Everyone seems to look at the above picture and admire the thriving plants, but seem not to see that most of the area is bare soil. Will it remain that way or what additional planting will be required to finish this off and stabilize the site? I'm not familiar with that area of the country, but it seems that stabilizing the surface is really not a big deal due to lack of erosive forces and growth rate of invasive weeds. It would be very impractical to use a lawn there. It is an alien to that environment. In much of the country, grass is a normal naturally occuring part of the ecosystem - not monoculture turfs, but grassy fields. I think it is possible that people from arid regions may not appreciate what happens when soil is left exposed to the elements in the not so arid regions. Stabilizing soil is a high priority for the protection of the environment. It needs to be covered to keep it from eroding. In these regions you need pretty close to complete coverage or you will have erosion. That means having small patches of groundcover or spotty shrub plantings is not going to get the job done. You could have large areas of mulch, but this is subject to erosion and weed growth. The weed growth reintroduces "high maintenance" and the possibility of pesticide use. You have to plant the whole thing or mother nature will be working on that for you as she also tries to erode it away. Lawnless in non-arid areas has to overcome erosion by having some kind of surface that resists it. That can be trees, shrubs, herbacious plants, groundcover, pavement, or mulch (mulch will have the least resistance to erosion). It has to succumb to or overcome mother natures desire to reclaim it with a succession of weeds and grasses to thicket and eventually a forest. Going lawnless is fine, but you have to know that in most of the country it is not a matter of removing grass and planting a few drought tolerant plants. Most of the attempts that I see are done by well meaning people who do not complete the job in stabilizing the soil - I'm not even going to go into aesthetics. The result is usually spotty plantings and wood chips everywhere (the well meaning folks who tend to go lawnless tend to like to recycle wood chips as well). If you are going to do it, think it through and make a commitment to an end result. Don't remove the grass and then try to figure it out later. There is a sizable investment of time and money to do this up here in the northeast. I suppose wood chips might make some feel that they have recycled and removed lawn at the same time and they can sleep better at night. Again, is matching what you value to the conditions of the site. Don't under estimate Mother Nature. She won't treat you any differently just because you have her best interests in mind.

I spent an hour or two last night reading some treatises on Appalachian English as a dialect. It is spoken in this part of S.E. Ohio and they even had the syntax rules defined. As I was reading it, I kept nodding my head in agreement. Uh huh.....Uh huh. Totally interesting. I didn't even know I came into this world in Appalachia until I was in University for the second time and somebody mentioned my county as Appalachian. I guess I mentioned that as it just sounds like something our weather person would say and nobody would think a thing about it. LOL.

I have Masquerade, a pink/blend hybrid tea from Palatine Roses in Canada that doesn't have the atypical high center pointed bloom of most HT's, but more of a flat decorative type of bloom with super heavy petal substance and so they last a looong time on the bush. The bish is quite large growing and very vigorous blooming. The blooms are not overly pretty, but different to be sure. Wild Blue Yonder is a purple grandiflora that blooms a ton of very decorative shaped super fragrant blooms. No high centered form here either. Lastly, Elina is a light yellow HT that for me has more of a loose decorative form that is somewhat flat as well. It really doesn't have the high centered form most exhibitors are looking for, though I do know that it is exhibited by some people on occasion. My Elina blooms would not be good exhibition blooms, but do make very nice garden type blooms as they are colorful and large and it repeats bloom very quickly. John

The reason that Jonah was reported to have given God for his running in the opposite direction was that he knew that God was loving and forgiving and would have compassion on those infidels were they just to repent ... which, after having invaded his country, having killed and raped his people, and destroyed their locations, they didn't deserve. An (understandingly reluctant) evangelist. An interesting indication that, even in Old Testament times, God's interest was in more than his (supposedly) "chosen" people ... who hadn't treated the current residents very well when they entered Canaan. I consider it a good story, with a worthwhile message, but not literally true. ole joyful