Oh Horton, you are so funny. I've got the picture in my mind. LOL. We had such a rare cold winter that I told one of the girls at work that when the temps hit 50 I'd wear a bikini and I'm cold-natured enough as it is. It is sad to lose some, but that is nature doing her thing. Thank you. Jenny, I am glad you enjoyed them. I did the same thing and poured through hundreds of pictures. The thing I liked best is every pond is different and as is their flair for ponding. And I have gotten so much great advice. I had really been really picky about the rocks I wanted, like just certain colors, shapes, whatnot. While I am far from finishhed, I am happy with the looks of it so far. I think the best thing you can do to avoid the necklace look, is to vary the sizes of the rocks. You will get the necklace look when you first start out, but it will go away when you start stacking. Now I am lookiing for inspiration for landscaping OUTSIDE the pond myself. You all have a wonderful day.

I have wanted to try some of these for years. There's a lot of shade in my yard, and I love bright color in Fall: whatever I can get that will show through fallen leaves is likely to be aces with me. [grin] A month ago, I purchased small starters: two each of two different varieties. I gave them a little peat and chicken manure, because I've read that they like acidic soil. They are in two different locations. (Both get some morning sun in Spring, but less sun later on as the trees leaf out.) It's only in the last week or so that I've seen any new growth on them, but I'm optimistic. I was also warned that slugs regard them as the caviar of the plant kingdom, so I've been keeping traps near both areas. (I've seen a few nibbles of the lower leaves, but nothing serious.) Wish me luck! :) This post was edited by ms_xeno on Tue, May 6, 14 at 15:53

I don't know Pat, "if you plant it, they will come" is working out pretty well for me:) Both in the way of worms and toads, LOL* Cats like to watch the toads and I like to watch the cats heads follow the toads, but if they intially tried to eat one they spit it back out soon enough. I don't think they'd like the sensation of all that jumping around in their stomaches!! Sometimes the younger ones like to chase and hold down one of the larger ones and let it go and so on, but for the most part they just ignore them. Wayne would love to have a pond with fish too, he looks longingly at them, I reminded him that not only would the cats fish but the 120 pound lab would be in there lounging to cool off. He loved going in the creek and the neighbors pond back home. He'd jump in sometimes and catch me unaware, the neighbors thought it was funny, good thing they liked Jackson. Yes, nurseries are like candy stores to me too, so is Michaels:)

Will, I was extra careful with my walking trough this garden, I didn't harm non of his plants. There was only one lady we would like to see that day, Will's girl friend but unfortunately she didn't show up. Mybe she red the day 1 journal and she didn't like me to make her famous in the conifer world ;0) Indeed, the white needled Picea abies is 'Elegantissima'. Dave, I can't remember the amound of tequilas we had but we decided to continue share our information about conifers with eachother. Somebody has to do this when the older generation isn't around no more... Mike, thanks for showing us your beautiful garden pictures. All colours together will make it look like a living painting! Garen59, do you've Dutch blood in you? Garen is Dutch for tread... For sure we are not Conifer Gods, but we felt like we were in heaven :0) Nate, the Picea shirasawae 'Mt. Yatugatake' is a special and very rare conifer indeed. Till now it's the only cultivar I know of this species. Some background info of the one's at the pictures: Abies procera 'Danish Column': Found by Jason Hupp from seed he bought from Danmark. This cultivar was first named as 'Hupp's Fastigiate' but in that time it wasn't availlable on the market yet. Picea shirasawae 'Mt. Yatugatake' The species Picea shirasawae is native in Japan and was first named as Picea bicolor var. shirasawae. Picea pungens 'Victor' Found by Jerry Morris as a flat growing specimen which arose as a seedling. He also named a Picea pungens 'Victor II' but this one is found as a witches' broom. Picea abies 'Catharine's Golden Heart' This is one of Bob Fincham's seedling selctions which arose as a cross between Picea abies 'Gold Drift' and Picea abies 'Acrocona'. Bob sold this one to Will including the rights to gave it a cultivar name. Will named it 'Catharine's Golden Heart' after his mother. This conifer does have a shape which is in between it's parents, also it produces cones at an early age. Will, thanks you for having us at your beautiful gardens and we hope that you'll continue your great topics at this forum!