Ok, ok, here's the pics: Psych....LOL Patience is a virtue! I WILL get those pics posted. I will NOT put any camo around/in front of my gorgeous bench! No, I won't do it. The pics will be CLOSE up, showing DETAIL! :) Mark, did you take a pic of your bench before you shipped it? If so, go ahead and post it and mine will follow later, with the Poo family and garden. :)

Hi, I'm Beth. We moved to Forney about a year ago to be closer to our daughters and families. I am retired but DH is still working and travels so I have a lot of time on my hands. We bought a house with a flat acre of nothing but black clay and weeds. Last year I mainly assessed what was in the ground which as it turns out wasn't much. There were knock out roses in beds that only got three hours of sun a day and a variety of shrubs out of shape and just hanging on from lack of water. The beds and yard are in terrible shape and need a lot of amendments so this year will be spent getting the ground in shape to plant so this year will be one of container gardening. I've never worked with such terrible conditions so it is a little overwhelming. The front of the house is mainly shade facing NNE. Shade is new for me. The back will be where I will have to plant all my roses. So I'm thinking hostas and some annuals in the front for now. We have a pretty strict HOA so I am limited on what I can do in the front. I keep telling myself all in good time. Since I am starting from scratch I'd love to know more about how the swaps work and wonder if I can swap non-plant things. I have some baby roses rooting but they won't be ready for a new home for a few months yet.

Here is a list I compiled of blooming plants that do well for me in the heat of summer. Bear in mind........these might not do well for everyone, but they work for me. I would think they would do well in any hot climate. My clematis have always done just fine with extra mulch/composted horse mature put on the base of the crown - same as I do for my roses. When I first started growing them, I put the proverbial stone over the roots to keep them shaded. When I realized it didnt make any difference, I just used the mulch. I just bought 3 more at Tractor Supply this afternoon. [Nelly Moser, Jackmanii and Rouge Cardinal]......needed some special feed for one of my older horses - came out with that, 3 clematis and 3 roses - Tiffany, that I had been wanting, 2 Sally Holmes, 1 for a friend. Same with Walmart - found 3 Lavender Crush I had to have........good thing every store I go into doesnt have roses! Hope this list helps! SUMMER PLANT LIST: periwinkles [Pacifica red is great] angelonia – dark purple and white show up best purselane/portulaca [does well in pots] – edging in hot sun hibiscus [tropical] – in pots or planted in ground lantana – New Gold is not as invasive mandavilla – climbing vine, loves hot sun plumbago canna Sun Coleus profusion zinnas [like white & yellow gomphrena [combo: orange marigolds or profusion zinnias w/ purple gomphrena] Fireworks is lovely – tall and spreads zinnas from seed [spray for mildew] salvia – perennial greggii [put in drifts or rows] - Blue farnicia esperanza Gold Bells - sun cant get hot enough for this one, blooms constantly blue daze Lady In Red salvia [overwintered well in pot in greenhouse in 2011- Celosia cristata – cockscomb celosia – loves heat Mexican Honeysuckle – justinicia Mexican heather Mexican Cosmos [tithonia] – hard to find, was at ARE Jerusalem sage potato vine [use new bronze color with fall blooming plants] grasses: purple fountain grass ,asparagus fern, ornamental peppers

Gscience, I got my tie-for-best job before they knew they were hiring for my position. I knew they were moving an office to the area where I wanted to live, and expanding its functions. They had taken out a full-page newspaper ad in the Chicago paper that I picked up on Sundays in Texas, describing the projects and the positions they were interviewing for, and none of them were for what I did. But I knew they’d need me. So I wrote and basically said ”when you’re ready to hire for this position, keep me in mind, here’s my resumé”. It worked. So definitely be on the lookout for any announcements on department heads or other HR activity in the areas you might want to work in.