In regards to Louisiana_botanist and anyone else interested in the effectiveness of Mosquito Barrier... I purchased two bottles of this to help combat the army of mosquitos that we had just in our backyard. The first application I added a little more of the product than needed but we had severe mosquitos. The product claims to also repel fleas and ticks which is a plus since we have two dogs. I applied the stuff with a sprayer following instructions and sprayed entire yard and some of the tree near our patio. Once you apply it, your yard will smell like garlic for an hour or two so be sure to spray it in a way so you don't step on the grass that was just sprayed (I sprayed it walking backwards) so I didn't track the smell in the house. The next night we went to see how well it did, surprisingly enough it worked well. Instead of getting bit 8 times while constantly moving around for 2-3 minutes, I didn't get bit at all for 5 minutes while even standing still but I did see at least one mosqutio while out. It lasts for a good while so long as there isn't a heavy rain or you water the lawn more than once a week. General application would typically last 2-3 weeks for me due to needing to water at least twice a week and/or rain. The "barrier" tends to be breached by a few mosquitos as each day passes until they increase in numbers where you notice them again and need to spray a second application. Since I used to live in New Orleans I know how bad mosquitos can be there but I would say you will definately see a difference after using this. The cause of my mosquito problem was due to a neighbor with a water fountain in the backyard that had lots of standing water. Now that they have let it just dry out, I have 1/10 the mosquitos I had before and haven't needed to spray anything in over a month.

Odinthor's essential point is right on, but it should be noted that the EPA figures cited are for the U.S. as a whole. For the U.S. as a whole, the percentage of water used for agriculture/irrigation (which are the same and do not include watering residential yards) is a relatively lower percentage than in CA because crop irrigation is most intensely used in the western U.S. and not so much elsewhere. The percentage the EPA gives for thermoelectric power is again for the U.S. as a whole and is a vastly greater percentage than the actual one for California since most of California's power generation use sea water for this purpose and relatively little from freshwater sources. (see comparisons for this at link below). U.C. Davis estimates for "developed" water use (i.e., that which is captured or otherwise accessed for human use) in California have roughly 80% going to agriculture/irrigation, 10% municipal or "domestic" use, and 10% for all other uses, to use round figures (these figures are also given in this Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_in_California). Alfalfa and livestock forage are almost always the two biggest uses of water in CA, with rice and cotton often in positions 3 and 4 (sugar beets frequently a biggie, too). The fruits and vegetables Jeri mentions, all of California's other crops, each take relatively small shares compared to the top four. So, as Odinthor points out, a relatively minor percentage of savings in ag has far more potential for big reductions in overall water use than even the most draconian cuts in domestic water use (or, in the case of California, all other uses of water combined). Too true about lack of regulation of ground water -- it's still like the old wild West on that front. Along with the problems of depletion and degradation of the aquifers themselves, land elevations in parts of the the San Joaquin Valley have actually sunk by 24 feet or more due to subsidence caused by ground water overdraft. (http://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/circ1182/pdf/06SanJoaquinValley.pdf) That said, it's still a sin to let water run down the gutter or use it frivolously, especially this year. Here is a link that might be useful: Thermoelectric water use

I have a lot of eucalyptus trees growing along the fence of the units next door. I have a passion-fruit growing in a pot and it was matted over with the white roots; the pot was on a concrete slab so the roots could not have travelled from the tree. A friend of mine said the Chinese pay money to buy these roots as it is good for the soil but I believe they are choking the young trees including my passion fruit although it is not dead. I made a raised garden and placed a weed protector half a meter high on the sides yet the raised garden is full of it and it has attached itself to the weedmat.

Yeah, I have to sometimes dust my real plants, but I just wash the leaves with a wet rag. They like it. Plant massage. :) I don't have a lot of house plants (year round garden outside, right now choking with roses). Although I own a fake cactus, it was part of an art project. I have an antherium on my bathtub ledge that is currently blooming. It usually gives me one bloom in July. It might be happier elsewhere, but it's been fine there for 14 years. :) It was a present from she who was the lady next door when I was a child. There's a garden window in my kitchen where I had a lot of plants before they got ants. They went outside. Now it has several phalaenopsis that were given to me in December. One may be beyond help, but two have spikes. There's also a little plant with red brachts and white flowers which perks up in the sun and droops at night, and a little red leafed plant I grew from seed, but doesn't seem so happy now that it's in a real pot. And one low light plant in the powder room, which I may need to move to more light. Plants die in the powder room, but they make it nicer, so I try to catch them before they die....