Kahlanne, nurseries are indeed supposed to know those things, but there are nurseries and nurseries. Certainly your chances of getting informed help at any of the box stores is not very good--they pay pretty poorly, and are usually very under-staffed, so they can't retain good help for the most part. Some of the 'real' nurseries aren't much, if any, better, but some are very good. As for gardenias, there are lots, and I think their flowering varies. The only one I know anything about is the one that came under the fence from my neighbor, and it seems to be blooming for quite awhile this year in spite of NO WATER!!! I wish it would RAIN!!! Some folks not too far away have had some recently, but I think we've had less than half an inch THIS MONTH!!! About the hardy hibiscus--if you drive around a little later in the season, especially where you can see down the railroad tracks, you will see some really beautiful native hibiscus of several varieties and colors. Plants that look that good on railroad rights-of-ways have to be hardy to some fantastic degree. You could probably collect seeds or maybe cuttings, or even dig small seedlings. I have the native H. coccinea, which has very large screaming red flowers and leaves that would probably get you in trouble if you lived in the 'wrong' part of town (they look a lot like something some people like to smoke, tho' of course I wouldn't know anything about that). But I'm not sure I could really recommend it for anything but a wild garden--it gets lots of seed pods up the stems as it gets taller and taller and the bloomes get higher and higher, and I think it looks pretty weedy after a bit.

before doing the system restore go into add remove programs and have her remove that specific MS update. that .net update has caused problems for many people and especially those on compaq for some reason. If she is unable to do that then go ahead and do the system restore to the date prior to the install of that update. Windows Vista System Restore Guide

Actually, I didn't realize the previous was maxed out until I saw your post...thanks for letting me know! CelticMoon...if you check the "Read Me" thread you'll notice that I added the gel stain instructions. On an off we have receive quite a few requests for it, so I thought I'd add it. There's light at the end of the tunnel, one of our GWers asked about setting up a FAQ and iVillage said to check back with them in March...so keep your fingers crossed! (I wonder why no one ever responds to my questions/comments? I've asked at least 2x before and had other questions as well...but I don't think I've ever received a reply...the only time I heard from them was when I got my hands slapped for starting an off-topic post on Discussions!)

Hi: We also have a log cabin we use on weekends with a wall of windows which have needed coverage for over 2 years. I just didn't want to spend a lot of money for 120" curtains which would fade from the sun. Just last week, we visited Ikea where they had beige linen-look curtains for $24.99 a pair. They were 55" wide and I think 118" long, but they had other lengths. I can't remember the name of them and can't find them on the website; it may have been an in-house special. They had tabs, no grommets, but they did have some with grommets. Dee