drennank2000- This forum offers a lot of advice about mower quality, and to be sure there is a lot of insight and experience reflected in the comments. BUT, I take issue with some of the prevailing knowledge. NOT all inexpensive mowers are junk after a couple of seasons, no matter how much you use them. Where 'cheap' mowers principally cut costs are in the wheels and hardware. Engines on premium mowers usually differ only in having an engine with a cast iron cylinder liner vs. the piston running on the bore of the alloy block. This helps with durability, but truth be told, it is regular oil changes and maientenance that really add to longevity. I have two bottom of the line Tecumseh engines that are +twenty years old, used every summer to cut two plus acres of grass and they run perfectly. No cast iron liners, just well maintained. Check out this mower from Sears: Model no. 917.385123, 22inch push. Heavy steel double baffled deck. Briggs SQ 4.5 HP flat head, trust me, plenty of power even when mulching with the supplied mulch plate. It does have cheap plastic wheels with no real wheel bearings, BUT, for an extra 8 to 10 bucks apiece you can replace them with steel ball bearing wheels, available right there at Sears or at a local Home Depot. Quality wheels make a BIG difference in mower operation. AND, this mower comes with heavy gauge steel indexed wheel adjusters. SO, for about a 150 bucks, (the price of the mower), plus another 32 to 40 bucks for wheels you get a quality machine that will operate as well as many at twice the price or more. AND, I promise you, it will last way beyond two or three seasons NO MATTER HOW MUCH YOU USE IT, as long as you perform proper engine maientenance and don't abuse it. There is even a self-propelled version of this model if you want to go above two hundred dollars, but less than three hundred. Hope you find some info. in this post. Good Luck!

I also live in zone 8 - our first frost dates are usually mid/late November. I use both methods - I pot when I dont have beds ready for the daylilies. This year, I have raised beds filled with great soil - I buy it mixed, its a combo of mushroom compost, bark fines and sand. The lilies love it, take off and are growing just great. I have learned from experience not to plant them too deep - I have lost them when I planted too deep. I also grow roses and have found that most plants really grow better when planted in the ground. I seem to buy plants faster than I can build beds, so by necessity, I have a good sized pot ghetto. But I steadily work on building beds as I really think they grow better planted in the ground. If you have the readymade beds with good soil - I would suggest planting them there - just be careful not to plant too deeply.

April Save yourself some heartache and get that spooker up now. I have NEVER heard of and Bluebird or Tree Swallow that would not accept a spooker quickly. A friend of mine on the other forum just lost a Tree Swallow to hosps and she traps all the time. She barely takes her eyes off any of her boxes this time of year. There was no nest yet and the hosps caught the Tres in the box. Please hurry You can make a home made job easily out of anything. www.sialis.org has directions. I have made temporary ones out of sticks. Cathy Here is a link that might be useful: sialis

gwendolynne -- Both Rugmark and Care & Fair are advocacy groups which address issues of child labor, particularly acute in Pakistan. If they certify a rug it is more than likely not made by child labor -- not 100% but probably not. I know this from someone who has traveled there and written about child labor issues. I've linked you to the C&F website below. Design and color aside, a tufted rug is held together by glue, as you know. As T2G says, not every rug smells as a result. But glue holds the nap in place. (This is explained in detail with pictures in an article on the link in the post above.) In hand knotted rugs, strands of yarn are hand-tied around the string grid (warp and weft). Those are much more durable. Tufted rugs will be less expensive than hand knotted as a rule, I expect for that reason. Production time is just so different. Good rugs are expensive, for sure. But there are also a lot of buys around -- both on the internet and in bricks and mortar stores. There are a ton of choices (one reason it's difficult to recommend specifics) but I believe a really good shopper, who nows what she likes, can make her own luck pricewise. Here is a link that might be useful: Care & Fair