Egad, guys! Im almost too embarrassed to come back here! Thank you all for your nice comments, but all I did was start saying hi to people on the Whos Here thread, hoping it would spark a little more posting so Id have something to read when I check in every day. Im really glad that helped pick things up around here, but it wasnt just meit takes everyone together here to make this a successful forum. And in the last couple weeks there have been a few more new people that have started more regularly posting here. Thats really great! A regional forum like this is never going to be huge, and in a lot of ways I think thats good, but the more people we can get actively participating, the better it is for everyone. But a regional forum for our area is really important, because as a couple have said above, folks in Florida or CAor anywhere east of the Mississippijust arent going to comprehend the conditions we live with out here. How many folks in Florida are running around with their xeric list looking for plants! ;-) And Digit made this comment above: "One day, the really really aggressive neighbor (as opposed to the only really aggressive neighbor) bustled up to me with a piece of paper and said, "See, this is what the experts think about it!" (Glad those two neighbors are less involved in your life now, Steve!) Well, thats another of the great things around here! No experts! Just a bunch of REAL people who try to help each other with the knowledge theyve gained by actually doing something. And, since its gardening, theres always more than one way to do "it!" So the more people we have piping up around here, the betterso if some of you lurkers are reading something and go, gee, I tried that last year, dont be afraid to add your comments to the thread to get another opinion into the mix. And if youre really brand new and dont have any experience yet, dont be afraid to post your questionsrather than just reading the answers to other questionsso all our RMG "real people" can confuse you even moreI mean, so we can try to answer them! ;-) Alright! This is gonna get long! So, whats new! Yes, Steve, I got a laugh out of Davids reply too! Emagin: Gotcha! I think youre sufficiently addicted by now that youll be around here for a while! "Loving plants and dirt" is about the only prerequisite around here! And for those of you where its still a love/hate relationship, well help swing it over to the love side! Jali, I check in here BEFORE the weather! Well, unless something totally catastrophic is expectedor I look out the window and see something totally unexpected. I really enjoy your comments around here, too, and ALWAYS think, chirp, chirp now when I see your name! Steviewonder(ette), I want to know how you learned to use the word "dig" in that context! Thats from beatniks in the 60's, and if you have two little kids, youre nowhere near old enough to even know what a beatnik is! Cnetter, get in there and help Steve! He definitely needs it! ;-) And, Steve, Ive reserved my longest comment to reply to your "4-17 at 10:47" post above! After all, you and I are the long-winded ones around here! First of all, were you just sort of philosophizing with a purpose, or has someone said something with which youve taken umbrage? (Dont ya wish you had never brought up that word!) I know Ive been joking around a lot more around here lately now that people know me a little bit better, and I hope everybody knows Im kidding, but....... As you say, its different when youre putting things down on paper compared to when youre talking to someone in person! Now, heres something everybody might be interested in, but I think you, for sure, might be fascinated with trying this! Its something we did in flight attendant training to understand how what you say to people can be completely misunderstood! Have two people sit with their backs to each other, each with a small table in front of them, and give each person a dozen dominoes. Then one person lays the dominoes out in front of them in whatever pattern they want to, and then the second person tries to duplicate the same pattern with their dominoes by the first person telling them where to put them. (Just the patternhas nothing to do with the dots! Turn the dominoes upside down.) No peeking! All you can use is words. Then you switch around and the second person makes the pattern and tries to describe it so the first person can duplicate it. It sounds very simple, but its amazingly difficult, and you come to learn the importance of exactly what you say. (Thats important no matter what youre doing, but its especially important when you doing something like evacuating an airplane!) Anyway, if youor anybody else tries itlet us know how it goes! It can actually be used as a kind of funalbeit frustratinggame! This is another fun thread, Skybird

I've taken the Megabus between Detroit/Ann Arbor and Chicago, and so has my mother. There is only one stop en route, as compared to several stops when you take the train. This bus is the absolute fastest way for me to get to the city center -- faster than flying and faster than the train by at least 2 hours. The Megabus stops right near Union Station in Chicago and picks up near universities in Michigan. The bus is clean, comfortable and safe, but depending on where you board there's no shelter and/or no parking. And there's no ticket booth. Last time I took it they still had a system in place where the earlier you reserved/the emptier the bus the cheaper the seat. I got home for about $1

carciofo! :-) nice nickname you know the meaning right? I came to NY from Chicago to design a kitchen, they call me and say. I hear that you are good can you fly to NY. unfortunatly I don't know anybody :( good luck!

I'm so sorry, but it doesn't look like I will get to more plant part questions. Perhaps I can try it again one month when I am hostess again. Congratulations to Nicole who won our Gardener's Derby Game and to Emily who is clearly first in the Plant Parts Game. I'll get little prizes send out early in June. Thanks to everyone for posting comments, pictures, and participating! We continue to have storms off and on and the humidity these past few days has been horrid. I heard someone say it is so oppressive because of two air masses that came together - all I know is you can hardly stand to be outside. Meanwhile, I'm arranging more times to get roofers and other people out here to evaluate damage and schedule repairs. The roofers can return on Monday which is great. The back part of the roof hasn't been repaired yet and I started getting interior leaks which correspond with where they still need to do repairs. This tree episode has been a nightmare, but the services I dealt had some very nice people to deal with so that has been much appreciated. (However, I'm glad I called LOTS of them because here it is over 2 months later and I haven't even gotten a return call from some of the tree services. I know they are busy, but they need to leave a message or something about how backed up they are.) Here's a picture of my gladiolus that's in bloom today. My plants seem to have loved all the rain. Of course, we have very sandy soil so they don't stay waterlogged in it.