Starting Mix. It's so bad that I refused to try seed starting mix for years. But last year, I bought a better quality and had great results with it. Also agree about the peat pots. I have had lousy results with them. They wick water from the soil and then dry out bone dry in no time at all. It's very difficult to maintain proper moisture around your seedlings in them. Plastic or styrofoam works much better. (I am intrigued with Cow pots, but have no tried them. They are so expensive. Would love to hear someone's experience, though.) I would keep the seed trays in the light from the beginning. Unless a seed says that it specifically needs darkness to germinate (like pansies or vinca), it's best to keep them in light. The instant they germinate they head for the light and if it's not there, they get leggy fast. Yes. The gnats are likely moisture gnats. They are a pain and reproduce incredibly fast. You can get rid of them by putting a layer of sand over the top of the soil in the pots. They are another reason I grow my seedlings in my basement. (They are a nuisance, but they won't hurt your plants.) Just a note, it's generally said here on GW that the lights should be on for 16 hours a day and off for 8. Plants need the rest. (like at night out in nature) It's easy to arrange this with a $5 timer attached to your fixture.

Looking at photos, I'm thinking it must be graptopetalum or graptosedum, and the parent leaf definitely had colouring similar the one you suggest, Harry. However, "perhaps" (ha) some of the photos are mislabelled - in pics some leaves seem to be flat and smooth across the face (like the mother leaf above); and some slightly faceted and chubbier .... but I've seen both characteristics on photos of both graptosedum and graptopetalum .... and both named 'Francesco Baldi' ...ahhh! Ps. My phone autocorrected on my first search to Francesco Baldini. My poor morning brain is staring at photos of this man like "Uhhhhh, wha?".