Thanks, Nurseryman, I really appreciate that you responded to my query. Right now, the Neon Flash is about 30" wide in one direction and about 24" wide in another direction. I can see it had been pruned. It's about 24" high as well. I would love for it to get 4' tall, the better to shade the sun-sensitive plants I mentioned, but I may have to prune it so that it doesn't actually touch and smush the nearby heuchera. It certainly is a beautiful shrub, and I really look forward to seeing the bright deep pink flowers in the spring. Right now, it has pink flower clusters all over that are about 1" in diameter. How big are the spring/summer clusters? I understand that they are bigger. Thanks!!!

I feed them once on work days, twice on days off. (I only work two days a week, occasionally three.) Either way, I put food in front of my betta one piece at a time since he's so slow about grabbing food, and then I sprinkle a bit more in once the small fish swim up (which they're learning to do rather quickly). I only give them about as much as they can eat in a minute since I like to watch them eat. That way I'm allowed to feed them again later. I mainly feed them Tetra BettaMin Tropical Medley, with freeze dried brine shirmp fairly often. I've tossed in a couple freeze dried blood worms before. My betta won't touch them, and I figure it's good to vary their diet anyway. It's hard to get them in small pieces though. Oh, and algae, but they eat that of their own accord, and I don't have much of it at all. Henrietta used to love algae wafers... I thought she was just fat, and I tried to keep food away from her... But that doesn't matter now since the both of them ended up floating at the top of the tank a bit earlier. First the little one, then the big one, and my other fish started tearing into them. I scooped them out as fast as I could, but they were already so hurt... I euthanized them. I guess the aggression got worse because their conditions got worse... Or vice versa, or both. I really feel horrible when I think about it. It's all my fault. But I'm trying to focus on the fish I do have, and make sure nothing like this happens again.

Highalttransplant, West facing beds can be a problem, but less so in zone 4 or 5 than down South. Remember that a west facing bed will actually have north and south ends. If it is an island bed (not along the side of your home) it will also have an east side. You will have less sun at the north end than the south end of your garden and only morning sun on the east side. You can also plant part shade plants on the north side of any taller shrub or perennial to give them some shade. As your garden gets full (mine's crammed!) nothing is in full sun anymore - every plant competes with its neighbor for sunlight, just as it does for root space, water and nutrients. As you continue gardening you will find that there are lots of places to tuck in part shade & shade plants, although that may not seem possible when your garden is so new and open. You will also learn to create/find/adapt to little microclimates on your property. Half the fun is experimenting - if you want the heucheras, my advice is try em - you can always move them around until you find the perfect spot, maybe on the north side of a tall grass. Vines can provide a lot of shade too. You'll come up with something that works. My Peach Flambes are in my south facing backyard garden but on the north side edge of a long island bed. There are in a curving line in front of a small Mugo pine, Strawberry Candy daylily, a small Blue Spruce, and then 2 Crimson Pygmy Barberries as you move to the west. You can just barely see some of them getting some early afternoon shade from the little tree and the denser shrubs as the sun moves east to west across the sky. P.S. Marietta Gardens is a reliable daylily source with plenty of inexpensive daylilies and lots of Siloams. Click on General Price List with Pictures. Here is a link that might be useful: Marietta Gardens

I cleaned out my history and do see the return of indications that I just visited a site shown in red. The phrase used after submitting a message "Return to the computer help forum" is still that neon green. I may be the only one that cares. Soon I will reboot and perhaps that will take the rest of the neon out. Thanks for the suggestion.