Hello, I saw your post on GardenWeb and wanted to help. I'm a landscaper in Texas and would like to help. To protect yourself, I recommend you do a little homework and find out what is involved in the various aspects of the landscape such as the retaining wall. Then you can interview the landscapers and see who is competent and who is not. Once you've sifted out the Gargoyles you will basically have 3 sets of landscapers left, the Ferrari, the Chevrolet and the Hugo. The Ferrari guy probably showed up in Gucci shoes and threw out numbers that sounded like a new house. The Hugo guy probably had a pickup truck that was falling apart and throws around numbers that sound like peanuts. The Chevy guy is the one you want, he was in a nice truck or car (not a cadillac but not a junker) and his prices are not cheap but they are not outrageous (unless you are a cheapskate and figure a landscaper business should only get $5 an hour). Make sure he has General Liability insurance. Ask if he hires illegal aliens. If he hires illegals he is a corner cutter and willing to "bend" the rules to get things done. Ask if he guarantees his product. Ask to see pictures of his installs, get references. YOU are spending a lot of money so don't hesitate to pre-qualify the guy. Pre-qualify them on the phone if you can, ask them if they have GL and will they provide you a copy of it (everybody SAYS they have it, few of us actually do). If they hit a gas line and have no insurance, I GUARANTEE they will disappear as your house bursts into flames. Ask questions on the phone. Remember, time is money; if I have to drive out to your house and do the dog and pony show, I am not making a dime. Don't call 30 landscapers out to dance on your front lawn, 29 of us are going to be wasting our time; narrow it down to 3 and have them come out, let them know you are looking at 3 total. That is good, it helps them understand they are competing (which we know already). If I discover that I am one of 30, I am not interested. If I am one of 3, I am confident that you will make a good decision and I hope it will be me. If you want to get a basic idea on pricing, here is what we do in Texas. Trees and plants for a multiple install (not just a single tree or plant) are two times the price of the tree or plant to install, price based on nursery prices, not Home Depot or Lowes bargain prices. This includes the amenities for the soil, staking the tree if necessary and a guarantee that the plant will survive the install. Remember, the landscapers reputation is on the line, he isn't going to use questionable rootstock, he is going to use something from a nursery that he has dealt with for years, not the bargain basement homeowner cheap stuff. When I hire subcontractors I have benchmarks that I use, I know if he sasys he can do cement for $3 a square foot he is probably not competent. If he says $9 a square foot I know he is subcontracting it out himself or he is wearing Gucci shoes. Retaining walls. If the wall is more than 4' high it must be engineered, that is, it has to be designed by an engineer or else it will certainly fail. Soil type is also very important, if your soil is loose you may neeed a concrete footer. If your soil is hard you can simply install an aggregate base. Don't forget to put drainage behind the wall or else it will hold water and will push out or even fall over in the rain. Roughly figure on 2 times the cost of the material for simply installing the blocks plus the price of your footer ($7 a square foot for a cement footer and about half that for a compacted aggregate footer). You should come up with a budget though but I understand that you don't have a point of reference yet and that is why you have posted here. I hope this helps, remember that my prices are for Texas and may not be relevant elsewhere. Al

Ok...say I want Lord Anson sweet peas. What I would first do, is post a Want thread with Lord Anson in the subject of posting line....and let it ride. If I didn't get any replies, then I would do a search of members lists, and see if someone might have it. I'd then check their want list, and send them an email requesting a trade, offering one or some of their 'wants, or else ask that they check my list. I've gotten 2 cold emails this week, and have not had the time to check them out really well....too many plant trades in different stages this week and early next week. I think both might be for plants...where they saw me 'offering' them up on someone else's thread. I'll check them out better when I get a little more caught up and maybe trade, asking that they mail first. They may turn out to be some really great trades.... Sue...who loves to see the mail lady pull in with 'boxes' to deliver. Here is a link that might be useful: When trading don't forget to check the Rate and review Forum............

Thanks for the link; I'll check it out later. How are the free e-journals progressing? Are the editorial standards as vigorous as for the top-flight print journals? Springer also offers a sort of "best of..." service, in my case I chose Crop Science, articles garnered from an array of their journals. Unfortunately, the notification is monthly and fewer than a dozen articles are posted to me with each email. I had better response from BioMedNet and other similar sites. At one point I received email notifications of a half dozen journals from Springer and could access abstracts. Too often abstracts were not available so I could only access the first line or two of the papers at best. Not very useful or enlightening.

I don't find the original nearly as offensive as some. First of all, an artistic rendering of a mythological story. It's a glorious work of art. The photograph does not reflect the "story" of the original sculpture-- and yet is beautiful in its own right. Outside of the context of the original work, you see strong masculine fingers pressed into delicate smooth flesh. It is absolutely suggestion and (to me at least) speaks of passion. I love it.. and yet, *I* would not hang it in a family room. Why? Well because the mood I want to create in the family room is one to reach multi-generational guests. Kids. Grandmas. Self-conscious 13 yo boys. I don't drop F bombs or pull out R-rated movies when the family gathers either. Am I prude? Far from it. Do I not appreciate the art-- or do I want to hide art (clothed and not) from the younger nieces and nephews? Absolutely not. But when setting a mood and tone with decor, I believe you must think of your audience. If your audience is just you and your mate-- well go for it!! I once did a Paint-by-Numbers painting for a charity event-- each artist started with the same Mona Lisa PBN page and was to give it their own artistic slant. I painted a younger Mona.. with a velvet robe revealing a breast. Now, I am not a great painter but I did a pretty awesome job on some parts-- including the breast. My mother cried when she saw it-- she loved it and was just so thrilled that I'd returned to my art (it was the first thing I'd painted in about 35 yr). She so wanted the painting that I ended up making a donation to the art center and giving her the painting... but only after she promised to keep it in her bedroom or somewhere only she could see it. What she never knew was that, with the help of a mirror, I was my own model! hahah.