I was hoping to only have a couple small projects for next year since we did our backyard project this past year which cost a small fortune in plant material. We still need to put in paths and edge back there too. However, after reading everyone else's plans now I'm thinking "yes, i need to start a veggie garden", "yes, hardscape that area", "yes, meadow garden"! Isn't gardening great! Always something to think about and plan for. Glenda, I like your idea of mixing in veggies to the borders as edging, tee-pee, etc. If I don't have any woodchucks this year (which has been keeping me from doing veggies), I may try that. I'd also love to see a picture of your "funny border". Ianna, I completely revamped my cottage area a number of years ago. There were about 5 borders that I removed every last plant and then ammended the soil and started from scratch. I actually drew up plans and it is the garden I now have today. I agree with Hollygarden to take your time to decide what you want. I think you would find it very rewarding. Since I just received my Bluestone catalog, I've decided my main project for next year is to replicate this (on a smaller scale) in the backyard. As I was perusing the catalog I started thinking of this garden when I got to the grasses and lavender pages. This was at Chanticleer in PA. I could have stayed in this border for hours. It just seemed so easy and serene. Anyone have any idea what the low, straw-like grass is? I have the rockytop coneflower (ID'd thanks to GW'ers), I'm going to pick up some lavender and I have orange butterfly weed. Also have some blue fescue I can put in. Any other ideas you can throw at me for annuals or perennials that might work would be very welcomed! Flowergirl, a deer-fenced area for planting...I'm jealous! LOL!

This is just a bit amusing to me. Not what Natanya went through at Hardy's, but just some thing that turned up on the net when I googled Hardy DL garden CT. What appeared to be an independent review of Hardy Daylily Gardens appears if you follow the link posted below. The review which was posted today no less has nothing but the utmost high regard for the owners of this establishment. I read through this whole thing and then looked at the links to the right of the review. To the right of the post you will see this link (Click Here to View Our List of Favorite Outdoor Plants to Grow in California). Anyway I went ahead and clicked on this and it takes you to Amazon.com and if you look to the right where it says about this Listmania author. Underneath you will see the name J. Hardy "expert", and below that "Plant Expert" Like I said above, I think it's pretty amusing that someone would right a review dated today in the wake of this unfortunate insident (and its repercussions by way of negative feedback), and when you follow the links it leads right to someone else whose last name happens to be Hardy. Hmmmmmmmmm. Could this have been written by a truly satisfied customer?? Maybe, but when you see the name at the Amzon site it does make you raise your eyebrows and wonder some. People do make mistakes and we all have bad days. If and when it happen you say you're sorry and get on with life and work a bit harder so the same thing doesn't happen again. It just looks bad when you see this kind of bandaid put to use in order to compensate for a negative review. JMO Linda Here is a link that might be useful: CALIFORNIA PLANTS

Marla - just at my parents' watching TWC, Cape May NJ is evacuating and NYC is evacuating Zone A, Stanford is near the coast so they'll get walloped and I imaine they'll evacuate. Governor has declared state of emergency but we're up in foothills of NW CT so we just are expecting lots of rain, not sure about wind, depends on track. Tomorrow is acutally suppoosed to be nice, will pcik what I can for market tomorrow night and hope I can get some peppers and tomatoes to survive and ripen. I've been telling DH I'm worried about the fence, he wants to wait til Sat and since I really need his help to get it down neatly and reuse the netting I will wait. I told him I'm going to cut all the twine and just try to lay the tomatoes down gently so the vines don't get broken, maybe I'll be able to lift them up after it dries out next week, or maybe everything will rot but if the vines break I won't be able to get any tomatoes anyway so nothing to lose. I've got those cheap ring-type cages, I *thought* they'd be enough for determinate tomatoes (my 1st year growing Glaciers) but they're not, they want to pull out and fall over anyway. Gonna move my potted peppers into the garage tomorrow, put the garbage cans, soccer goal and porch furniture in the basement, start filling containers with water and putting them in freezer. We have 2 55-gal hot water tanks so plenty of water but pain to drain, so Sat I'll fill the 55-gal food grade rain barrels (1 with spigot) on the back of the pickup truck so we have it elevated and can access it easily. I've also got some 2 gal and a 5-gal food grade bucket with lids so we will be set for water. Not much food (except cereal, PB&J, pickles, salsa, applesauce) that can be eaten w/o heating/cooking but DH thinks we have plenty of propane though tank isn't full. Got flashlights, radio and spare batteries. Without MREs, I think we've done the best we can prepare for. DB is in NC and says they're so far inland they're not expecting much, though they could use some rain.

LOL, Virginia! No, that's okay. If we go, we'll be there before 3. My cousin likes to garden, but she's not a diehard like us and I'm not sure if she would be up for two gardens in one day. So I don't want you and your friend to go to any trouble. I'll see how she feels about it tomorrow. Good luck to you and your friend tomorrow! Monique, at least the storms will clear up by morning, so it shouldn't actually be raining during the day. Funny, I was thinking of you this afternoon while I was deadheading MY daylilies. I was thinking of seeing if you needed any help to get ready tomorrow morning. But unfortunately, I am driving up with someone and I don't think she'd want to be there THAT early - although she probably wouldn't mind being put to work, lol. I'm sure everything will be perfect! See you tomorrow! :) Dee