Thinman - practice and experience with your flowers will make it faster! I have new helpers this year and I've told them they have to make 20 bouquets! I usually can do lots more, but I also do vases and the "bigger/more expensive" bouquets. We also strip the foliage as much as we quickly can when harvesting. We pick for about 3 hours, go in for dinner, and then head back out to "arrange" - last week it was after 2:00 am before everything was put away and ready for market! Ugh...we were all toooooo slow!!!! (I work fulltime too, so can't pick in the mornings...have to after work!) We use our "short stuff" in jars (old canning jars, pickle jars, etc.) that we sell for $5 - just quickly bunched and plopped in the jar! I've told my helpers to think of a recipe (which of course changes with the flowers over the seaons). 3-5 stems greenery or filler (lemon balm, solidaster, ladies mantle, statice), 3-7 main events, 5-7 accent flowers (salvia, crocosmia, etc.) We usually end up with a predominant color of pinks/purples/whites early in the seaon, add reds, then move to the fall colors! We are also trying to keep the flowers on tables at a height that keeps you from bending over to get them out of the buckets. I'm also not mixing different flowers in the same bucket (unless I have to for storage later). Good luck, you'll get better! Wendy

"I have also heard that you can kick up a plant's bloom cycle by removing some of the leaves. The psychology of that is that the plant feels threatened and goes into species survival mode. I can attest to it working in eggplants, but have not yet tried it for tomatoes." ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I don't know much about "plant psychology" other than I hear certain kinds of music stimulate plants more than other types :::smile::: However, I think the physiology of stripping tomato leaves has more to do with forcing the plant into a "phosphorus mode" (flowering mode) rather than a "nitrogen mode" (growing mode). The theory is, you're removing the infrastructural source of nitrogen which is a mobile nutrient within the plant. When the plant's overall nitrogen base is lowered, it kicks the plant into "P-mode" and the plant responds by throwing out flowers. As far as "psychology" goes ... I wouldn't worry about causing any plant psychosis :::smile::: I had a Purdue graduate who farms tomatoes organically tell me that. Basically, he said if you're feeding nitrogen rich fertilizers and you want the plant to switch from growth to flowering without adding phosphorus to the soil, simply strip foliage. Then he started scribbling some notes down with lots of N+ and P+ symbols all tied together like in a family tree and rattling on about stuff I couldn't follow :::yawn::: but ... Anyway, I think with Homestead you might want to make sure that if you strip foliage, you make sure and not pinch off any side shoots or growing tips as Homestead is determinate and you'd be reducing potential yield. Stick to removing matured lower leaves.

Hi, Thanks very much for your responses. - Everyone I've spoken with, and you've confirmed, that one zone per floor makes sense. If I'm missing anything else about "zones", please let me know! - How much should it cost to go from 2 zones to 4? - We are definitely going to put in all new ductwork. Is there anything here that I should be aware about or ask for? Any sites (besides GW) to get more knowledge on this area so I can ensure we get the ducts sized properly? - Good comments on getting more info on the geo wells, piping, etc. Will do. - Can I get a Manual J done even if the house is under construction? Framing is almost done, but the exterior work is not complete, and so it's open to the elements right now. - Yes, we have a natural gas furnace and electric AC in the house. It appears that a NG furnace was installed in 2007. The unit is a Lennox Signature Collection, model CX34-62D-6F. We also have an electric hot water heater, AO Smith ProMax Plus, model FCG 75 300. Does it make sense to re-use these or upgrade? Obviously, the furnace will be out if we go with geo. - Here's a summary of our NG and electricity rates. I hope I'm doing this correctly -- taking the bill amount and dividing by the energy used. Some months may need to be taken out because the numbers are too high/low. Please note that we have not lived in the house, so this is what we were paying for several months before construction commenced. So I would expect actual usage, and thus our bills, to be higher, but I guess that the cost per unit would be somewhat proportional. Natural Gas Monthly Charge / Therms Used / All-In Cost Per Therm $18.06 / 5.1 / $3.54 $16.76 / 5.1 / $3.29 $51.90 / 32.5 / $1.60 $78.53 / 57.7 / $1.36 $339.62 / 314.7 / $1.08 $362.71 / 321.1 / $1.13 $184.41 / 154.8 / $1.19 $81.98 / 60.4 / $1.36 $66.62 / 47.4 / $1.41 $18.45 / 7.1 / $2.60 $16.18 / 5.1 / $3.17 $1.97 average Electricity Monthly Charge / KWH Used / All-In Cost Per KWH $285.18 / 1757 / $0.16 $137.36 / 786 / $0.17 $77.44 / 416 / $0.19 $57.91 / 316 / $0.18 $66.29 / 382 / $0.17 $86.87 / 524 / $0.17 $61.02 / 341 / $0.18 $24.50 / 76 / $0.32 $25.22 / 80 / $0.32 $38.34 / 73 / $0.53 $21.23 / 53 / $0.40 $32.62 / 140 / $0.23 $0.25 average - It must not be code on my state (MD) to have each floor zoned. Our bids have been for two zones (on per system, one system covering basement and first floor, second system covering second and third floors), or for four zones (running off two systems). - Thanks for the heads up on the tax credits. My husband is tracking these, so I'll make sure he knows this. - The addition is on a loggia, not crawl space. So the basement is a walk-out basement, and the loggia will in effect extend the basement, and then the kitchen/family room addition will be above this, and our master bedroom addition above that. It's at the back of the house. Here's an early photo so you get the idea. The house is brick, and the addition will be part brick, part clapboard. - I am trying to learn what an HRV is, so am looking into this. - If it's not a good idea to go with spray foam insulation, let me know! Thanks for the info on what type would be good. - More thoughts on what system to go with, pricing, etc.?? THANKS AGAIN!!

This is a landscape design forum.......folks are always going to suggest removal or relocation of overgrown, inappropriately sited, ailing or invasive plants. In this case, the burning bush fits 3 out of the 4 characteristics and needs to go. The biggest concern is its invasive properties as it is a listed species in NY (and much of the rest of the eastern half of the country). Work arounds may be possible in some cases but work arounds seldom are a basis for good landscaping. So do you keep a dull and boring, overused, overgrown invasive species just to save some time and money or do you opt for a well-designed and thoughtfully considered, ecologically sound landscape?