I use both methods, depending on the client and whether they want to pay for a separate design or not. What I do find helpful if just winging it, is to really know your sun/shade exposure, sizes of mature plants, and work with a general scheme that has some overall organizing principle. As an example, I just went into a local specialty nursery and went wild buying plants for a new back yard remodel in the Oakland Hills of northern California. I basically knew that I wanted to play off some existing pale green timber bamboo trunks against an ochre stained concrete retaining wall, and that the client wanted to use tropicals and more color for this area, but also really liked foliage texture and color. Other key ingredients to work around included using a maroon colored Ensete ventricosum Maurellii as an accent plant, a very large specimen New Zealand Tree Fern as another focal point, and a mature existing Windmill Palm/Trachycarpus fortunei. I knew I only had small areas of full sun, and mostly shaded raised beds, and wanted to give a lush, tropical look as seen from inside the house. The client also wanted flowers to attract hummingbirds and butterflies. I also thought I wanted to emphasize mid fall into winter blooms, with lots of orange and purple accents, as the garden is to be installed in the next couple of weeks, and needs to look good for a garden tour on October 20th. With that in mind, I selected some foliage plants such as the gorgeous Hedychium greenei with purple stems and underside of leaves and orange flowers blooming now, and some deep green with even deeper purple underside of leaves Clerodendron quadroliculare to play off the maroon of the banana, and situated them above eye level so that the leaf undersides would feature prominently. I also added understory plantings with a purple foliage theme such as Oxalis spiralis vulcanicola Burgundy and Billbergia 'Bill', along with purple tinged foliage of the compact bushy Euphorbia Jade Dragon to complete the purple element. I also knew that I wanted a good amount of orange foliage and blooms, and could not resist the fall foliage color of a Poncirius trifoliata Flying Dragon as a complement to the Ensete, with a mass planting of a dwarf shrubby Coprosma Evening Glow to pick up this color, and further another Oxalis, O. s. v. Sunset Velvet to trail over walls as well. The orange flowers will come from several Abutilons such as A. megapotamica Marianne and A. m. Halo as well as the gorgeous Abutilon Victor Reiter. Clumps of a narrow leafed compact form of Clivia miniata will also star as mass ground cover below the Tree Fern. Yellow accents for shade to brighten up the darker corners will rely on a Alpinia zerumbet variegata, the yellow star like flowers of the Oxalis spiralis, and the variegated yellow stripes of bromeliads such as Neoregelia Bossa Nova. Greens to complement the bamboo trunks will mostly feature grassy foliage clumps of Dianella intermedia, and various Restios such as Elegia capensis, some slightly stiffer upright clumping Restio tetraphyllus with beautiful chartreuse foliage, and an accent Elegia fistula with very interesting seed heads. Clumps of the Chinese Banana, Musella lasiocarpa will also serve as understory to the taller growing Ensete, mirroring the form of the taller, while also giving some screening of mechanical equipment, and the added bonus of the bright yellow artichoke like flower as summer accents. Some other accent plants to carry the maroon theme beyond the Ensete into sunnier parts of the garden at the raised patio beyond will include the tropical Ricinus communis New Zealand Purple with the deep purple foliage and rosy red flowers, and the tropical vining Purple Wings vine, Dalechampia dioscoreifolia to cover a rear fence. A Grevillea Robyn Gordon for flashes of red and entice the hummingbirds year round will combine with our native Zaushneria also in fall bloom with scarlet flowers and soft gray foliage. In late winter, the Pincushion Protea, Leucospermum cordifolium Yellow Bird will provide yellow accents, and play off the deep purple blooms of the tree like Tibouchina urvilleana. Clumps of the large soft shrubby Salvia splendens Van Houttei are also massed here and there to give a burgundy red tint to carry the red/purple theme throughout the garden. I was tempted to go in several different directions while I was shopping at the nursery, but had to remind myself that I only had so much room to plant, and that each plant had to fit into the color and texture theme that was established by the existing timber bamboo and Red Abyssinian Banana. I must admit it is a pleasure to be able to design a garden for mid fall into winter that will be showy and colorful, and not have to wait until spring for such impact, but it does mean that one has to have a working familiarity with what works with our local climate, and can be depended upon for year round impact without looking ratty in winter. I probably could have done this all in plan as well, but the client always seems to respond better when I just show up with the proposed plants and start placing them in the garden. I suppose it also allows him more input, as we debate the locations and combinations, and end up tweaking my ideas in response to his suggestions. We have enough practice at this by now to be able to persuade him to locate plants with the proper sun/shade orientation and allow for mature sizes. I try to pay attention to his requests to locate certain plants where he insists he wants them, and come up with suggestions that are similar when the sun/shade or size doesn't work for his request. It does force me to put on my thinking cap and be able to suggest similar alternatives that will work. So could you say this is both careful planning and making it up as you go? To me, it certainly seems to combine a bit of both, or would you call it semi restrained anarchy? With all that in mind

