I have successfully winter-sown Eupatorium rugosum (now called Ageratina altissima), Eupatorium coelestinum (now called Conoclinium coelestinum), and Eupatorium altissimum. These species were all very easy to start from seed but I've never tried Eupatorium maculatum. Since it is a wetland plant, is it possible that the seeds are less tolerant of drying out or dry storage? They also need light to germinate so they must be surface sown, which means they would be susceptible to drying out in flats or peat pots. You might try the winter-sowing technique to start these from seed. The advantages are, that the container is placed outside during the winter, so cold stratification is provided by Nature, and the container environment works like a mini-greenhouse which helps keep the soil and seeds moist. Even so, posters on the WS forum regularly complain that this is a difficult plant to germinate. If you do get seedlings in the future, you could try growing them on in small pots so they put on some size before transplanting to the garden.

Well - I have to thank njtea for the Hildebrandt rec - what a place that is, they have some great unusual plants. We didn't find the cedar we were looking for BUT did find a wonderful copper beach about 20ft tall and very full. My wife is thrilled and Mr Hildebrandt is quite an amazing gentleman as well. He almost had me sold on a sweet gum tree but then I realized the leaf texture was similar to some of the other trees we have on our property and then there was my wife who was thrilled with the CB selection - fairly reasonable prices too. We will definately be returning for some interesting shrubs and other plants next spring - one thing at a time.

Thanks. Wouldn't change a thing. It's a 13 X 13 square with a 6 foot triangle cut off one of the corners, so about 151 square feet. It's the biggest town would allow 10 feet off property line. We have cold water only; going to add a point of use water heater this summer to feed a sink in the kitchenette, and an outside shower along the right side of the cabana. Using a dry well only drain, no sewer. No bathroom, too much $$ to run the plumbing. We are putting in a bathroom by our screened porch that will accessible from outdoors. We have a Jandy heater, had to, hot tub.....

Met with Jeff of Caribbean Blue Pools tonight. The meeting lasted about an hour. He surprised me with photos that he had taken of my backyard earlier in the day before our meeting started, while it was still daylight outside. He also had a notepad with grade shots(?)that were made with his laser (what's a laser?)... He said he couldn't give a quote on our project unless he knew the lay of our land first. My husband was eating all of this up, Jeff was so prepared for us! Anyway, he answered all of our questions in detail and said that within 1 week I would have a design and detailed estimate presented to us in our living room. As he packed up, he jokingly said that he would make it very hard for us to say no... After seeing his portfolio and listening to him talk about good design and all, I believed him. We both felt like we were in good hands while he answered our many questions. He gave us a range of cost, which seemed reasonable, but my husband couldn't get him to be any more specific, despite many tries. Jeff just said that he needed some time to pull together the design, before a price could be known. So we backed off.. He also deflected any talk about other PB's He wouldn't say anything pro or con about anybody but Caribbean Blue Pools. We liked that and are anxious to see what he comes up with. I'll keep posting with updates. Moocat... Can you please tell me which A&S office is building your pool? If they are not the same one that my neighbor used, I'm inclined to give them a shot at my job, as I can see from your posts that they've been treating you pretty good. I want to get 3 estimates before I make any decisions. Did they give you a landscape plan too? Stret0026... was Jeff the guy from Caribbean you met with? Have you made any decisions on your project yet?