Some people would see a bag a beans and others would see a bag of SEEDS. lol My kids taped zip lock bags with beans and a moist paper towel in them to a window at school for an experiment. It's a good way to see how the roots grow. Are you planting beans NOW? I haven't done a lot of veggie gardening but I would think that it's too late in the year for those. Good practice for next summer though if it is. I've been planting more and more edibles and just scatter them around the yard since I don't have a traditional vegetable garden. I've saved seeds from store bought melons several times to grow. Sometimes our grocery store will have unusual melons like casaba, canary or Christmas melons and it's a good way to give them a try without spending much. Do you have a special recipe for 15 bean soup or is it the ones that come with a seasoning packet in the bag?

I used western and streambank wheatgrass in the front (with glue grama in the hellstrips) and sheep and creeping red fescue in the back. Instead of using glyphosate, I just stopped watering for the month of August (highs mostly in the 90s, no rain). Not all of the grass died (should've used glyphosate). I seeded on 8/30. The grama came up first (surprisingly). I presoaked the wheatgrass seeds and they came up much faster and higher germination rates than years past. The wheatgrass is coming in pretty strong, with a few areas that aren't all that thick, but most of it pretty good coverage. It's even coming up in the areas where the existing lawn didn't die. Both of these wheatgrasses are rhizomatous, so they'll start spreading (maybe not until next fall, since they often spend a year establishing extensive root systems). I'll also be dormant seeding. The sheep and creeping red fescue has come up, but not as thickly as the wheatgrasses. The sheep fescue is a bunch grass (although it is supposed to tiller aggressively and spread some that way) and the creeping red fescue spreads via rhizomes, but not all that quickly. I'll be dormant seeding with more sheep fescue, so maybe I'll get better coverage. The back yard has more shade, so more of the existing lawn survived the neglect, anyway. Overall, I'm satisfied with it. I'm going to try watering only once or twice next summer (we get almost no water from June through September) to favor the native grasses over what's left of the traditional lawn.

Our landscape advisor is trying to talk me out of putting an Elderberry Black Lace at a most-prominent corner of our house, to be an anchor plant. She says they haven't had good luck with them, and suggests a Ninebark instead. The Ninebark are nice - but the Black Lace looks amazing! I'd much rather use it, if I had good hope that it would do well. I'm ~60 miles south of Minneapolis-St. Paul. So, I'd appreciate any thoughts. Has your Black Lace Elderberry achieved its mentioned full height of ~5 feet? If it dies back in winter, will it re-achieve that full height the next year? (I will likely buy a 1-gallon plant.) Is there a best time of year to plant it? Thanks in advance for any feedback! Rose

I've been continuing to learn, read and explore all the wisdom here. I tried to figure my question out from old posts. Other than some hints here and there, I haven't really found a thread that "collects" reliable online sources for tile. We've been to local specialty tile stores. We've been to the big box stores. I've got some specific tiles I'm interested in. But I've got to manage the cost ... The installation cost is a given. Because of where we live, I'm convinced we'd be fools not to put in a heating layer. Costs a bundle. I'm trying to get a competitive price on that. But the only control I really have is the tile itself. I'm interested in several: 18" Mannington Serengeti 'Safari Sunset' through body porcelain. Best local price, so far: $5.13 / $5.52 after tax 18" Daltile Continental Slate 'Egyptian Beige'. Through body porcelain. Best local: $4.34 / $4.67 after tax. Can get this one from FastFloors.com for $3.65, I think. And the other is another slate-look from Emser, I think ... My question isn't really about the specific price. I'm more curious how others shop for tile and get a price you felt good about. My project is for 600 sq ft (includes 5% for waste). So ... How did you do it? Did anyone use an online source? How did that work for you? If anyone knows the two tiles I've mentioned, I'd love your feedback. Thank you! Wellspring