I like the Jiffy 7's too. They always work well for me. For the average Joe who is not starting hundreds of plants these work extremely well in my opinion. Virtually no mess, no cleanup. I use the sprayer from the kitchen sink to fill the tray part way, go through my seed packs and decide which ones to grow, come back 5-10 minutes later and they are popped-up, ready to go. I learned the hard way, if it doesn't say JIFFY, it's not! By mistake, picked up another similarly packaged system a couple years ago, with horrible results. Don't recall the brand, think I got them at Walmart. Once the pellets were fluffed, they reminded me more of sawdust and less like starter mix. The germination rate was abysmal. The Jiffy pellets are always 100% germination...or darn close.

The answer to the title of your post is obvious. We're always delighted to get someone else hooked on hosta. We always need fresh faces. You're right about the water thing. The hosta must have water regularly. You cannot spot water in the ground, because it just attracts the tree roots to that area and they compete with your hosta for water and nutrients. I think whomever gave you the mulch advice was from another part of the country. The only problem I can think of is that it can provide a perfect environment for the slugs, which are a problem for most hosta. Here, it helps cool the soil and preserve moisture. We definitely need help with both of those. It's recommended by almost everyone, including the organic folks. There is some validity to the "wasting away" of hosta that may not be related to the water issue. Below is a h. Victory in August, 2011. Then there is the same hosta in 2014. This is at the Dallas Arboretum. (notice the mulch) 2011 below 2014 below All of the hosta were not that way, though. Some were really a lot bigger. Besides "wasting away", there could be many other problems. We lost our director of horticulture and trial gardens to The Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney, Australia a couple of years ago. He loved hosta. I'm not sure our current director of trials is all that enamored with hosta. So, the sprinklers could be broken or something like that. There are hosta that do better than others in our climate. There are hosta that are more sensitive to our alkaline soil (black or white dirt, red or tan is usually acid) and water than others. I have a August Moon that turned to the ugliest shade of green you've ever seen in one season. I have hosta I've had for years that never show any signs of chlorosis. So a big part is choosing the right hosta. I have a list that came from the Arboretum a few years ago. Let me know you're interested and I'll send it to you. Many of us grow hosta in pots. If that interests you, let us know. They make great patio pots. They come back every year and look great until August, when they start downhill. I'm not familiar with black oak. You can plant under Red Oaks without any problem. Pin Oaks do not like their roots messed with AT ALL. They will go belly up in a hurry if you mess with raising the soil. A good group to ask is your county extension service. You say Dallas area, so you could be in any county. Dallas Master gardeners are at 214.904.3053 from 8:30 to 4:30 Monday thru Friday. One of my favorite photos is below. It's not my hosta or my photo, but it's one of my favorites, anyway. It's tepelus' photo and plant. Let us if we can enable you further. bk This post was edited by bkay2000 on Sun, Jan 18, 15 at 20:19

I also missed the original discussion about this rug. It looks lovely! I've been looking for rugs too, but I'll admit that I know very little about them. I see that it is made of Polypropylene. How durable is Polypropylene? Would this be suitable at an entryway? Kitchen? I may be reaching here, but I figure that it never hurts to ask.... I'm painting my kitchen BM Shaker Beige. Those of you who have this rug and the BM color samples, do you think it would coordinate? I really like all three of the available colors.

You said, DONE, so I assume you bought it. I think it will add a richness to your seating area and let the coffee table really show. I think many of us would have chosen an oriental style, but if the cream swirls makes you happy, then that's all that matters! I think your room has evolved very nicely from when you first posted. I hope you'll post again when it's in place!