butterfly4u, what a beautiful post and I have been remiss in thanking you. If you arrived in '08 then you have been sorely tested as a gardener in a new area, particularly sandy areas. Those recent years of the most extremes of drought were so hard on plants trying to reacclimate to this new region. I hope you were able to baby and save your Pa. favorites. So far I've only been able to settle in one shrub I moved. I'm such a beast to my plants. This stunning Sunrise spirea was harshly dug and plopped into a large plastic pan used for mixing cement. Still in its pot but having rooted and grown happily where it stood at the other house, I managed to get it hauled over to the new location and then hoped it would forgive my rough handling. True enough, it leafed out..was grateful for infrequent watering and (still in its pot) has been placed in a location I hope replicates the sun and ground water conditions it liked before. Siting these bigger moved plants is tough because all the best locations seem to be covered by centipede grass I have to skive off before I can dig a decent sized hole. A two day job. I just thank goodness I'm not dealing with deeper rooted Bermuda turf you can never truly eradicate from where you want to plant shrubs and perennials. This first spring is magnificent with discovery of flowering shrubs and bulbs on the property. Did you buy a newly constructed home or an established property? This is my 2nd established property, the previous two being new construction. Quite a difference in trying to site with no trees for shade vs monstrous hardwood trees that have been cared for and limbed up to allow dappled shade. Maybe next year when I'm planted and settled I will offer to host a plant swap in the Charlotte area. Tables out under the trees of the front yard , food and a chance to meet.

All, Couple of observations on my first year of Oklahoma gardening: 1. My watermelon and cukes were growing like gang busters but two, two week vacations out of town may have toasted them. The watermelons have stalled out and haven't grown any larger than softballs. The cukes started out great and then 1/4 of the small cuke ballooned up but the rest stayed small and then turned yellow. They're looking pretty sad so I may pull them and try again. 2. Sweet potato vine grows like CRAZY in our front yard. I just mow it down as it enters the grass. 3. Our raspberries are growing great but have only produced TWO raspberries. I wonder if they'll produce better in year two. 4. Our pepper plants have stayed fairly small, leading to sunburn, and most of the peppers have been composted. The exceptions are the jalapeños and "Big Jim." 5. Our tomatoes, the cherry size, are producing well and just keep getting larger. We planted some yellow tomatoes that we weren't impressed with but have come back and I just picked 5. 6. The drip irrigation system I tried to install in the garden boxes is more trouble than it's worth. I may just go to full size drip hose, which we used in the front yard under the mulch, and seems to be working much better. I'll need a pump to increase the pressure from the 550 gallon water catchers which have stayed full all year. The pump would also allow me to use a sprinkler to water the back yard. 7. We're going to add the shade garden, and replant the backyard grass (half bermuda in the sun, and fescue in the shade) this fall. I'd really like to plant some more crepe myrtle and Oklahoma rosebuds as well but we'll see. Alexis, how is your shade garden working?

Hello all:) Memo, Look south, I'm waving at you:) ( I live somewhere south of memo in Nebraska.) I love the plans that you are making, they sound great. Don't forget to go to the nursery in O'Neill, they start all the plants there, call them and ask for a tour, we went with the school kids in May and got to see all the pointsetta's that they start each year. Nicki, Your pics are making me drool. Believe it or not I went out and dug some carrots that I forgot last summer, I even added to a garden bed, digging down deeper. But now I see we are getting snow tomorrow, glad I left all the leaves in place. So I am jelous about growing veggies right now:( I think that I have the start of a potager in my front yard. I have a space that is bordered by the sidewalk and driveway on all 4 sides. I dug out all the grass and have strawberries, dill, fennel, will have lettuce and radishes come spring. I hope to figure out more to add, but it is kinda shady. Stacie potager-wannabe

Hi all, My windows arrived!!! House was bustling with activity yesterday as they started installation, laid sewer, water and electric and poured the basement floor!! Jackson...so sorry to hear about your beautiful stone. Will keep my fingers crossed that you find something that you like even better. Robyn...congrats on passing inspections! Your insulation looked perfect so am not surprised! This next stage things will really start to come together...you must be excited! Amberm...you are getting so close to starting. We had so many delays and restarts that until that hole was in the ground I never really believed that it was going to happen. Our permits took 7 wks and thanks to reading all the stories here it sounded like it was not that bad even though it felt like forever! I think it was you that said you were building in a city in Canada...which one?? I grew up in Canada (Toronto & Calgary) and still have lots of family throughout the country. Hoosier...your concrete looks great!! It must be so nice to be able to supervise from the house (pj's and all) then having to trek down there everyday. Musicgal...you need to start packing and get into that beautiful new home! Carson...your neighbor sure puts things in perspective. It is so easy to get caught up in the not so important things in life as you build and a reminder like that really helps put things back in perspective. Hope she is ok. Jdez...I laughed so hard over your permit office comment that I almost spit my coffee out! The permit office did miss a few things...like support for a bump out window...it was in the garage so we were able to roll with it and create a cool window box to break up that wall. Caben...plaster looks good and that stone will look great under the raised bedroom. Autumn... Like that tile...it is nice and simple and should go beautifully with your counters. Jenniekehr...sounds like u are on a similar time frame to a few of us. What is going on in your build now? Here are some pics of my windows going in as I know how much u all like pics!! Front