As a longer term person at this forum, and also someone who does this professionally for a living, I think I can say that there need be no fear in posting with 'newbie' questions, for fear of being shot down. It is a courtesy of sorts to reply/thank the people who do respond to your questions, or at the least respond to their comments in subsequent posts, rather than do a "driveby posting", and never be heard from again. I tend to respond to those postings that appeal to me, rather than answer ones that don't, and especially like responding to posters who show they have done some research already, rather than posting something obvious that they could easily get answers to if they only did a search before they asked the question. I think the antagonism towards newbie posters is mostly directed at those who seem to want someone to provide a free design for the entire garden, rather than ask specific questions about a design consideration, or comments on something they are considering, or simply seeking feedback on an idea. The open endedness of "Please design my backyard for me" is less appealing to someone who does it for a living and gets paid for it, and less interesting than helping someone through their design approach after they have made a first effort at it, at least to me. I'm sure we all have have little idiosyncracies about what strikes our fancy on this forum, and what prompts us to reply, so take this with a grain of salt. It is interesting to see Laag's perspective on why he posts in this forum; to sharpen his communication skills, and it shows. I'd say that my motivation is more about loving what I do, and feeling that I have the gift of being able to really visualize space, and knowing, growing and loving the plant part of design and being able to suggest appropriate plants for the abilities of the potential client. I am quite sure that my expertise is better suited to those posters who garden in California, West Coast and Arizona/Florida, as these are climates with which I am familiar in working professionally. I especially enjoy it when I have suggested something new to the OP, and they further research it and then post about it. This is the "sharing" part of this forum that I find particularly interesting. I also know that it would be a lot more visually interesting if I were one of the ones who posts photos on line of their work, or of the plants that I suggest, but find this a bit too much work on a forum that doesn't respect the control of original content, and appropriates the rights to such postings to themselves. It would seem that I'm not the only one to feel this way, as the few professional designers who would regularly post photos of their projects, such Michelle in Zonal Denial, is one who specifically stopped posting because this forum changed their control of images and content position. As few other designers on this forum have ever posted photos of their own work here, it would be interesting to hear their reasons, as well. I think I can speak for most of the other professionals on this forum, when I say that few are using this as a springboard to getting new clients, and more in the nature of sharing opinions and giving advice, so there is no bias or competition in what gets posted.

Without even a lawn violet, I'm a little discouraged here . . . I was noticing that the "normal" high is 54°F and was thinking that we haven't had it that warm yet this year. But, I see that the nice day we had about 2 weeks ago (1 nice day) topped out above that. Getting to normal would be a relief. The snow that fell yesterday AM melted almost entirely but it is snowing again, blowing horizontal . . . This is shaping up like 2008 when the lack of sunlight slowed growth in the greenhouse and spiked my heating bill. We had a "normal" May - encouraging "normal" garden planting. Then frigid weather set in during early June that killed the melons and more-or-less crippled all the warm-season plants that survived. The exception was tomatoes. I've yet to figure out why 2008 was such a good year for tomatoes! The Summer of 2008 managed to get back to no better than "normal." Nothing to do about it. It's no good crying over spilt milk. No use crying in my beer. Whimpering and complaining won't make it go away. Gotta accept reality if that's the way it's going to be. It can't be helped. Yep, it's shaping up to be an excellent tomato year! digitâ«Sâ¼

I have suffered from kidney stones for over 10 years now. I have passed around 100 stones(yes 100). I have also seen 5 different Urologist. They know nothing! They finally tell you this after they sqeeze as much $ out of you. Finally i did alot of research online and at the library. Their are several types of stone but the most common is calcium which makes up 85% of all stones. These are the non treatable ones. Yes they are genetic and no there is no cure. Taking magnesium everyday helps. I tend to get them less often. I went to my local health food and vitatmin store and found a herbal tea that works wonders. It is a product fromBlue Moon Herbal Products. The bag is labeled Hydrangea Root, Gravel Root,& Marshmallow Root. It has dissolved many stones for me and you can drink it to prevent them. The tea is aweful. My friends call it my swamp water. That is exactually what it looks, smells, & taste like. But drinking it is way better then passing a stone. When a stone passes it is worse then labor pains. At least with labor pains the pain will end in a few minutes. Kidney stones dont end till you get to a hospital and they give you strong drugs. I have had 2 stones surically removed. So i know mine are calcium. I also want to add that certain foods are bad and cause more stones. They say to stay away from salt and red meat. However i noticed that i passed alot when i eat alot of chocolate. Several years ago my DH gave me a year subscription to Ethal M chocolate. I passed alot of stones that year. I hope this information helps especially the tea. It has really helped me.

Welcome to the stomach flu. It is going around like mad now. You will have a slight fever with it. Drink lots of fluids and get rest, it will take a few days to get over. There is a small chance of food poisoning, it has the same symptoms, but no fever. Same treatment. I found the anti-diarrheal pills work very well but will dehydrate you, so drink lots of water or Gatorade. If you don't feel better Monday, call your doctor. Feel better soon!