Weather it's Home Depot, Walmart or my favorite mail order place, I have never had problems with radishes. Can you dig down into the failed area and see if any of the seeds geminated? If none (or few) did I would suspect the seeds and buy a new packet from a new source. If many of them did and they just have not broken ground, you may have planted too deep and you can continue to wait for them while planting a new, succession, area. Steve

I was so surprised to see this thread today as I was creating an introductory post in my mind on my way home from work today. I realized that I jumped in a while back with a lot of hummingbird information without ever offering any introduction and figured it might be appropriate. I'm Steve and live in Valrico (about 20 miles east of Tampa - east of Brandon) with my wife and 9 year old son. We're down to 3 cats, all indoors. Rowdy was my cat for 21 years before she passed away a couple of years ago, blind and with high blood pressure. I'm more of a grower than a gardener. Most of what I grow is to supplement mother nature. I plant what the critters need, mainly birds and butterflies. We've planned the initial layout of the flowerbeds but in the end, things grow where they want to. My growing started out on an apartment balcony because I wanted to attract hummingbirds. We bought our home in 2000 and gradually began creating a home for hummingbirds. In 2005, I created a webpage showing before and after photos of my yard. It's at: http://rowdy13.tripod.com/hummeryard.html The photos aren't the best but you get the idea of what went into my yard. I was recently asked about flowerbeds and my response was that I see the whole yard as my flowerbed. This photo was taken earlier this year. Early on, I killed many a fuchsia and columbine trying to force my favorite northern plants to grow here but finally decided to reduce my stress and just let grow what wants to grow with as little effort as possible. Steve Backes Valrico, FL

Dr. that "rescued" us is GP specializing in gerontology -- old folks, in other words. He sees this kind of thing all the time. He's not into heroics -- just quality of whatever life may remain among his elderly patients. It's a different way of looking at things and of treating patients -- really a different kind of person. These Dr.s typically don't make tons of money, but they understand things others don't. Your first clue will be the time Dr. takes asking questions and listening to the WHOLE response before asking the next question. I'll bet your hospice group will know exactly what you're talking about because they, too, see this kind of thing all the time. Every good wish to you and your mom. For me and my family, these extra years have been a precious time. Because of new Dr.s' intervention a decade ago, my mom has now seen and interacted with 4 great-grandchildren she never would have known otherwise, and they're now old enough that they will remember her. Hope you may have your own good stories to tell.

I posted for the 1st time about 10 days ago, even though I had been reading the messages and finding some comfort from them. Today has been really hard for me, as it was the final day for clearing out the flat my parents had lived in for 17 yrs. I was ok sorting out the things, and boxing them up, but to see the flat empty was really heart breaking. But its all done and sorted now and that was real worring in itself wondering if I would get it done in time. My parents were wonderful people, my mother even paid for her and my dads funeral in 2000 so I wouldn't have the burden of sorting it out. They both left this world not owing anybody a penny, which in this day and age doesn't happen very often... To my 2 beautiful parents I love you both so much and miss you terribily XXXXXXX