I've posted a photo of the location (showing the blue oak prior to its demise) - it is the tree on the left in the photo. On other properties in our area, we've had some success with dogwoods in locations that don't drain well. But unfortunately, we don't know what species they are, and so are willing to consider them - but any advice is helpful! Magnolias in our soils put up surface roots that would be a problem in the playground - we had considered the magnolia virginiana, but thought the roots would be a problem. I'll look into the Pyrus fauriei "Westwood." I am not familiar with it. Thank you for the advice!

I think your description of the rumors is very good - they ran rampant last spring - and I suspect the truth is much more mundane. Certainly there were personal and professional issues involved in his move. A more reasonable question might be why Hans would have stayed with one local specialized wholesaler for such a long time. Shady Oaks still concentrates on hostas and, though they have expanded into some other plants, their selection is still quite limited. Walters, on the other hand, may offer the widest range of perennials of any wholesaler in the US. I know Hans has developed interests beyond the world of hostas, and his opportunity to explore other plants would have been much more limited had he stayed at SO. I stopped at Walters last summer on the way to the convention and fell into spending a couple of hours touring around the farms with the president of the company. They were excited to have Hans, primarily for his interest in some other plants beyond the hostas... So... without participating in the rumor mill... I'm excited for Hans to have the resources of Walters to explore his interests... and yet as a Minnesotan, I was sorry to see him go. And to remain OT, I like HOSTAS, but ligularias in my sandy soil tend to droop so dramatically at the slightest bit of brighter light or heat, I only grow the species plant ligularia przewalskii. It tolerates dry conditions much better than the bigger leaved, more dramatic ones. It has smallish leaves with neat cut edges, so it has its own charm. Nice companion for HOSTAS.

Ron, I believe that they are plainly ignorant on that stuff. I had volunteered to take care of the park many times but I never hear back from HOA. I had be taking care of it prior to that current HOA board because nobody was really doing anything with the park and I planted 14 trees there myself (previous HOA board asked me to plant them) I would have tried to get on the HOA board but my wife said no. This time, I'm going to ignore my wife and get on the board. She may understand this time though. She doesn't like the fact that HOA is applying poison at the park. Anyway, you'd think after all the work I did at the park, they'd appreciate my offer to continue to look after the park but noooooo.... They decided they want to poison the park! I don't think the president likes the trees at the park. He insisted on watering the park 3 times a week for 20 minutes round year just because the guy (looks like a hippie who had just smoked a joint before repairing sprinkler system) who repaired the sprinkler system said so even though I provided all the info to prove that guy wrong! Of course, I changed the programming on the sprinkler system secretly. Actually, it has been turned off. I only turn it on whenever the park needs it. Usually once a month of all night watering that worked much better where trees actually grew (we're in drought again and most of neighbors' trees did not grow much due to lack of understanding how deep watering really work; I even explained that to HOA but they just ignored my advice anyway). Rest of month, it rained a bit a few times to keep grass satisfied. Crazy...

Well, there are certainly guys that can pull it off but just as certainly, some should stick with kitchen cabs only. My top-of-the head response, in your case, would be "No". The reason being your kitchen guy mentioned a furniture maker that he uses. By that reference, he is telling you he's waffling on the project and my bias is generally to go with a specialist, no matter what the subject. Having said that though, my guy does both but he sticks to certain styles and he has been doing both for 30 years with a huge portfolio of both kitchens and individual pieces. Before I hired him, I saw examples of his work, both cabs and furniture pieces, and went to his shop to see projects in process. I'd have no issues at all with commissioning him to do individual pieces. I started off my work life as a traditional cabinetmaker (read this as we made furniture) in Boston so I feel I have a good background to evaluate quality pieces. Of all furniture, case pieces, such as you need for your bedroom are the easiest to build (as opposed to chairs for example). So, your kitchen guy has that going for him if you decide to use him. Just as you did your research when investigating whom to use for your kitchen, you'll want to fully research the same provider concerning furniture. They are completely different animals. How many pieces has he made, what style were they, are you happy with the quality of his furniture, etc. Ask for drawings or renderings; ask about construction methods, joinery, finishes, design, veneering, drawer construction, wood specie choice, timeframes - you know, the whole enchilada. Once again, you will need to educate yourself as to what goes into a quality piece of furniture so you can intelligently evaluate a furniture maker's responses. There's more to it than you might think. Good luck!