Just for the record the north east area of Indiana has been hit with sever outbreaks of tornado since the 1950's. In about 1961 there was an out break that spread tornadoes over most of that area. In that one I spent my summer of reconstructing houses that had been damaged by the tornadoes. Several years later another out break completely cut the power to the city of Fort Wayne as tornadoes took down all of the main power lines in all direction of the city. I was in College for that one and had trouble get gas to get to school, as there was no power for the gasoline pumps. People start worrying about global warming when their insignificant portion the the earth experiences extremely high or low temperatures or when when a couple of random tornadoes occur. The surface of the earth can be calculate by the formula: Surface Area of a Sphere = 4 X pi X r^2. The radius of the earth is 3964.14 miles. So you can figure how insignificant the area you live is and its effect on the earths climate.

Here's a link to the thread: La. and Ms. forum

HI! I've just begun 2 different books. The 1st will be about private louisiana gardens. The second, Mississippi private gardens. I will be spending the next year touring and taking pictures in these states. I live in West Monroe and know of plenty of gardens around here. I need help discovering private flower gardens that will "fit" with my theme. My daughter lives in New Orleans-so got that covered as well. I'd appreciate it if you have or know of any personal flowering gardens, or unique private gardens in Louisiana or Mississippi that would be willing to allow me to photograph them. Proceeds from these books are going to be used to plant gardens at the Church,Temple,Synagogue or House of Worship with the winning draw from each state. Thank You for your help. Ginger Solberg my e-mail is gingergaia@yahoo.com Please include 'garden book' in subject.

I would suggest Louisiana irises for a foundation planting. They look great all year round, evergreen, lush but tidy. Not a very long bloom period, but I think you'll prefer having a foundation planting that never gets scraggly at any point of the year. I have the "Black Gamecock" variety along the west side of my house in Houston, and have been very happy with them. They come in a lot of colors. Bulletproof, very happy with wet feet (which so many plants hate), and after the first year I basically never water them. All I do is pull out some dead leaves once or twice a year. Agapanthus could also be good--I see it here a lot planted in a similar way, but I don't have it myself so I can't speak to how easy to grow they are. Don't bother with lavender--I can only keep it alive in pots. It can't handle any sogginess at all. Check out salvias (but not all of them!), coneflowers, inland sea oats, and native hibiscus (aka swamp mallow--does that sound like LA or what?) for a cottage garden look in a gulf coast reality. This ain't England, so don't be imitating those pretty little houses on Masterpiece Theater. I agree that you shouldn't change the grading. If you really must, definitely get a company specializing in drainage to do the work, not just a landscaper--and not the cheapest one either. Gulf coast houses live and die by good drainage. Don't do anything until the autumn, except spread Microlife 6-2-4 fertilizer to activate the biology of the soil. It's really too late to plant at this point--3/4 of whatever you put in will get fried.