Here's Western-y poetics for ya..... Snakeweed, Shindagger, Horsecrippler, Dogweed, Cowblinder, Rattlesnake Master, Flameflower, Scullcap, Starvation Cactus, Antelope Horns, Mosquito Grass (or Skeeter Grass if you're a real hick), Barometer Bush, Rabbitbush, Winterfat, Mormon Tea, Indian Blanket, Mexican Hats, Scrambled Eggs, Texas Yellow Star, Locoweed, Bitterweed, Scorpion Flower, Devil's Claw, Navajo Tea, Prince's Plume, Leadplant, Indian Tobacco, Desert Spoon, Beargrass, Soap Tree Yucca, Buckwheat, Firewheel, Deergrass. Beargrass and of course Sitting Bull Falls Cardinal Flower. Its not really poetry but its a bit of brief story telling. I'm not in the horticulture or nursery business so unless I need to specify or pin a species down for some reason I use the vernacular, some people frown on this. I do look them up when necessary. Semi-arid, wide skies & flat windy landscapes sounds like it would be perfect for many of the natives around here. What kind of soil, I'm interpreting that you are saying there is a lot of natural peat? BTW, wantanamara is in a primo-de-la-primo spot for native plants-- the Texas Hill Country-- the place is famous for their natives. They've got the Lady Bird Johnson Native Plant Demonstration Gardens and everything. Lady Bird did more for stirring up interest in natives than anyone else I know of. Our highway wildflower plantings, among other things, show her influence. Each year I collect gobs of seeds stored in several ziploc bulk sized baggies with various SW & prairie natives to keep my populations in check since I have more limited space than some lucky people I could mention. If I lived on an acreage, I'd just let them fall. I'd be glad to to send them later in the year for fall sowing, I try to pass them along to anyone really interested in naturalizing natives. Most are easy, low growing & long blooming making them good for naturalizing with reliable color. This post was edited by TexasRanger10 on Thu, May 8, 14 at 18:20

Thank you for checking them out and I knew this would inspire you! Yes I love to be out in the gardens and could spend all day out there, it's a passion that has bloomed. Plantlover49, you really don't want to know the numbers out there and know they have their own special house that they share with the orchid cactus. fool4flowers, that is Blue Girl which got huge this past year. All I did with that shot is hit the reduce the noise and that is what you see. I have another one that everyone wants cuttings of called Love Potion that is really pretty with the pink and red edges. Two more weeks and we will be cutting roses back!

Tina, I applaud your decision to go "Euro". This is my first post. DH is not helping at all. He's concerned with the new roof on our 1920s home. We will be putting on a standing seam roof, my 2 cents worth will be the color. I'm considering a new color called copper penny. Below, I describe some of my intended project, however, I first want to state that although I love wood, I also love the high gloss cabinets. In the meantime (the last 6 months), I've been reading this site and collecting back editions of Kitchen and Bath Designs and hitting the road and internet shopping. I've decided the jalousie windows in the kitchen must go. They are not the original windows. Those 3 windows will be replaced with casement windows with possibly some leaded glass to carry the look of the home to the kitchen. My big epiphany is to take the hutch in the dining room, which has beautiful leaded glass doors, and knock out the back of the hutch which shares a common wall to the kitchen and transform it into a "vitrine" or trophy case/breakfront. I'll finish the other side with leaded glass doors and fake drawer fronts on the bottom to achieve an end result of a piece of furniture placed between the two rooms. I'll also change the windows in the kitchen, restore the wood floors, have gas brought to the house and start moving the plumbing for the sink. Actually, the center of the hutch is now open to the kitchen and the sides are not. At some point the former owners decided they needed to serve boarders in the dining room by knocking out the center of the hutch which allowed them to serve from the kitchen through the pantry into the dining room. The pantry is no longer there, I knocked those walls down when I moved in. It wasn't original to the house, I think they created it in the 40s. And there was nothing of interest in it except old shelves. My other "i-gotta-have" is the Cornu Fe range. I'm dreaming of the high gloss black enamel with stainless and copper trim. The link below shows the La Cornue kitchens using a mix of both high gloss enamel and old world woods. I guess I'm trying to achieve a similar look. I'm guessing it's Euro French Country! It seems to me that the high gloss, although considered modern, could also be considered "Art Deco". And with a further stretch of the imagination, I'm exploring the possibility that my Prairie Style home could support a mixture of old world furniture and some "Euro" cabinetry. Does anyone have an opinion on this rational? My home is located in downtown West Palm Beach. The very last residential home in downtown. It also has more of a feel of a northern home than most homes in southern Florida. Sorry to go on for so long. Any takers on my "Euro/Country" idea? --- Kathy in West Palm Here is a link that might be useful: La Cornue Ranges

I've got a lot of different favorites. Hydrangeas, clematis, oriental and asiatic lilies, and day lilies here at home. At the cabin I'm downsizing. Since I've moved the old trailer out and I'm still in the process of cleaning up that spot, I haven't done much in the flower/plant area. I did plant an elephant ear, and some caladium by the storage shed. I also put in some day lilies. I'll have to dig up the ele. ear, and caladium in another month though to store for the winter. Up there I also have a Bleeding Heart, and a couple clematis. I had to tear down the clematis that was on the deck. It's still in the ground, and hopefully I can dig it up next spring and move it up above. I'll put it on some type trellis between my sisters trailer and me. Her's is becoming a pathetic mess. It'll block the view of the junk she's got setting around. I could go on about that, but it's another story. This is my Sweet Autum Clematis Leslie