I'm not usually a plant-first, read-info-later kinda guy but now that I have a big yard with full sun I have kind of gone off the deep end - for all the same reasons everyone mentions above. Just the other day I was showing someone my new kiwi vine trellis system. They asked how much fruit you can pick from one vine. I read the book and it said 150 lbs. I then counted out my vines = 5 females, 2 males. Do the math. Keep in mind that only TWO people live in this house. Recently I gave a "backyard fruit" talk to a local garden club. I showed them my species list - neatly typed, single space, each line showing common and scientific names and where and when I bought the plant. My list was four full pages long!!! My garden is only 1 acre. No surprise they asked me to come back and give a "pruning" talk.

And I thought I had it bad! Here's the beginning of my rock garden ten years ago. It's due for a major renovation this winter. The rocks are fine, but it has gotten overgrown over the years. Mike

Ken, I am a proverbial pimp what can I say . . . KIDDING !!! OMG I am such a prude I could never fathom. But seriously, looking back and re-reading my OP I can see how one might be a bit confused. My apologies for being vague. I know we don't tend to get personal on here, but Ken did ask . . . so my apologies if I offend anyone. Basically, I have been in a committed relationship with my BF for almost 3 years (in Nov). However, since Pennsylvania does not honor civil unions/same sex pairings (nor do I think they ever will) we are unable to wed in the traditional sense. I don't feel right calling him DH and leave it with BF. But for all intensive purposes we are 'married'. Like I stated in my very first post I moved into his house 2 years ago. We also live with his mother, thus MIL. The both of them have been in this house for the past 8 years. MIL used to be a voracious gardener but fibermyalgia (spelling?) and a myriad of other health complications has forced her to stay indoors mostly. She just isn't able to get outside and do the things she used to, especially with this heat we have been having these past couple of years. We have a 3 story with plenty of room for all of us so it works very well as far as privacy and comfort are concerned. She is incapable of taking care of herself at this point and relies heavily upon us to maintain the daily chores. Which we don't mind and are happy to help if it keeps her out of a home. The house is traditional old school Philly and built around turn of the century. When they first moved in MIL was able to get outside and do more gardening than she can today, but that was almost six years ago. When she could maintain she had bought and ordered all sorts of different perennials to go into the existing landscaping. But over time things declined and now we have what I so fondly refer to as the jungle. Last year was a bit hectic with me moving in and all so I didn't really get a chance to do any sort of gardening. But this year it is a different story now that I am more settled. For the record, I am 27 years old and work almost 50 hours a week for a mutual fund broker/dealer. I wish I had more time to mess in the garden, but at this point in my life I recognize the fact that I am blessed at my age to even have half the amenities I do, let alone a (soon to be glorious) garden to play in. I am not originally from Philly. I grew up on the western side of PA on a 122 acre black angus farm. Pennsyltucky they call it My mother remarried when I was 11 and her second husband has been a farmer all his life. So we moved out there from the suburbs of Pittsburgh to his families farm. BIG TRANSITION from urban to rural. It was a one story ranch in the middle of a hay field and I have horrible allergies (kind of ironic for a garden enthusiast). So for the years before college I was a FULL SUN gardner. My mother always enjoyed my passion as she reaped the benefits of a beautiful garden while I was growing up. It was great because she let me have full reign in the yard. I bordered the deck with daylilies, hardy hibiscus, bear's breach, sedum, the list goes on. We also had numerous containers all around the deck that we would fill with annuals. It was always my favorite time of the year when we went to all the local hot houses and combed the isles for annuals. But then it was off to college to study Economics and with a college life there is virtually no time to garden when apartment hopping year to year. I always managed to maintain a healthy collection of house plants since I could move those with me. But then I got the job in Philly 3 years ago and due to cost I could not move any of my plants with me. So they went to mother and she within the first year killed all of them. But I still love her . . . But now it is a whole different ball game. I am no longer in full sun and must say I am rather excited to live under a canopy of sycamore and black walnut. We have maples of course but I despise them. And good lord don't get me started with the English Ivy, it is EVERYWHERE out here. Gorgeous but voracious at the same time. The creeping green :p I also have a healthy ever growing collection of orchids under grow lights that I started when I moved to philly to put some green back into my life. But that is a whole nother thread/forum. Gosh, this has turned into a small novel. I will no longer dull you with the details and say thank you for reading and as always enabling. Yours, Ludi

Hi Marlorena, There were a couple of threads a short while back about Filroses and importing their plants into the U.S.. I got some mixed messages about inspections and a quarantine that are required (or not). I am still totally mixed up, but my impression is that getting Filroses plants into, say, Canada, is a lot easier than into the U.S. Even Pickering in Canada has had recent troubles with U.S. red tape. I should contact Filroses and see what they say, but negative info about importing plant material has dampened my enthusiasm. Thanks so much for your comments, though. I still need that diplomat with the locking attache case, I guess. Diane