Thanks for the interesting responses! I too had problems with a planting of monarda that never survived. It was 'Jacob Kline' and I was amazed to find it had bit the dust. Looking back, I think I played a major part in its demise by dividing it when it was in bloom (and when it was still a young plant). Tracy, I just checked out American Meadows with Garden Watchdog. It was a good company that seemed to have a bad year in 2007. Several complaints similar to yours. I hope it will come back for you. Eduarda, I couldn't improve on Sierra's answer. Don't give up on it yet! FlowerLady, if anyone could grow this in Zone 10, it's YOU! I'll bet you have good success with it. Good luck! Edna, your bees and butterflies will surely thank you! Sierra, your photos are wonderful! Thanks everyone, Patti

I have some evergreen shrubs that might work for you. I'm not actually sure what the first one is (or actually what any of them are), but they should be easily identifiable by people who know. The first is sort of arborvitae-like but without the gruesome little soldier effect (apologies to those who like them): Here's a close up to help with identification: I thought these were junipers, but someone said they aren't. Whatever they are, they're the "gold-thread" variety: The get quite tall if you want them to. The neighbors have a similar variety that they cut back quite a bit: I have some just plain junipers that form a wall, but stay pretty low - may not be tall enough for your needs - maybe 3 or 4 feet- unless they're up against something like this fence: My last suggestion a virburnum davidii. They grow like crazy, they're very dense and tough, and they stay neat. The flowers are uninteresting, but they're a solid background plant. They neighbor has some that grew up to her roof and formed a bower, but mine is a big circle, about 12 feet in diameter and about 5' tall - maybe a little taller now. All of those will stand up to any number of soccer errors and give you some privacy. If you dare, you could put up a weeing willow, but read up on invasive roots before you risk that. Good luck.

Thanks to you all for posting the pic for me! natal, Thanks! I had to postpone the vet appt to Tuesday. My dryer quit working and had to get it fixed that day. sable, I will definately ask the vet if it could possibly be asthma. She still does it a lot! Funny thing about her, I was ready for her to be a "talker" since she is a siamese mix, and she hardly talks! Maybe she will as she gets older? bestyears, she is doing great with my son! She still loves my DH the best though. My son wants to carry her around, when she would rather be sleeping, I think. He sometimes picks her up when she's in her little post (in the pic), asleep. tjerrilynn, that is the CUTEST thing I have ever seen! I love his (or her) haircut! marlene, thank you and I am glad to hear about the male and female cats together. I am going to seriously start looking for another one. betsyhac, your cats are so pretty and full-figured-LOL! June is on the skinny side now, and I'm guessing she will be until she gets out of the kitten stage. I wonder what she will look like when she's all mature! She plays with us a lot now, and is very curious. She loves to lay on her back and let us rub her belly until she falls asleep, so cute! I got a hooded kitty litter box and she likes it, thank goodness! It has been much easier to keep clean around the box now. I put one of those rubber (I think) kind of pads down in front of her box as she walks out and it has made such a difference, plus the hood on the box. She has Softpaws on her nails right now, baby blue to match her eyes! We just love her!

Since there seems to be some renewed interest by those who’ve yet to try sous vide, thought I’d add a few comments/observations… For me, the most wonderful thing about sous vide is the ability to take a cheap cut of meat and make it tender and tasty – and cook it to perfect mid-rare (our preference). Whether it’s Select steaks on sale for DH and I to enjoy and feel as if we’re dining on quality steak on a weeknight, or finding some cut at the grocery which I’ve no idea what it is and SV’ing, then slicing for a fantastic lunch meat or a quick dinner sandwich… it’s amazing what the SV can do with cheap cuts… Second most wonderful thing for me: Bulk SV’ing (thanks to Sleevendog). I SV and freeze several pork chops to thaw, reheat in the SV, sear and serve; chicken to make salads and sandwiches. And DH’s favorite weeknight meal: Several cheap steaks in bags of 2, mass SV’d to desired doneness. Drop in ice bath, label, then freeze. I only need to remove a couple from the freezer, pop in the SV at one degree under the temp initially cooked, it thaws and reheats in about 45 minutes, and meanwhile I whip up a quick sauce, some veggies, and finish by searing off which also helps to heat the steaks. Makes for an easy weeknight meal. Below is a Select New York Strip, little to no marbling (uber-cheap cut), with a (too thick) peppercorn sauce. It was quite good! And my embarrassing confession: I can prepare fish and seafood… but for some reason I can’t consistently make it come out perfectly cooked. Sometimes my shrimp or scallops are a wee bit on the too done side. Same with salmon (as mentioned above). Sure, should be easy for many, but for me? Eh. So SV to the rescue. I made this scallop dish last summer and while the scallops were in the SV for their 30 minutes I fried up baby kale, baked my maple glazed bacon, sliced the tomatoes and avocados, and made a sauce for BLT Scallops. Seared off the scallops for 15 seconds, sliced in half, assembled, and they were perfection. To those who scoff and say they can sear a scallop in moments, I say great for you, but I can’t and know beyond any doubt they won’t be under cooked or overcooked. With SV I can : ) fillmoe, and anyone else interested, have fun and enjoy!