Thank you all for the warm welcome. I enjoy looking up the Nth American maps and seeing where you all live. I love learning about other parts of the world. Many people who visit Australia do not make it over to Perth. It is a lovely small city and there is much to see in the state but it does require quite a bit of time and many hours of travelling to see enough. Things are much closer together in the eastern states and easier to move between cities. Perth is known as the most isolated capital city in the world for good reason. I will post more pictures soon. I have a friend staying for a few days so have been out and about quite a bit and sitting up talking until late at night so not much computer time. The folded flower pattern is call Mayflower by Michelle Pearson of Raggedy Stitches, a Perth quilt shop. The autumn stars one was from a magazine and called morning or evening stars I think. I made up the corners when I couldn't get the piano keys to go the way I wanted. Once again, thank you for the lovely welcome. This is the first forum I go to each morning and love all the pictures and ideas. Beth

Yep, Blue spruce are very susceptible to pests & diseases when they are outside their native range. It seems the number of issues with this species has only increased in the past few decades. For blue form, I would go with any of the cultivars of concolor or koreana. There are several cultivars to choose from, depending on the dimensions you are looking for. 'Blue Cloak', 'Archer's Dwarf', and 'Kings Gap' are 3 really nice cultivars of concolor. Koreana is most well known for it's "white curled" needled cultivars such as 'Silberlocke', 'Silver Show', and 'Ice Breaker' (maybe the most sought after dwarf conifer), but there are also some nice blue forms as well. Wittboldt-Muller nursery has been somewhat obsessed with creating the greatest blue form of koreana for sale as christmas trees. They have crossed it with lasiocarpa (Sub-alpine fir) and even applied radioactive cobalt treatment to form some of the best cultivars including 'Blauer pfiff', 'Blue Emperor', and 'Blue Magic' just to name a few. Beyond the firs, Picea engelmannii 'Blue Angel' and 'Bush's Lace' have both done well for me so far, but I have concerns about recommending them due to their very close relationship with the blue spruce. Any of the hardy cedrus do well here, such as Cedrus deodara `Feelin Blue' or Cedrus atlantica 'Glauca'. In addition to those, The owner of Katsura gardens in plymouth, ma (best conifer nursery around), has a ~15yr old Abies numidica 'Glauca', that has become my new favorite conifer. I have no evidence of long term success of this species, but it seems to do quite well. Another one that has caught my attention lately is Cunninghamia lanceolata 'Glauca'. It might be marginally hardy, but the really interesting thing about this one is that it is regenerative, which is quite rare, and as far as I known, unheard of for any other blue variety of conifer. So, like yew, this species can be cut right down to a stump, and it will regrow. Making this a nice blue alternative to green yew foundation plants seen in front of everyone's home, will still allowing for annual sheering to keep it's size in check, and is said to have very good shade tolerance.

The application rates. It is an insecticide. I don't know what health or environmental risks may/are associated with it, but recommended application rates should always be followed unless you know something to the contrary than the manufacturer hasn't stated. Do not apply more than 200 lb of TCS GROWSTAR ALLEC TUS ® 0.225 G Plus Turf Fertilizer Insecticide (0.25 lb of imidacloprid, 0.2 lb bifenthrin) per acre per application on residential use sites (i.e., around private homes, apartment buildings, condominiums, non-agricultural outbuildings, non-commercial greenhouses, pre-scho ols or day care facilities). May be applied at up to 400 l b of TCS GROWSTAR ALLECTUS ® 0.225 G Plus Turf Fertilizer Insecticide (0.5 lb of imidacloprid, 0.4 lb bifenthrin) per application on non-residential use sites (i.e., around institutional, public, commercial or industr ial buildings; parks; recreational areas or athleti c fields). Do not apply when turfgrass areas are waterlogged o r the soil is saturated with water. Adequate distr ibution of the active ingredient cannot be achieved when these conditions exist. The treated turf must be in suc h a condition that the rainfall or irrigation will pene trate vertically in the soil profile. Total amount applied cannot exceed 400 lb (0.5 lb of imidacloprid, 0.4 lb of bi fenthrin) per acre per year. You are proposing to apply more than one and a half times the maximum annual rate in one dose.

Hey artemis; a great site you are fortunate to have! Thought I might share something on deer and landscaping in our neck of the woods. First your neighbors are a source of a wealth of information. If you're shy or don't care to go face to face with them just observe what is planted and doing well in their landscapes and gardens. It will tell you a great deal. If you're the gregarious type seek them out and talk to them, the local garden club even, or county ag, extension. Here in Tioga County NY z4 to z5; deer population is I think out of control. Plants that may have been possible to grow years past are not so easy now. You see plants and wonder, how did this fellow manage to grow this, it would never survive at my place. But they are mature plants that were started back in a time when the deer were less. Now they are mature specimens and mostly tall enough to be out of the reach of deer. It is very hard to tell what the deer will eat and seems to very site specific, to the point that things I can't keep the deer from eating, I see doing fine a half mile down the road! Yews are serious deer food on my place, anything lower than 5' is browsed, yet other homes in the woods here have them and they seem untouched. After 20 years trial and error the standbys, as far as the evergreens go, for relative deer resistance are juniper, spruce and pine and box. I often here junipers disparaged, I don't know why, beautiful to me if properly cared for. And tons to choose from, from ground hugging a few inches tall to our native juniper, the eastern red cedar, which is not a cedar at all but juniperus virginiana and can become a full sized and beautiful tree. Every shape and size in between. The same is true for the spruces and pines, of which there are hundreds to choose from, forms, sizes and colors. I keep experimenting and trying new things, lately inkberry; ilex glabra a supposedly deer resistant holly and larch; larix. Such a variety that a completely successful garden is possible with just these few species. Those are the species I can rely on to be deer resistant, as I said I keep experimenting, but with the mindset that I am taking a chance when planting and not to be surprised at seeing a well gnawed stump were a plant used to be. Here's a link to some of the conifers available for the landscape. http://www.iselinursery.com/