Deb, I am looking at my asters. A few are good looking top to bottom and I cut them back a few times and they stayed upright and compact and the foliage is great. I bought them locally as a container filler and haven't a name to offer. But I do have another one that I also cut back, but it still got pretty tall and is flopping and the bottom is sparse...haven't gotten close enough to see if the foliage is 'crispy'. But I keep looking at it and thinking about what I could do to make them look better next year, because I do like the top. Your approach sounds like it is working out well. Would love to see a photo! :-)

I am so glad to hear that I am not the only one who feels like that sometimes! We all work so hard on our gardens and have dreams of what it could be and then when nature throws hail and bad weather at us - it is just a little hard to accept.... If it were not for my newest front bed around the pin oak tree next to my driveway (which still looks great), I don't know what I would do! I did lose a bunch of heuchera, but most of the hosta in this bed look great - as opposed to the horrible way the hosta in the back yard look. The ones that look the best are Francee, Blue Mammoth, June, Guacamole, Christmas Tree, Pizazz, Paul's Glory, Abiqua Drinking Gourd, Dream Queen, & Krossa Regal. All of my potted babies from the White Oak sale look great and with the cool weather we had on Sunday, they all got planted (YAY!) Everything Ken says about gardening around maples has proved true for me... I just moved a few sad-looking backyard hosta and their rootballs were full of fine, maple roots and their leaves are crispy and ugly. Maybe I will switch to SEDUM there instead!!! BettyLu

I would consider San Angelo Zone 7 for almost all planting you do but like stated earlier plantings on the southern side(micro-climate) of heat radiating objects may give you the chance to do some zone 8 plants. As to plant labels stick with full sun plants only for your afternoon sun and part to full sun for your morning side plantings. Most plants are planted in spring which is still when most people plant regardless if it is the best time to plant a given plant or not.(Hence nurserys (mine included) supply the broadest and most diverse selection and sizes at that time. Many plants can be planted in the summer but most people don't want to deal with the constant attention to water that these plants will need if planted during that time period. Many Evergreen plants that are zone appropriate can be plant year round yet I see very few customers in the November-Feb time period and again a nursery can't afford to stock and maintain a brimming full nursery selection when only a handful of customers are coming in and even considering planting. Fall is a great time for most but not all plantings. It starts as the first cool fronts start coming in and night time becomes cool enough to enjoy being outside and you start opening windows to enjoy some fresh cool air at night. Maybe as early as mid-Sept but more often Oct. is the month to get serious about fall planting of many things. The challenge will be what is available for you to plant because many nurseries have pared down inventory because not enough gardeners take advantage of this PRIME time of year and many that do want the plants at sale price (read at cost or below). Having been in the nursery business for 22 years (12 in Texas) this is an observation not to dis my fellow gardeners. I like many nurseries are trying to offer as much as is reasonble business-wise throughout the year but the customer is the ultimate driver of what will be carried and when, if you are going to survive in this challenging but personally rewarding vocation (read most of us aren't into for the pay). An average 1st year teacher makes more than a good nurseryman after 10 years of caring and teaching others about his plants(children). Do get to know your Ag extention and Master Gardners in the area as well as the native plant people in your area, also search out the best of type nurseries in your area and look for free seminars put on there and if you stop by throughout the year you will get lots of free and probably useful advise as well as see what is carried at any given time throughout the year. Any of these will give you much needed advise and ideas to work into your situation. Remember Rome wasn't built in a day and neither are great gardens or landscapes. Last but not least continue to frequent this forum and ask questions and lurk and search as anyone that does, no matter how long they have grown plants will find little gems of wisdom and of course a great bunch of caring folks that wish you all the best in you gardening future. Happy Growing David

I took the advice of the group. I found a qualified professional. He took a look at the issues. Normally, this guy does mostly commercial. He has a small group of referral only residential customers. He said that there was no need to replace either the 10 year-old Trane heat pump or the slightly older 80% efficiency backup natural gas furnace. They had more years of satisfactory service. He did warn me that coolants would be changing in a year or so. The old stuff will start to get scarce. That's not a problem until the heat pump springs a leak. He suggested for immediate attention he would remove all the stopgap tape and mastic. He would properly align the plenum and clean the coil while he had access to it. Then he would button it all up. He agreed that the vent pipe was fine as is. I told him we would be doing a renovation in the near future and would undertake to address the situation when the wall was opened. He said that a new double insulated pipe could be inserted through the roof, if necessary. But, as things currently stood it was okay. He said to develop a phased plan. We will think about adding more returns replacing duct work in the future. I like how he addressed things. We felt like we were dealing with a used car salesman when we were dealing with the first guy. I called and cancelled the replacement appointment. This company has lost my business. I know I didn't provide all of the system details, but I appreciate the second opinions. If it doesn't feel right, it probably isn't. You've saved me some money and a lot of wasted effort.