Colleen, It may surprise you - it did me - that many that are named candicans are actually v. fallax. I wouldn't say that it's wrong, but if loving big Agaves is wrong, do you want to be right? Mara, Too right you are. I am, sometimes. Greg, Each time I go I have that feeling - you got to bend a knee. Chad, Yes, it's really nice as I look at it for a sixth time. Paul, I'm with you there. Rosemarie, Yes, that's it - I think they'll have me again, because I amuse their puppy. hoov, And they let me operate tools this time, but I was a willing participant. Mathew, That's not the real hidden Ariocarpus, either. Christopher, They actually try to give you more plants than one has pockets for. Plus they're such good growers that they always have two or three of one plant. Gay, Me, too (it will be in May). So that's where they got to - I know I was missing them, but I thought Scott confiscated them on account of my rooting ineptitude. I was really wondering about the Agave on the right, since we took so much care in getting it. I can't wait to grow it (again!).

Thanks, John. It's heartening to hear that a pro thinks highly of the project, since it took so much blood, sweat, and tears (and money) to do it. The deck was part of a pretty huge remodel/landscaping project, which I spottily documented on a side section of the blog I've been writing since our son was born - you can see more photos about the construction process and the landscaping that went along with it than you'd ever care to see at the link below. (Josh, BTW, is our son; I'm David. I'm not REALLY as obsessed with the little booger as it sounds, I've just gotten used to using my daddy-ly identity as my online handle.) Vents would surely be a good idea - probably something we should have thought of in the first place. Our contractor was and is very good, and had done a number of decks before, but nothing like this, and his main business is high-end home remodels, not decks. I shudder at the thought of retrofitting the vents in the HardiPlank (the stuff is a pain in the butt to work with, and messy), but I'll put some noggin time into figuring it out. I can't imagine the moisture/heat differential between the top and bottom of the planks, either in winter or in summer, is particularly good for the wood, and it might explain some of the early cupping and general movement. (Keeping the posts plumb and square is another problem, since the 4x4 ipe moves a lot more than the supplier advertised; he assured us that it doesn't move at all once it's in place, when in reality it's been twisting and shimmying like a belly dancer.) Just curious - why did you retire from answering outdoor finish questions? More hassle and controversy than it's worth? Incidentally, in case anyone out there is paying attention, I love the purpleheart, and no doubt the deck will outlive me - the Atlantic City boardwalk was supposedly made of the stuff back in the 70s, and is still just fine, in a much harsher climate than ours. But the expense was far above and beyond what we could have imagined in our worst fears, not in initial material cost, but in labor. It's just so difficult to work with and hard to fasten that the costs blew out of all budgeting and were hard to contain. Part of that was the contractor's inexperience in working with the stuff, and part of it was the complexity of the design, but be aware when you're doing a comparison with more traditional materials (redwood, cedar, composites, etc.) that the up-front cost is the least of your worries when dealing with these super-hard tropicals. Just my two cents' worth. I love it, and we wanted wood, not a composite, and didn't want to be replacing a redwood or cedar deck in ten or fifteen years, but we weren't prepared going in for what it would take in all-in cost. Here is a link that might be useful: Remodeling/landscaping album documenting the process

I'm a chemist by schooling, and find all this a great review however...right now I have a brand spankin' new ipe deck that I wanna get cleaned and treated to look rich and deep. Cost is no issue. I want to do this right and get started off on the right (correct) foot. What is the best method, the best product(s) and the best tools to use to get the deep, rich wood look that will protect against fading? The deck will get tons of sun. I'll treat it twice a year if I need, but I gotta figure out what to use! Thanks.

I'll have to see if i can get hold of fresh mint. My house is not conducive to growing stuff inside (or outside for that matter), because the only room where there's a table at the picture-window on south side, is a big, drafty room, which gets sunlight mostly in the winter (because other seasons, its shrouded by trees. My one foray at trying to plant a garden in one of the few sunny areas in the backyard, was horrible. For one thing, it probably took a toll on my fingers and wrists (i have arthritis and trigger finger) by using an augur drill-bit which wound up hitting such extremely tough tree-roots, and boulders, that it proved impossible to clear that plot. But even worse, was that i developed a horrific case of bodywide poison ivy. Long story, but suffice that there's no gardening gloves which fit my small hands (ditto in that i need little-boy socks for my feet), and because my hands were sorta flopping inside the gardening gloves, i discarded them in disgust, because i couldn't maintain a good grip on the drill. Voila! Major poison-ivy was the result. BTW, my finger arthritis was further worsened at a physical-therapy center, where they had me pulling on a rope as part of their "therapy" regimen. But it more resembled one-size-fits-all primitivity.