Softmentor - You are very right on the many number of factors that determine cold hardiness (others we did not mention: acclamation to cold and overall health of the tree)...there is certainly no "magic number." I have found that upper 20's for a few hours are fine for oranges, grapefruit, and meyer lemons. Other lemons, citrons, limes, etc. wouldn't like that I am sure. From my understanding, Trifoliate orange rootstalk actually does add some protection because it is the only citrus that goes completely dormant in the winter. According to John Panzarella (a local citrus guru for Southeast Texas), "PT goes dormant in the winter, so reduces the water flow to the scion and gives the scion a few degrees of cold protection. PT will not start growing and producing tender new growth with a few days of warm weather in the winter." The last sentence is especially important for Texas, as in the winter we have frequent gulf breezes battling arctic cold fronts. So far, here are my unprotected lows for my varieties: Rio Red Grapefruits (2 trees planted at the same time by previous owner)- 26 F (4 years old, south side of house, pine trees overhead) -- tree was covered in snow (maybe insulated it a bit??), I was very surprised that there was no damage. Okistu Satsuma - 29 F (planted fall 2008, north side in the yard, no overhead protection at all) Meyer Lemon - 28 F (planted spring 2007, north side of house, no overhead protection) Moro Blood Orange - 28 F (planted spring 2007, in yard with no protection) Lakeland Limequat - 29 F (planted fall 2008, north side of house, 2 feet from brick exterior of house) As you can see, this is a very small sample size and only a brief history of data. Last winter was pretty warm, as has this winter so far. I wish I had a better way of measuring the length of the freeze and other variables.

well since this got bumped up, now I have to add in what I've done! Let's see the blvd is seeded in mostly allysum for now-- I've added a ton of sedum and hen and chick. Native flax and phlox I'm still waiting to pop up in there. I killed some stuff out there that was given to me and now I decided I love the ease of the viola in my aunt's back yard (their former veggie garden is a viola patch) so I stole about a hundred (they're selling the house) and plopped them out there and the shade bed. Let's see I stole about 20 Lily of the valley from my brother's new gardens (they needed thinning LOL) and put them in the north shade bed that hates me. Let's see I put a bleeding heart in there too. I also put ferns where the pond used to be on the north side of the house and mixed in foxglove, canterbury bells, and - maybe they'll grow there- coleus and violas. I also put runner beans along the deck there so we can decide if we want it to be a permanent trellis. I added a few roses to the rose bed. I bordered and barked the west perennial bed and bordered part of the north beds. I changed my mind on the bean fence and brick bordered it. I recycled my brothers paving stones and made a path through my new big perennial bed and seeded it to insanity and added some annual seeds there just to give first year color. I killed the entire alley border on the north side of the house and seeded it with a mix of stuff, but a good portion is sunflower and hollyhock. My aunt also had a bunch of raspberry shoots that were invading a flower bed, so I put them in the strawberry and herb bed (where the strawberries died anyway). That means my raspberries will go in the alley when that area becomes another driveway. I put sunflowers all along the edge of what will be his driveway and down the road edge of our house- now to keep him from weedwhacking them! I also added them and hollyhocks to the iris bed on the south side. Let's see what else. Oh he did put up a little dog run out back-- but it's probably going to be upgraded later this summer or next spring. The poms love it but the lab goes over whenever she pleases! The most ironic part of this is that the heavy work was all done by the beginning of june-- I 'm off for the summer as of June 2! That's OK, I also added a major project. Many of my starts and flowers and pics are going to our local farmer's market with me every Sat morning. I spent much of the last week and a half prepping for that! Since it rains for a day, then gets to 90 for 2 days and starts over again (sometimes raining for 3 days, then really nice for 3 days!), my main project now is WEEDING! Between lamb's quarter and bindweed, I am about insane! Oh wait, I can't forget the creeping charlie, creeping bellflower, dandys, and false salsify! Oh yes and where did all those mushrooms come from? Frankly I have too many pics to put on here, so I'm going to drop them in the gallery- ...

Rusty, no problem. I thought the survey would be more inclusive re: the disability factor, and not just about cookware. This might be tl;dr! If so, disregard! I consider my height to be a disability (not enough of it), but as I said, I designed my kitchen around that. I have a couple of lowered counters that makes chopping, rolling and seeing into a pot or bowl easier for me because of that. One chopping block pulls out from the counter, so I can sit and chop from a chair if I need to be off my feet. My kitchen and dining room chairs all roll, so I can move them around more easily. We took the 2-inch base off my range so it would be lower, which allowed me to finally see into my pots. The controls under the cooktop are on the front of of the range. My wall oven opens from the side, so I can access the back of it, making it easier for me to take things out of a hot oven, or clean up a mess inside. That particular oven is mounted at counter height, which is easier to get into without bending over, yet low enough for me to see into and access easily. The oven on my range (below the cooktop) has a shallow door, which make it easier for me to get into, and no window to clean. The light switches and plug outlets are all about waist high so they're easy to use, or incorporated into the back splash next to the counter. The sink closest to my range is on the corner, and open on two sides so it can be accessed from the island, or the cooktop. Tapmaster allows me to use two hands at the sinks (handsfree) so I can get a grip. Because the stove is low, I'm short and my husband is tall, we put more cfm's in the hood than is normally recommended so it would draw better because of the distance between the cooktop and the vent. It all seems pretty basic, but when you start looking at all the different equipment available, the differences are huge. Regarding cookware, because of arthritis I do have some very thin, lightweight stainless lined copper pans (vintage pieces), which allow me to toss the items together (without the need to stir.) I was fortunate to find some thinner, lighter vintage cast iron pieces which I also like, as the pan heats more quickly and at lower temperatures. As I mentioned though, I don't think it really makes any difference for the general population who doesn't really cook. Of course helper handles make total sense, as do lids and pots with cool touch handles, but that seems like a no-brainer to me.