Japanese irises come with fountain foliage or upright foliage, and you may have a fountain shaped variety. Do you have a photo? Renee

Ray, Yeah well they have already started to shoot out past the cage on one of the Earthtainers. Adding another section on top is not a bad idea. I got your plans off of tomatofest.com, which I have to say, are a great idea and not hard at all to do. We followed your advice to drill holes in multiple totes at a time. The only parts where we didn't follow directions are the following: 1. We lined the bottom and sides of the inside of the inserted tote with weed blocker. We thought that at the end of season that it would be easier to remove the old plants and easier to shake up the left over medium, take some out and add new medium later. Thus the weed blocker covers the bottom, comes up the sides and then we trimmed it after putting the lid on. It might seem like a waste to use that much but we are banking on the frustration factor being lessened which sometimes out weighs the cost of a little extra weed blocker. 2. We are not in a high wind area and we toyed back and forth with what staking system worked best for us and in the end we went with the cages but now knowing what I know about pruning for the indeterminate varieties I want to use the swizzle looking stick stakes and no cage at all. Or hopefully some sort of upside down trellis system that starts on the Earthtainer peaks 5-6' above and then aims back down to the ground again. Thus, our cages are not attached in the same fashion as you recommended but instead inserted on the interior of the lid since we put them in after we put the plants in. It wil do for this year. Thanks for the tip on the cages. I think I will go back to my local nursery and get more of the same that I bought they seemed cheap, $4 per four sided cage. They aren't Burpee but the same idea and use the same fasteners that you discussed in your directions for attaching the cages to the tote. Just and idea as well, do with it what you want. But for extra aeration we thought that it might be good to also drill holes in the side of the inserted tote. I think it would be helpful but maybe not. Thanks for designing this wonderful tool for gardening! I did give to feedthechildren.org like you requested and I did see that you do travel to build Earthtainers for those in need. Should you ever go again to help others in need I would love to come along and help out. I use to be a missionary in days past and want to find ways to give back that combine my talents and passions such as gardening. Also, thanks for the encouragement! Anne

Thanks, everybody, and I'll leave her coat alone. Besides, I'm dealing with royalty here, and such matters are not for me to decide anyway. I DIY all Sophie's grooming. She loves the brush, and believe it or not, she loves water too. I bathe her myself right in the shower. Heck, she frequently hops up on the sink, waits for me to turn on the faucet (and adjust the temperature, of course), then she bathes herself. She won't drink water from a bowl, either - only from the faucet. It's hilarious. As for claws, she has never touched me, or anything that belongs to me, with her claws, so I don't know if they need trimming or not. She tears daylights outa' the scratch-blocks that I put in every room, and sometimes she plays a little rough with Leo (my other cat - a blue-collar, meat-and-potatoes alley cat from the shelter), but she claws nothing else. I'll check her claws anyway. I tried to post pics to the pet gallery, but it didn't work. I'll see'f I can figure it out, and try again.

Has anyone else had the problem that you can never dry/style it the same way the stylist does while you're in the chair? My hair usually looks fine when I walk out but I can never replicate the look at home, then I start to see the problems. Why won't she undercut the bottom layer as I asked?? I know she takes a tad off, but I can't really see what she's doing at the time. I've been going to Supercuts for many years and try different people, but so far have only had one good one whom I haven't seen since. I tried a different salon and paid 3-4 times as much, only to have pretty much the same cut. My daughter will get to trim my hair today when she visits. :)