Collinw and Jan, I've tried to start hardy hibiscuses from seed several times before with little luck. I have read they are notoriously unreliable. They are in the mallow family and you know how finicky their first cousin okra can be. If the ground is too cool, okra won't sprout. Well, this time I planted them in May in a tray in the greenhouse. The tray of sandy soil had been inside the greenhouse for weeks so the soil was very warm to the touch. When I planted them I broke a vigorous sweat, so it was HOT in the gh. Well, these suckas came up in 3 days. I was very surprised. I think it was the heat. Something else which surprised me was some of the seeds were three years old. They were stored in a clear plastic cube with one of those dessicate things which keeps packaged food dry. Jan, these are open pollenated so I don't know if the seeds will come true. I can tell you they are growing and as the leaves get larger I can see distinctive differences in leaf shapes. I fertilized them Saturday and they were greener today and seemed to have grown overnight. I can hardly wait for blooms because there is no telling what combinations we may get.

GS, I didn't know they could climb either! :O And I thought dealing with skunks or opossums was bad! Ha! Okay, thanks, Kathi...the Kalanchoe you have is not Mother of Thousands (although many people call all plants similar to this by that common name). I don't believe I've ever heard it called butterfly wings, but if it is the one that looks pink...and has pink plantlets on the leaves, then it would be 'Pink Butterflies', the named variegate of Kalanchoe x houghtonii. Otherwise, you have the species (not named). I believe you showed us when you first planted out this area. It sure has filled in nicely!! So colorful!! All plants in the pix are mine except for 2... the one where you can see the sidewalk & the street and the next photo to right (has stone wall planting). Those two were taken on my dog walks. The rest of these pix are from the past...some of them still in my yard, but most not in bloom now. The pic of the cream (sort of pink) blooms in the one third up & on the right is from Aeonium 'Kiwi'.

When I read Veggie Chica's original Q I thought of some ideas we got at a veggie conference on selling herbs, perrenial and annual. We grow many herbs to sell as cut bunches and Basil always tops the list in our area, whether it is sweet or one of the lemons,limes,cinnimon,licorice,opal,red...well you get the picture. But pesto recipes are a great sales booster for basil and I always situate the basil (and cilantro) next to our tomato display because people need to be reminded of the association of the two. But when it comes to the other herbs, we had moderate sales of potted herbs until we took it to a new level in offering mixed herb "SIX PACKS". Six different basils= "PESTO PACK". Combine other herbs to make the "SEASONING PACK", "FRAGRANCE PACK", "MEDICINAL PACK", FLAVOR PACK", "TEA PACK", etc. Start your herbs separately and at different times to allow the packs to all look uniform when you combine them to create the six packs. For instance, dill and cilantro grow much faster than ..... Rosemary, Lavender and Thyme are slow growers. You will be amazed at the increased sales, especially in areas where people associate six packs with beverages.

Yep, that was me with the bright rug, then the Karastan! It's working out- not my favorite thing, I admit, it reads a little more traditional then I like, but I think painting all the trim white will help to alleviate the overall heaviness and dated feel of the house. I'm going to pull the yellow creams and turqouisey colors from the rug vs. the darker olives and burgandy for the wall colors and accents which will hopefully pull the rug toward a more contemporary look. It's going to look fine and for the price and quality, really, I can't complain. Thanks for the tip about the lighting- you're right of course. Some of the rooms get great light while others don't so I'll probably be better off with the White 01. I think it will be a shock with either white so I might as well go WHITE-white! Unless someone can think of a reason I shouldn't?