Dave - I was open to suggestions, but was getting so much information that it was overwhelming... especially to a new guy. What I did learn is that I have to find what works in my area and what works for me. That's why I was struggling to come up with a solution of wanting to buy a rototiller, haul in top soil, etc. I personally knew all along what the problem was and it was just to expensive to fix so I was trying to look for the quick fix. I know I needed dump truck after dump truck load of dirt hauled in to raise the soil level... that was going to cost well over 10K by the time I bought the soil, hired someone to spread, seeded, watered, etc. The problem is that the entire area is to low. All the water is running towards this area. Here's my solution, If you can't beat the clay... work with it. I'm in the process of pulling all my fall 2013 plants up and reporting them to #3 & #5 containers. I don't want to spend 10K on hauling in all this topsoil, compost, etc. The spot where my major garden renovation at is low & it needs soil. I can mix all the compost in it I want, but I'm sure I'll still have problems since all the water on the property is running towards this area. Even if you add so much compost that the top 1' of the soil becomes loam.. it'll still fill up like a bathtub since under that is mostly clay. The only way to fix this problem is to build up the soil so the water runs off the property. My front yard is mostly clay... but it's built up that water runs away and I've never had a single problem. Here's what I'm doing. I've already contacted a few companies and got quotes. I'm meeting with them shortly. I'm digging a 100 x 50' pond in the "wet area" I posted a photo of earlier... out of this pond is going to produce 400 cubic yards of dirt (40 dump truck loads) they said. I'm using this dirt to build up the property and slope it into the wooded area of the property. Hopefully all goes well... kind of scared me when they said they need to call in the soil scientists to run tests. It's free dirt & the pond is relatively inexpensive compared to the amount of dirt I would have to purchase. I probably won't plant until I establish all the grass, fill the pond, get the fish, build the dock, build the pergola, etc. I'll probably plant sometime spring or fall 2015 which is why I'm upgrading these #1 size plants to #3 & #5 to give them room to grow. When I do plant these, at least they will be a couple feet taller. On another note Ken - Looks like you may have been correct when you said not to give up on the ones you think I've lost. Most are still dormant... but one which I'm sure was gone now has soft buds.

Melissa, We went to Tulsa today and it was raining when we left and raining when we returned. My husband said he is now suffering from hydrophobia. The worst part was from Afton toll gate to almost Big Cabin. Cars and truck were pulled over on the shoulder because the visability was so poor. South of there it was OK. My husbands sister lives in an assisted living home in Colorado and she normally comes once a year for a visit. She likes to take the bus because she can go to the first relatives in Arkansas, then they take her to the next, then we pick her up. She was scheduled to leave Joplin today. Of course, I couldn't get any info from Joplin but finally did get a recording that said there was no service from there. So we took her to Tulsa and she is on her way home. Craig county is getting it worse than we are and mesonet has recorded 9.63 inches since midnight. Our mesonet reading is 4.58 since midnight but we have been in the donut hole a few times with the heavy stuff not coming right across us. We are getting heavy rain right now but it looks much worse down in Cherokee and Adair county, so I think they will get a lot of rain tonight. The Cheapo Depo area was OK when we passed, but we didn't go down the street by the park. You can probably fish the park from the McDonalds parking lot soon. LOL I checked the lake level this morning and again tonight and it has come up a little over a foot with 9 gates open. The flood control pool is only at 26.68 percent so that looks OK. There is not much coverage of the tornados that touched down in Delaware county because all the reporters seem to be covering Joplin. I have seen several different reports of damage in Cleora, West Silome, Zena, and some more structure damage on 412. At first they were saying Flintridge, but I never heard that confirmed. You guys be very careful because I think we have another night and day of this. There are flash flood warnings everywhere in NE Oklahoma and NW Arkansas. My plan is to be at home until it is over.

I have some word signs. Hand made on reclaimed wood with a bible verse that is important to me and another with a saying that means something to me. I have noticed that word art is everywhere. I am not a fan of most of what I see in stores because I like that I made my art myself with words that I thought about before using and hanging on my walls. I do have one "store bought" sign (it's just the word FAMILY) but I bought it bc it is the perfect shade of red in a room that needed one more red item. When and if I find something else to take its place in the future I won't feel bad about replacing it because it didn't cost much. I bought it at Homegoods. I didn't think my signs were pedestrian. But this isn't the first time that reading a thread has made me realise my decor choices aren't cool, original, or in vogue at Gardenweb. Regardless, I love what I put on my walls and it is me and my family that has to read them every day...so they stay. If a friend chose not to visit because of the way that I decorate...well that's a friend I don't mind losing.

Jali, when I emptied my rain gauge on Wednesday it had 1.4” in it. When I emptied it yesterday morning it had another 2.4” in it! Flood of '65, indeed! I emailed Barb last nite to let her know I had arrived safely—tense, but safe—and I mentioned the Flood of '65 to her! She's not old enough to remember it, but I am! It rained, like this time, for a week or whatever and everything was saturated—and then, like you said, it DUMPED and that was all they wrote! All the bridges in/out of Denver on the west side of town but ONE washed out, including one that was just a couple years old and had been built for a “500-year flood!” I have pics of a span of that bridge laying in the middle of the Platte! Huge sections of I-25 and the train tracks between Denver and the Springs washed out! I still have the newspapers from right after it with all the pics! But I hadn't stopped to think that this was the 50th anniversary of it!!! Cherry Creek Dam was still new back then, and there was near panic on the news that it was going to break—they were releasing water as fast as they could. I lived in an apartment about a half a block from Speer and we were listening to the radio so we'd know when to RUN—and then the power went out! I'm still here—so, no, it didn't break! And 25th anniversary of the Limon tornado! Wow! Some years to remember! Guess you remember that one well! What I remember was I was watching TV weather and all of a sudden the radar went down! Switched channels, and no radar! Switched again—nobody had radar anymore! That's when we knew it was “serious!” If the Limon radar was wiped out—what else in Limon was wiped out! Wasn't long and the channels were picking radar up from the airport, and that's when most of them switched to doppler! Memories! I've been watching Denver radar today, and the forecast, and at least it looks like this is about the end of it for right now, so, hopefully, no repeat of '65! Thinking of you all down in the lowlands--make that WETlands--right now, Skybird