Yes, the dark one is "Dinosaur," "nero di Toscana," "Tuscan" or whatever your favorite name is for this variety of kale. Let it go to seed. When the pods begin to dry and the seed is a medium or dark brown, collect it to sow again. Kale is a very easy one to save seed from. And this is one of my favorite kale varieties! FataMorgana

1. How far apart from each other should I plant the 5 lillies? ANSWER ---> Plant them about 1 foot on center, e.g. each stem planted about 12" apart. I like to plant them in a small group instead of a line, so the figure 5 on a dice is what you are looking for, or 3 lilies behind 2). See this picture (if you do not see a picture in your email, go to gardenweb and look on the posting) 2. I plan to kill the grass by smothering it with wet newspaper, then add soil on top the paper, plant the lillies, and cover the soil with cedar mulch. Then, I'll add edging to define the bed. Does this sound like a decent idea? ANSWER ----> Yes, but dont cover the lilies with the newspaper. I have a couple friends who have planted lillies without amending the soil or anything and they have done great, so I was planning on just putting them in the ground. ANSWER --> YES THIS CAN BE DONE, BUT THE LILIES LOVE RICH ORGANIC SOIL, SO MIXING IN A BAG OF COMPOST (AVAILABLE IN BAGS AT GARDEN CENTERS) INTO THE PLANTING HOLE IS A VERY GOOD IDEA AND HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. DIG A HOLE 12" DEEP AND AMEND THE SOIL WITH A 3-4" LAYER OF COMPOST. AFTER PLANTING, WATER THE LILIES IN WELL BY WATERING DEEPLY FOR A LONG TIME. 3. Are Oriental lillies much harder to grow than asiatic? I like asiatic, but I **looooovee** Oriental lillies. They're my favorite type of flower, and I'd love to grow some. ANSWER --> THEY ARE BOTH EASY TO GROW. ORIENTALS WILL BLOOM LATER AND DO NOT MULTIPLY AS PROFILICALLY, BUT CAREWISE THEY ARE JUST AS EASY TO GROW AS ASIATICS. WHY NOT BOTH ?? 4. If I made a bigger bed, would it be possible to plant the lillies towards the rear of the bed and start some zinnias from seed in the front of the bed? YES, BUT ZINNIAS GROW FAST AND MAY OVERTAKE THE LILIES. ALSO LILIES NEED TO REMAIN WITH GREEN FOLIAGE TO IMPROVE THE BULBS FOR NEXT YEAR AFTER FLOWERING. YOU CAN NOT JUST SMOOTHER THEM WITH ZINNIAS. WHY DONT YOU PLANT GROUPS OF ZINNIAS AND GROUPS OF LILIES. THE GREEN STEMS WILL BE NICE ACCENTS. ZINNIA SEEDS YOU CAN JUST DISTRIBUTE AND PRESS INTO THE TOP OF THE SOIL (BEST IF YOU AMEND WITH COMPOST IN THE TOP FEW INCHES). KEEP THE AREA WELL WATERED UNTIL THE SEEDS SPROUT. THEY WILL GROW FAST IN WARM SOIL. WHEN THE ZINNIAS ARE 6-8" TALL AND HAVE SEVERAL SETS OF LEAVES, PINCH (OR CUT) OFF THE TOP. THIS WILL MAKE THE ZINNIAS BRANCH OUT AND BECOME FULL WITH MANY MORE FLOWERS. I think your idea of zinnias and lilies are good. Here are a mix of orientals and asiatic lilies from my garden. Again, if you can not see the pictures in your email, go to gardenweb and look up your post.

The minute we walked into this house, we knew it was the "project" house we'd been wanting. It is old enough to have charm and to need work, is well-built and well-maintained so it doesn't need massive structural work, and has not been updated for many decades (excepting some fixture replacements...not all...and a few things here/there...all perfectly acceptable!). A blacksmithing family built the house in the late 1800s--we have a photo dated 1890 in which the house figures prominently, so it was built at least by then--and five generations of the family subsequently lived there. The folks who sold it to us were doing so to settle the family estate. They are the last of the family line and live very far away, so they cannot live in the house themselves, but they wanted to ensure that the "right" buyers purchased it. Apparently it has been in limbo for some time and they have turned down flat several offers to buy the house/land because they feared the house would be torn down or unappreciated. My DH and I wrote a letter to accompany our purchase offer: he is a planner with an architectural background, and I recently graduated with my MAHP, so historic houses are just our thing. :) It's the funniest thing...when the realtor was showing it to us she was very apologetic about the kitchen/bathroom and how dated they are. To me, the kitchen is one of the best rooms in the house because it hasn't been gutted of any of its 1940s-50s charm. It's an addition that hasn't changed much since it was built, as far as we can tell. PERFECT! I had to tell the realtor after the closing how much her apologies had fallen on deaf ears. Every time we walk through the door I'm struck by how it feels like home. We have an electrical crew rewiring right now (fishing new wiring into the old K&T chases), but once they're done it'll be ready to move into. I can't wait. As we've explored the various trunks, dressers, hutches, etc. that are there we've found some fascinating family history as well as some great house history. I have shivers just writing about it. Of course, there are a few problems. At one point the upstairs bath (a closet with a toilet and the tiniest sink in the world) had a minor leak. We'll need to do some probing to ensure that there's no rot or fungal problem lurking. And, probably because of the moisture and heat, the kitchen plaster walls are not in the greatest of shape. However, the plaster in the other rooms is lovely, and from what I could see in the attic, at least the second-story ceilings are remarkably well keyed. Woohoo! The woodwork has not experienced the dozens of paint layers that frequently accompany old houses. There's no real wood rot, even on the exterior wood, that I can find. We'll need to strip off the steel siding to reveal the clapboard underneath, but that will wait until spring, after we've gotten a few other things taken care of. I know this is the longest post EVER, but I can't resist telling the story of this house to some folks who will appreciate it! Most of our friends/family seem to fall into the camp of "Are you nuts? You must be absolutely nuts!!"

boxerpups - such a sad situation for that young girl - and surely her sister too. it does sound like she is acting out and I do agree that you should contact the teacher. maybe someone can intervene with her. life is tuff enough for young people today and that girl has more than any one young person should have working against her. i don't think i'd go the court route (don't think you will either). in the end it could cause more trouble for your dd and your family than it's worth. i'm not saying the young girl isn't worth it or that we don't have the right to be upset when someone damages our property. but in the end, a fridge is a fridge and hopefully will be fixed w/o much expense. OTOH, I do think the young girl needs confronted about it. for her good! and i think it is something you could handle. holding someone to account is not mean, it is the more loving thing to do for them. short term upset for long term gain. it might not show in her in the near future, but it will be going around in her head that someone was more concerned about her future than a material thing. it sounds like she has been raised to think that things are more important than she is. until you decide how to fix the fridge door, i think i'd use it as a prayer reminder for that young girl. and a thank you for the blessings you and your family have in each other. and as for getting a new puppy after the loss of another very loved furbaby, my belief is that the best way to honor my precious gone to heaven furbaby is to find another furbaby in need of a loving home and lots of spoiling! i think that makes them very happy!