Nicki - The arch is new since the swap. I was planning for it but Dave hadn't built it yet. We also had to extend the bed on the left to accommodate it. Yes that is a Red Cascade in the planter on top of the arch. I got it from Tracy at her butterfly festival after I questioned her about whether or not it would get too big for the planter. She assured me it would do fine but since it was a quart plant in May when I planted it, we'll have to see! irma stpete - The "vine" on the trellis is a Red Cascade Rose. The "yellow flowers" on the far side are actually seed pods from a swamp hibiscus. The tall plants next to the porch are brugmansias. I use landscape timbers on all my beds to define them. I haven't removed any of them, they just "gray" with age, and of course, as the plants and "grass" [I really don't grow grass, just weeds that I keep mowed!] fill in they don't show as much. The only problem I have with the timbers is that they will eventually decay and have to be replaced. But I like the look and they are easy to run the weedeater against to keep everything looking neat. Thanks again for all the kind comments and encouragement. I am already thinking about another swap here next April since I had such a good time this year! nova

ooh ooh. Thanks for that! I JUST planted the one I got from Karla. Looks a whole lot like yours from last year. Can't wait to see it grow up next year!

Funny you should mention Beatrix Farrand. I just got back from a few days in Bar Harbor ME. I visited Farrand's last house and garden, Garland Farm, which has just been bought by a group which wants to restore both. They are quite small so the project is very doable. The group is led by the wonderful landscape architect, Patrick Chasse, and is well worth any dollar or two you might spare. After years of reading about Beatrix Farrand, I do not believe she dismantled her family's place, Reef Point, garden, house and all, because she couldn't leave an endowment. It's too long a story for here but I think she felt a lot of anger about some important life experiences and that is the source of some of the curious things she did. We were told at Garland Farm that her will stated that, if her caretaking couple predeceased her, Garland Farm was to be dismantled. Fortunately, they outlived her. I am still mulling over my own answer to the question posed by this thread. Initially, I must say that I think I could never live within the bounds of someone else's vision. Much as I would be tempted, I don't think I could buy a garden which demanded restoration. Stay tuned for what someone else actually did when presented with this dilemma.

Well-behaved kelton (or is that "confused")? Well ... "lemming" is a six-letter word (nothing wrong with that, as far as I know) ... and so is "sailor". Lemmings drown when they hit the sea. Sailors don't - and I've heard that a large number of them can't swim. They have this protective coating that helps them rise with the water ... trick is ... they manage to stay above it. (Most of the time). To them, "ship" (or "boat" - take your pick) isn't a four-letter-word (in the ordinary context of that meaning). It's "safety" (another six-letter-word, for what that's worth). You heard me promoting the wisdom of (skilfully) investing using stocks, last year. But you didn't hear me touting last year as a good time to buy, did you? The major word that you heard from me was "patience" (a double four-letter-word, if you choose), wasn't it? I've mentioned around here that I've entered the market three times since just before Christmas. An advisor whose judgement I respect says that his group usually enters the market almost entirely just before Christmas - when the big fund guys are selling their losers to look good. His 5-year average growth rates vary 16% - 42%: variation 25 (10 year average 19.6 - 29.3: variation under 10 [see how patience pays?]). I have the wherewithal to enter the market again with cash, which would trouble me if that were the end of my game - I want more arrows in my quiver (to change metaphor). I have 'em. I have shares in a company, which includes Canada's largest telco, what used to be called a "widows and orphans" stock. And which owned a large portion of Northern Telecom, which they spun off to shareholders when NorTel price was high, for its market value included pretty well all of theirs, so sharholders in the parent got all of the other parts of their holding pretty well for free. It's being bought out by a couple of large Canadian pension funds, along with a N Y mergers facilitator, with the deal to close soon, which will put more cash in my jeans for deployment elsewhere. Ongoing discussion as to whether they'll be offering the originally bruited price (before market drop) ... ... or being shifty - (who would ever accuse corporations of being "shiftless"??) ... somewhat downward. Trouble is - the shareholders accepted the offer, several months ago ... but there was no mention of the price shift (or is that "shifty")? In any case - I should have enough for some more entries into the market, if it stays down, or goes lower, or bounces some, before resuming the usual (but not guaranteed) upward climb. Some years ago the market stayed mostly flat for a bout 10 years (and that was quite a "bout")! Which might be O.K. for you ... ... but not so hot for me, crowding age 80. Plus, I have a fully-secured Line of Credit which is sitting unused at the moment, that I can use, if I choose. And beef up by having more stocks registered, if I choose to pay the $35. - 50. per that the registration costs. I can borrow from the broker at about 1% higher rate than from the bank ... so I need to hold the stock certificate for a while to offset the registry cost by interest saved. Possibly up to a few entries later - but that would stretch my rubber band pretty tight, if some of my holdings hadn't risen somewhat prior to that ... I wouldn't want to see any razor blades in the vicinity of that band! The above may lead you to feel that I am probably a multi-milllionaire! Far from that - I'm far short of even a single one of those! Good wishes with your investing project. I've noted that you don't have an email address to enable people to contact you privately. I've been much more forthcoming in the above than I like, would probably have written a substantial portion of it to you privately, had that option been available. I've been much more forthcoming than many, previously. You almost didn't get the full amount of this message. As a matter of fact, on review, I altered some things to be less specific. Not liking to lay that large a portion of my financial picture out on the public table. ole joyful