Property taxes can be high here in NC too. I think Gaston county has a lot of crime. Charlotte is wonderful, that's where we go to do decent shopping/dining. Charlotte is definitely where it's at as far as I am concerned. Wilmington is nice but too close to coast, hurricanes. Personally I like Asheville a lot. Lots of art and culture there including hippies. I don't have a clue about the schools in any of the areas I mentioned. I live in Hickory, NC, small city with the traffic of a large city, yuk. Winston Salem is also nice. Greensboro is near and High Point although I don't know what High Point has to offer. Carla

Yeah, when I hear some of the suggestions on water saving like - only do full loads of dishes and laundry, don't let the water run while brushing teeth, etc. I think - "but we already do all that". We don't water grass or use the hose to wash the sidewalk. We have a front load washing machine and low flush toilets. I do water my garden, but only enough to keep it alive. I hardly ever wash my car, drought or no drought. I even saw a suggestion to take 10 minute showers instead of 20 minute showers. Goodness, I almost never spend even 10 minutes in the shower. I can't understand it when people act like it's a hardship that they can only water their lawn three days a week. I would never use that much water on grass with the exception of a brief period when establishing a new lawn. I don't think we could cut our water use by 50 percent on a regular basis because we are already pretty frugal. Knowing you will have to spend thousands to drill a new well if you run the one you have dry is a pretty good incentive. Dana

Rosajoe, I did some searching on the web and this was the best information that I could find. In our area, our plants are threatened with frost and freezing temperatures. When this happens, outside Bromeliads will have to be protected. This can be done by covering them with plastic, a cold frame or a frost cloth. The downside to this is covering plants gets old after a while and you may not always be available to do it in time. In addition, and more importantly, with this method of protection, there will probably be some leaf damage. All Bromeliad lovers know that leaf damage really takes away from the beauty of the plant. The site's suggestion for those who want the plants outside in their landscapes, was this: (1) Plant the Bromeliads in pots; (2) Dig a hole in the desired area and plant the pots in the ground; (3) When there's a threat of frost or freezing temperatures, pull the pots out of the ground and place them in a garage or other protected area until the treat passes. This protected area should provide some light during the day. After the temps are above freezing with no more frost threats ahead, the Bromeliads can be returned to their in-ground spot outside. Mulch can be used to disguise the pot rims and give them a true, in-the-ground appearance. This summer, I'm going to plant one of my pups outside just to see how it goes. I hope this helps. I've also included the link to the, 'Growing Bromeliads Outdoors Overview' below (if it shows up). Hope this helps a little! Bon Here is a link that might be useful: Growing Bromeliads Outdoors Overview

ncpalmnoze7: yes the roots definitely need to get well established and that may take a long time or short time depending on a lot of situations... Mine are actually growing very fast for Sabals and are all pushing out it's newest fronds already, i take care of them daily also. That curves Sabal is just a little curved im getting some very tall twisty curvy trunked sabals in spring also. Ralpf charges a lot for curved sabals because they are much more rare and eye catching and are "not your normal straight palm tree" he says... Jacklord- Thanks haha yea im getting many big palms and going to get much bigger, I appreciate all the comments and concerns! -Justin in VB