ah yes, Suesette, the Aussies have been erecting their inflated barbecues for the last few years, usually involving massive amounts of timber or stone and an absolutely gigantic cooking area. I know the 'barbie' has become something of an Aussie icon but really..... A shame, as I had hopes that the international aspect of Chelsea would be really rewarding. Sadly, the astounding sums of money involved has restricted any really interesting concepts of design and gardening unless it is a pastiche of native styles, conducted by some TV 'face'. Every so often, there will be a standout garden - a few years ago, I remember a spanish garden called 'Patio Povera' - a really witty and unusual take on recycling and found objects and there was a concerted effort to at least give a nod towards water scarcity, climate change and sustainability. However, the last few years, it is business as usual with almost a brazenly decadent theme of opulence and money (last years diamond garden was a nadir, imo). Bread and circuses! Well, I am arming myself for a summer of unwanted spectacle with the Olympics, the European cup, the bloody Jubilee - I predict my allotment will hit an all-time high as I will be spending a LOT of time there.

hey steve... i have no clue what to advise you in SoCA ... its a foreign land as far as i am concerned in z5 MI ... lol but i hoped you learned one thing.. buying bug IS NEVER advised ... if budget is a concern ... buy the biggest thing you can get in the car/truck .. and in 5 years time.. it will be bigger than buying big.. and waiting for them to get re-established ... you will pay 1/3 the cost.. and avoid the crane .. and it will be much easier to take care of all the variables .... smaller root ball... smaller hole... etc .... and as noted way back when ... TIMING is everything in transplanting ... do it at the right time ... and you avoid a lot of problems with leaf burn.. etc ... the leaves fell off every single tree in my yard in the last two weeks.. up here its called winter ... cant help you with leaf trouble down in nirvana in winter.. lol .. good luck ken

Ken - We aren't slandering them... We're mearly letting other users know our experience so they can make an informed decision and if the stock is worth the price. I've ordered a good 150 plants in the last 2 years. I've ordered from new places and I've ordered from same places over and over again. Out of the 150 plants 10 where from them. They were so distorted looking and ugly that I had to get my money back. No responce through e-mail and when you call they want to give you credit on a future order. I planted 6 of the 10 plants if I can recall... Of the 6 planted only 1 didn't make it... 2 still look great... that leaves me with 3 others in the ground and 4 in 1 gallon containers. A total of 7... you still follow? I ripped the 3 out of the ground... then I took the 4 in 1 gallon containers and tossed them in the burning pile. Most didn't make it, not because of stress or planting, but because I couldn't stand looking at them each time I walked around lol. I understand that their will be some degree of failture when planting, but some plants aren't worth planting to begin with. If someone is going to ask about this company... I will tell them my experience... You don't send someone plants that look like this and offer them store credit on future orders... I know they trapped Whaas in the endless cylce until he finally had enough. I think he ordered from them 3-4 times and each time he called and they gave hime store credit for future use. Frankly, I haven't had a problem with ANY other company... all stock has been healthy. I've placed probably 15 orders through 4-5 different companies in the last two years. Some stock was expensive, some not so much, some cheap. They fall in the mid price range. I did have one bad plant of the 50 I bought over the past two years from SongSparrow. one plant I just had a concern with. I didn't want a replacement... I just called to let them know just incase it turned south after planting. They told me not to worry about it and to go ahead and plant it. In the meantime they will send a replacement just incase that it didnt. Now mary can make her own judgement on this company once she receives the plants. Who knows she may receive great looking plants. If she does I hope she will post a positive review... if she doesn't I hope that she will post a negative review. Whaas got from them looked pretty nice... it all just depeds on their stock at the moment. I'm more upset with customer service and how they handle replacements then the plants themselves.

oh yes, we did an experiment with primer and saw all sorts of bleeding knots LOL. Prince Charming and I are still arguing over the merits of washing and pre-sanding (he prefers a short cut). Luckily we have the pine tongue and groove wainscoting to experiment with and he usually bends to my will.... And yes there is green linoleum, sadly no rooster, rather a curvy geometric pattern.