Despite the original posters overly extensive post, with certain questionable content, the central point is still quite vaild. We as a nation spend more money on grass than on any other crop. That by itself should be reason enough. Read up on the history of lawns and you'll find that they were orginally created as a means of demonstrating wealth (aka, I have this big area and I can afford to do nothing with it except grow grass I can't eat) Regarding the comments of junegem13 and zachslc, you might want to read up on the legal history of this movement. As it turns out, most weed laws (ones based on hight, not on noxious weeds) are unconstitutional. Nonetheless, if you are in a city or subdivision and decide to do a wildflower meadow where there is not an reasonable ordinance, then you should notify your neighbors and the city about why you are doing and the legal preceedants. The EPA has all this information. Regarding property values, that was the original complaint neighbors made against one landowner when she converted her lawn into meadow. When they were unable to demonstrate an actual decrease in property values, the city ordinance was ruled unconstitutional. Afterwards, the neighbors decided if they couldn't beat her that they'd join her and replace their own yards with meadows. Property values in that one neighborhood are now some of the highest in the city (Specific names and places, are available if you want them). Time and time again, lawn alternatives done correctly have shown to raise values, not lower them. In Charlottesville, VA local government is working on an ammendment to exclude native meadows from our weed ordinance. Other cities are doing the same very quicky, especially since the weed ordinance as written by many localites constitutes a legal liability to local governments.

Guys I have been following the Wollemi story ever since it broke, here in Australia. My specimen is now about 7 yrs old and going great guns. We had a VERY wet summer a couple of years ago and the growing tip looked like it was dying. The following spring it was a bit slow in getting going again, but when it did, it put on three leaders and a couple of new shoots from the base. With 5 active growing points, it was definately slower growing, last year, compared to previous years As posters have pointed out, there is very limited genetic diversity, but there is some. There have been 3 stands located, totalling about 100 'individual' trees, 2 of which are genetically identical, while the 3rd shows some variation. The exact location of the canyon where they are, is still a closely guarded secret, though some canyoners and bush walkers have found it. The first time I saw one, at Mt Annon Botanical Garden, my immediate response was "I have seen this before, somewhere!". Knowing the canyon where they had been located, was somewhere in the vicinity of Newnes, I realised that I had probably, totally unknowingly, seen them a few years earlier. A group of us had decided to go canyoning near Newnes, and our "trusty leader" assured us that we wouldn't need wetsuits etc, as our planned route was totally dry. We knew we were not on the proper route when we came to a point where there was a hole, at least 6-8 ft deep and about 20 ft across, full of beautiful, clear, cold water. The only way forward was down to undies and swim. The girls were NOT impressed. Looking back, I bet we walked passed them without realising whart they were, apart from, obviously, being one of the Araucaria. It has been shown to propagate quite well from cuttings, and naturally coppices. Seeds were located on and around the trees, but no seedlings were observed in the wild. This could be due to insufficient light/moisture in the canyon because the seeds have been shown to be viable in controlled conditions.

:) I'd totally go with a mix of sedums...they're easy to start from trimming, they take a great deal of abuse, and will survive anything the utilities can hand them. you can buy a single pot of 'autumn joy' at any garden shop, and there will be a dozen or so stems coming off the crown. break half of them off, snap off the leaves from the bottom 1/3 of the stem, and stick the stems in a tray of damp soil. set in the shade for a week, watering lightly if the soil dries out, and they will root. you now have 8 or so plants, plus the 'mother'. around here, you could go door to door, and have people HAND you plants they have come to find invasive- daylilies, artemesias, stachys (lamb's ear) and three or four kinds of low-growing sedums (also called stonecrop) which you could root in that area, and let the best plants win. I'm sure there are similar 'bullies' in your neighbors gardens. the ultimate bully, in my opinion, is a plant called 'yellow archangel' of the false lamium family. it's a pretty plant, invasive and fast spreading- takes sun, takes shade, takes an act of god to kill it, and you can abuse it, taboot. this isn't the time of year to be mailing plants to you- but I'd be more than happy to share some archangel with you once the weather breaks :)

2009 Tomato Season Report The season started off with late frosts and leafhoppers delaying the tomato plant out. May was rainy and cold and by the time the plants were in the ground it was the second week of June. The Sweet 100 plant is the only exception as it was planted around May 15th. June was very wet with a record 8" of rain and no days above 80*. July was still wet and cool with only a handful of days over 85*. August was a little drier but still fairly cool. September was much drier and warmer which got a lot of the tomatoes to flower but it was to late for fruiting. October started off dry and cool but then turned wetter with temps dipping down to 31*. Most of the tomatoes got hit with disease and frost damage after the cold spell. The last part of the month was warmer with temps in the 50's and 60's but several inches of rain brought a bad tomato season to an end well almost anyway. The sweet 100 plant still has a couple more tomatoes ripening on the vine. I had no late blight in my garden a little bit of early blight and at the end of the season septoria leaf spot started showing up. Brandy boy: - potato leaf, medium about 5-ft, average disease tolerance. No ripe fruit but it did eventually flower and produce a couple of tiny green fruit. They both Had severe cracking issues. Crack size: all the way in to the middle of the tomato. The cracking was partly do to uneven moisture but this variety was still very crack prone. Brandywine Sudduth's strain: - potato leaf, medium/tall 5-6-ft, had a several disease problems especially later in the season. No flowers or fruit. Overall very disappointing. Cuostralee: - Regular leaf medium/tall 5-6-ft, Not great disease tolerance but it was able to grow out of the disease. No ripe fruit but it did flower. Japanese Black Trifele: - potato leaf, short 3-4-ft, top of the plant broke in a windstorm. good disease tolerance but not great. first ripe fruit october 30th after ripening indoors for two weeks, 1 ripe fruit. Taste: Gel is sweet with a slight tang to it. The meat is very mild and a little bit bland but it has a faint smoky flavor to it. No problems with cracking. I saved seeds. Marianna's peace: - Potato leaf medium/tall 5-6-ft, good disease tolerance until the end of the season when both plants yellowed. No ripe fruit. both plants flowered . Neves Azorean Red: - regular leaf, medium height 4-5-ft. It did get shaded by the brandywine plant next to it. Average disease tolerance but it would probably do better with more sun. No ripe fruit. the plant didn't even flower probably partly do to the weather and partly do to the shade. Sweet 100: - regular leaf, tall 7-8-ft , average disease tolerance first ripe fruit mid August, ~ 45 ripe fruit. Taste: Sweet with good "tomato" flavor. size small about an inch in diameter. Looks. perfect round bright red tomatoes in clusters of 5-10. Only cracks when ripe fruit are left on the vine during rain. Crack size : Just the skin cracks open not the whole tomato.