Tricia - This will be my third boy. I'm not sure I would know what to do with a girl if I had one. LOL! Liam, my four year old, has been my gardening buddy since he was a baby. Now that he is four he likes to know names of all the plants, why worms are good for the soil, etc. It amazes me how much he wants to know. We were able to get his garden planted this morning. It consists of white Cosmos, two varieties of Marigolds, Dusty Miller and a pink flowering succulant - all of which he picked out. I'll take pictures of his garden after it fills in (and provided that devil of a dog we own doesn't dig it up!). Heather

Tom: OK, maybe you will have to water. Some pointers that may help. Do you have some kind of SUV? I have a Suburban, so I am lucky. I have been watering about 400 new trees and some that I planted in prior years, If I use my methods and had just 100 or so--"piece of cake." I got a shallow rubber-like or flexible plastic tray that fits in the back. I can line up 40 jugs on this and can re-fill them right there and drain off the spillage out the back of the tray by pressing down its lip. I have another tray in the side that holds another 18. I drive close to me trees and carry them by twos or threes to the trees. For 90% of them I created a nice berm to hold the water, so I can pour it out fast. 100 trees, if they are in rows close toghether, maybe 2 or 2 1/2 hours. With kids helping, much less. No problem! Good luck. If you water them and keep up their strength, they will get established fast. If you see good buds form and the thick leader develop, you are home free, and one good watering now could do the trick. If the buds are really small and the leaders don't show any thickening, you should water more regurlarly until fall, if needed. --Spruce

Aw thanks everyone for the warm welcome back. I missed chatting with you. I used to have kind of a "meh" attitude about Florida and now I can't for the life of me figure out why. It's so easy on the eyes. And really nice folks there - although maybe they're just so nice because they're living in paradise. /Eileen. I hear you about the furry babies. I have been out of town so much lately that my cat is punishing me. ._.' So great that you have 3 sisters down there! I definitely hope I get to retire near my sisters someday. /Poseidon. "I agree, joni is one of those people that you just do not forget meeting." You just could not have put it better. That's what I keep trying to explain to people about her. I can't quite put words to her, but she's one of a kind. /Pug. It is exactly like that. I felt like Homer in that episode of The Simpsons where he is in The Land of Chocolate. All those little planty faces staring up at you, and their moms nearby so you can see exactly what they will look like when they are of an established size. It should make it easier to decide what you want, but really what happened to me was that I suddenly saw the appeal of all the plants I'd previously vetoed when merely viewing them online. Unfortunately Kelly has been busy addressing some health issues. We recently heard she was making some progress and I'm sure she'll be on here again eventually. I miss her too. /Renee. Whoa a vacation with both Bulbophyllums and Hoyas?! That's pretty posh. :) I hope you're able to make it out to Sarasota/Siesta Key. My sister really wanted me to drop her off in Siesta Key while I was visiting Joni but unfortunately for her, she slept in and I wasn't going to wait any longer! :P /Ima. It's a really pretty area, so I think it would make a fun day trip. If your daughter takes you, maybe as a thank you gift, you'll be faced with the same conundrum as I was: what a person's First Hoya should be. I went with polystachya, but Joni's suggestion of merrilli was a really good one, I thought.

Hi Everybody! I can't believe how this week has flown by. Tomorrow is weigh-in day again! Other than more demolition on the kitchen, I haven't been getting my exercise. Actually, I should be doing my step aerobics right now, but here I am instead. The days are getting noticeably shorter, but the temperatures here are still warm. I guess we will be getting remnants of Ivan in the form of rain, rain, rain for the weekend. But I can't complain. My heart goes out to those affected more directly by the recent string of hurricanes. Well, I wore a pair of jeans today that I had not worn for a looong time. They fit, and were not tight. I know that the changes in my diet are really working. Yellowhair--I wonder if we will see Bunny Tracks here. I really love the Skinny Cow fudge bars. My DH is now eating them, too. You know, I have never had problems with my feet. But awhile back when I was trying to take long walks, I started having a problem with my big toe. It felt like it was sprained or something. It was very odd, but it just went away. DH has lots of trouble with his feet. I am sure it is just that we are getting older. Anyway, he has heel spurs, which are bony growths that kinda jab you from the inside. he has other things going on too, and has even been through physical therapy. He says they told him that whenever he is getting pain to quit whatever activity he is doing for awhile. In other words, if it hurts when you do that, don't do that! Kathy--When I first got into gardening and landscaping someone, who was a seasoned gardener, told me that a garden wasn't really yours until you had re-invented it about a million times. Well, they didn't say it quite like that, but that was the general meaning I took from it. I was fretting because the year before I had planted a shrub that I now thought would be in much better spot if I moved it just 4 feet. I wasn't sure it was worth it to go to the trouble. The advice I got was to go for it. I did, and I am still glad I did. And that is still my approach to gardening now. I am always seeing something that needs to be improved and gardening is all about the process. So it sounds like a change will be coming to your garden soon! DeeMarie--Talking about your commute reminded me of when I was doing that. Several years ago, I drove 50 miles one way to work. It took an hour and a half on most days with traffic and all. DH says I used to come home in the worst mood. It is interesting how we get ourselves into these things. I mean the trade-off for a job that you love vs. having more time for activities at home vs a nice paycheck vs whatever. I try not to regret the decisions that I make, but it sure seems that life is all about the trade-offs sometimes. On that note, I will wrap up this longwinded post. Eat healthy!!