Oh, I wish I had thought of GardenWeb four years ago! I rescued a batch of tadpoles from the spring draining of my above-ground swimming pool cover, thinking they'd morph out into frogs and go their merry way. Unfortunately (or delightfully, actually) the spring draining didn't happen until mid-summer that year and the tadpoles I saved got a late start. I had set up a tadpole pond for them on the picnic table, on a covered patio. A wisteria branch pulled over to the "pond" was to serve as their highway out. But, come October, I still had about two dozen tadpoles in various stages of metamorphosis and it got cold. Too cold for a container that held water only 2.5" deep. They can take extreme cold, but frozen solid? I had my doubts. My happy mistake was bringing them inside. You have NO idea how labor intensive it is to raise baby treefrogs until you do it. I ended up with five different terrariums set up, for tadpoles, froglets, and frogs; heat lamps; flightless fruitfly cultures in my bedroom; crickets over the heat vent in my bathroom; and it took 9 months for it to get warm enough and them to get large enough to release. They had to be fed at least twice a day and keeping up with the tank cleaning and their food supply made it a full-time job. In the end, some went to live at Zoo Atlanta and some to Fernbank Science Center, with much gratitude to the herpetologists at both places who were gracious and patient enough to answer all my over the course of their little froggie beginnings. Was it worth it? Well, I did it all over again the next year. LOL I had all the equipment and a lot more knowledge, so I wouldn't be totally lost during a second run. I didn't really plan to repeat the experience, though. I only wanted to see if a spoonful of eggs... EGGS, not tadpoles, would be viable, having been laid in chlorinated pool water. All 48 turned into tadpoles! They were the size of that exclamation point, but just large enough to get my heart. Again. My frogs were Cope's Gray Treefrogs. First year, I lost six out of 26. The next year, I didn't lose a single frog. Of the 48 I started with, most morphed out and were released before winter. I ended up raising the last dozen. That dozen now reside at the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga (thanks to a dear friend and fellow froglet raiser who is a volunteer shark tank diver at the aquarium.) I just found this thread today and can't wait to read it all. I have a time crunch, so I could only read about half before I stopped to write this. Love frogs? I adore them. I'll post pictures from my adventure when I can find time to upload them from the little digital discs to my computer.

Hi back, Gill! Thanks for the welcoming. 35+++! Whew! That certainly beats all the concepts about UK grey skies! They all have migrated here to BC it appears..... :) Agree with you on your other post. Perlite doesn't work for me either. Still in a process of solving the puzzle (looking for a chicken grit in a citiy.... - not an easy task!) Happy Growing! L.

ocimum_nate- Looks like you got the picture posting thing mastered just fine. Nice pix...

You are embarking on a venture that will be years in the making. I started out with no idea of what I was getting into. I visited many gardens and ask for a few pointers and help. No one would offer. Now that I look back on that I now can see how difficult that is to do. There to many variables regarding peoples likes/dislikes, money, time and conifer availability just to name a few. Since you process a degree in Landscape design that is a plus. Do you know what you want your design to be. Do you want to go for the desert look of mulch and focal point conifers. Or do you want a more natural setting of rocks and companion plants in the mix. Either way is acceptable ..a matter of personal preference. Do a Google over head such as this for your place. Study it for design capabilities. Fit form and flow are your primary goals. Start with foundation and property plantings first. Give no thought as to what you will plant. That will come later. With those two in place you can later lock the interior design in place for flow and balance. Start your new planting areas with a foal point conifer. Color is important. 'Skylands' 'Hoopsii' Picea paviflora just to name a few. Everything will play off of it. Some areas can use two or three depending upon room. As you become more familiar with conifers it is almost a given that you will seek more desirable, rare and interesting forms. I always like to see what I am buying. Fortunately I have a nursery that orders the rare and unusual. I have ordered from them for years. Needles to say it has its benefits. I now have access to about anything I want to order. Feel free to email me any time if you have further questions. You will... Dave