LOL, Kathy and Deanne -- I had to laugh and dispute too that statement he made about "not about flowers" or that he was "only a conifer collector"..... Great little tour, altho there were so many incredible features of his different areas. I found it fascinating too that (like a retired teacher) he had so many interesting tidbits of knowledge about his plants -- like his discussion of the types of hibiscus syriacus that he used and their habits, and other info he shared - it was like having a special guided tour that one might have paid for from some famous plantsman. Indeed an honor to have met him. Your photos are great, Kathy - a lot of mine came out overexposed since we were there at the middle of that extremely sunny and hot day. I'll try to dredge up a few of my photos too if no one else posts the amazing green roof shed or some of the other interesting sculptures and combos he incorporated. -Cindy

Sue, thanks for posting these. All are beautiful and what fun to see your pics from the same day and almost the same time. You saw things to frame a bit different than I did and that was really fun to see. I think sometime we need to have all the Idyllers present at some function or other and have everyone take photogaphs so we can all see everyone's 'view'. I also loved the narrative. I still can't believe we did all that driving in just three days! I really love your shots of the shade and vegetable gardens. It was a bit too dark to photo down on the flats when I was outside so I never was able to get a photograph of what was my favorite garden too. I'm tickled you got the pics of the kitties. For some reason I never got around to snapping photos of the furbies. I had a good laugh again when I saw Minou in your bag. She kept climbing into our suitcases as well. OK I guess I've got to get outside and get things watered so I can get off to work. I do not know how the heck you keep up with all you do with a full time job. I can hardly get home and get dinner on the table let alone take care of the gardens and exercise. Teaching a class for eight hours wipes me out. Deanne

I am by no means a cow expert and am learning as I go . I had always helped out at the ranch decades ago but have just been back here to live permanently for the past four years . I have two partners who own most of the cattle and together we ranch 165 acres of contiguous land . I am here full time and they live about 10 miles away . I do not know what breed of cow the new mother is but I can find out . My pet cows or the " house cows " as I call them are Limousines , Black Angus and a Brahma/Angus mix called Brangus . In the 70's we had a lot of Brahmas and today the newest popular breed is called the Beef Master . Manature - if you drive the back way to Gainesville , you have probably driven right by my place dozens of times . Ask your neighbor - Kathy . Tropicalfreak -- Harley is a good boy - most Angus are really very sweet - but I give him plenty of room since he is SO big and I am a small person . Even the tamest cows like to bump me and send me flying at times . Now you are all edjamakated for your trip here in the Fall !

Hi all. Well my "Mary's Garden" is planted. Thanks for the link. Although I had seen it before it re-inforced some of my decisions. I guess the thing that had me confused was that depending on the website I visited several different plants had similar "names". In the end I decided to simply use those plants that were the most hardy to my Zone and those that were most readily available. In the end I planted my garden on Friday with 3 hostas [Blue Angel, Gold Standard and Regal Splendor] planted among Lady's Mantle, Anemonies, Ferns [because I always plant Ferns], primroses [in the sunniest spot], campanula, violas and a small area of ajuga [it looked like a beautiful blanket]. The hostas are a form of Lily and Blue angel fits my theme perfectly. I have room for 3 or 4 more hostas or awesome perenials in the future - a planted a few clumps of annuals as space holders. Thanks for your help Fern