Bullsie, it is normal, but i feel guilty when i've visited a large ordered collection. One of the under bench plants is "baby's tears" Ian, i should have commented on your plants, very nicely grown indeed and two species that do best on mounts. Having said that i am reminding you that the word on top of the page is Discussions. If you care to put Arthurm in the search box at the top of the page you will find that i have done just that....taken part in in over 500 discussions. Your insulting paragraph is not appreciated.

Yikes, that was almost 2 years ago. I'm not sure where. It may have been Mason Hollow Nursery in Mason NH. They specialize in hosta with a side passion for evergreens. The Sester's Dwarf reference was also someplace in NH because my friend in Goffstown got one a few year's ago and I was going to ask her where she got it. I also frequent Mahoney's in Chelmsford or Concord MA when looking for something non run-of-the-mill. I used to like Central Mass Garden Center in Lunenburg, but lately their stock seems pretty ho-hum (or did I get pickier?). They do have a lot of it. And Cupp&Cupp Nursery in Littleton, MA was a good source, but they either closed or are now wholesale-only. Cataldo Nursery in Littleton sometimes has some winners. It's hit or miss. And my Buxus 'Green Mountain' isn't working out too well so I might have to revisit this corner. It has a dual leader at the base and i think that may be causing it to grow way too slowly. The one I had at my former house grew much better. And the leaves are often discolored. Possibly a soil issue. Oh, there's also a solid place in Northborough... Bigelow's Nursery. They sell wholesale and retail. Pretty huge place. I've only been there a couple of times. Oh yes, and the "cadillac" of MA places is Weston Nurseries - Hopkinton or Chelmsford. What are you looking for?

"I can't say I dislike them but I know they are fussy and prone to many disease" I read that description of redbuds from time to time in these forums and it's just not true. I don't know how that belief got started. Redbuds are quite tolerant of a variety of situations. Sure if they are unhappy in their location, it makes them disease prone but you can say the same thing for almost any other tree. I think they are strikingly beautiful. Their spring display of flowers is truly excellent and their lavender flower color is somewhat unique as are their heart-shaped leaves. The fall color is a excellent yellow that contrasts the bark color especially after a rain when the bark looks black. I have two redbuds on either side of an October Glory maple and both are doing great. Since my soil is very sandy, I've been dumping compost in that area for years and the two redbuds have responded with gigantic pancake-sized heart-shaped leaves. Both are very healthy and growing at a very fast rate. I also have an Autumn Brilliance Serviceberry that I would rate highly, too. It's in a situation that would be the closest to your situation. It gets full sun in the morning and then substantial shade in the afternoon although it's not dense shade. It's doing great. Nice show in the spring and another good foliage show in the fall. It suckers like crazy, though.

Gee, Renovator, sorry to have taken up SO MUCH OF YOUR VALUABLE TIME. I confirmed that the wall is load bearing, and in the demolition noticed that the single 2 x 4 header over the existing swing door had a SLIGHT downnward bow in it, which means that that opening should also have been headed off by something more substantial than a single two by four during the original construction 15 years ago. The deflection wasn't (yet) enough to impede or cause any visible problems with the swing door. Hollysprings, still waiting for that method to calculate the load. In the mean time, through some internet research have found that a 2x6 header is adequate to support a conventionally framed unoccupied attic for my rough opening of 49-1/4".