Juliann, I'll post a site from the UK that has pictures of various types of gardens. This link goes to their Cottage Garden which they say is "contrived to look uncontrived". There are many other types of gardens there that might provide inspiration. Which plants you choose depends on which climate zone you are in. I'm in zone 3 so am somewhat limited in what I can grow. I'll post a pic of what I call my wild bird garden. It's an area in my large garden that has the birdfeeder and birdbath. I allow the flowers to go to seed for the birds so they self-seed. This area has changed over many years altho I initially seeded shasta daisies (the butterflies love them) and yarrow and planted a few established perennials. The yarrow seeds I planted were a mix of red, pink, and white, but the white resembles the wild yarrow we have so we pull it out and it's mostly now only tones of pinks and red. There are also Lamb's Ears because they seed all over my garden but I leave them in this wild area (the bees love them). There are a few other plants, a pink mallow that's 'weedy' but it fills the space and is quite pretty and we also have several lilacs here. Near that area there is also a drift of common old irises which we've allowed to spread. They are in the lower part of the rockery and I will eventually weed some of them out as the bloom time is not very long. If I were deliberately planting a wildflower garden I would not buy a wildflower mix as there could be invasive plants in it. I planted a mix about 14 years ago and still have Dame Hesperis (Dame's Rocket) altho pull out many every year and try to dead-head them ASAP before they seed. It's quite a weed in warmer climates. I would choose seeds of plants I like that are hardy but not invasive and mix them together. Another option is to plant in swaths with various plants and grasses hardy to your area. Keep in mind the moisture requirements of the plants as you decide. The area where I have shastas, mallow, and yarrow needs little watering and only a spring weeding so is easy care. Here is a link that might be useful: The Garden House

I must admit that I am quite impressed as to how helpful everyone on this forum has been! Thanks again everyone! Suzi, thanks for the encouragement! I sure hope the condo is not for too much longer because I have a feeling by next summer my balcony will have a hard time accomodating all of my planned citri (citruses/citri?). I would love to have your local and actually the misses and I are currently considering making move out to California in the next year or so (we should both be done with school this semester, finally...). It's just an idea right now and we would not move out there without job security, but it sure sounds appealing! Brett, thanks for the tips! I'm glad you said that about the pot size, there's a good chance I would have bought ones too big. I had a question about that though. A lady with some citrus experiance at my local nursery told me just to use a premixed Miracle Gro soil for citrus/cactus which actually had alot of the stuff you need to use (perlite, organics, sand) but I do not see too many people on these forums doing anything aside from mixing their own. Anyone got any suggestions for good deals ordering coconut husk chips? I do want to check some local nurserys and see if they have any by chance, but I am not sure I will have much luck here outside Chicago. As for fertilizer Brett I was considering using Osomocote slow release for outdoor/indoor plants (19-6-12), unless anyone has any objections or suggestions. The pointers were quite helpful Brett, thanks! Toni, It would be awesome to live in a location that had citrus trees at all of the bix boxes (as painful as it generally tends to be entering any and every big box). If you are refering to Pesche's in Des Plaines, it is indeed open, but I honestly do not kow much about their buisness history. It was a pretty nice place, quite a bit of selection, very helpful staff but the prices were indeed a bit high. I still bought a few things there (general potting soil and a bottle of superthrive) and would probably go back. I have never been to any of the other places you speak of, but one of my customers at the coffee shop today mentioned Jamacia Gardens to me and said I should check it out. Is there anywhere local you suggest getting the components for a good growth medium or do you order your components online? I would like to use coconut husk chips as well as the rest of the usual suspects (perlite, organics, ect) and was wondering if you know if they are locally available. As for prices I know those are steep, but I have actually checked out Gardenwatchdog and it seems as though Four Winds is one of the best rated companies. Also, I emailed them the other day w/ a question about shipping prices (the previously posted dilema) as well as to see if there was any chance that they had any 2-3 yr old Taroccos since their site said they were out. I was blown away by the response I got from customer service. The CS rep told me he wasn't sure but thought there was an extra 2-3 yr old Tarocco he might be able to sell me and that he would let me know in the next couple of days. He then told me a good deal of info on all three variaties of blood orange they sell and his personal success with bringing any indoors during the winter. He then proceeded to tell me all about what he thought were good suggestions for a novice as well as explained to me the whole shipping situation (which actually made sense after explained, it has to do with older trees being able to be packaged togather into one box where mixed age trees generally can't). In all the response was over 5 paragraphs, and I must admitt I was impressed! I might still order a few trees from them unless I can find all four of the trees I want from one supplier that is reputable and cheaper. I am going to check out those local nurserys though. As for selection I am not 100% sure but leaning towards a bearss lime, varigated pink lemon, gold nugget mandarin and possibly an oro blanco grapefruit (if not, either a tarocco blood orange or cara cara navel). Also, the owner of citrus.forumup.org also ocassionally sells some plants and has a few Meyer lemons right now that I believe he said would be $28 including shipping and that they should fruit this year. I was not initially planning on having 5 citrus trees this year, but I am planning on making it work. Thanks for all the help again Toni! Mike, I really appreciate the call to Four Winds for me! I emailed them and got an impressive response explaining the whole shipping situation. Their customer service is amazing! I found a Meyer for cheap, so I think I am going to give it a shot and I will surely keep you updated on it's status! Thanks folks! Joe

We have been very slowly redoing our kitchen using the same cabinets, adding new drawer fronts and one new cabinet. We need new countertops as the old ones were cracked so we decided to change the layout. We had the cabinets painted and it has made all the difference. We would love suggestions for backsplash. I love glass subway tile. My husband would like some kind of design behind the stove. Ideas? Here is a link that might be useful: kitchen redo photos

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