What you will discover happens more and more is what you just wrote about - you will walk into a nursery and something will leap into your arms and will come home with you! We call that "PJIC" (Plants Jump Into the Cart). LOL With respect to the Zones and snow - the Zone merely indicates the lowest average minimum temperature over a range of years. The fact that I got socked with 16" of snow in February (ACK!) doesn't necessarily mean that my overall winter isn't a little milder on average than a lower Zone area. We normally have about 20" snow as the average. But what happens is that most of it (like many of us on the east coast) comes in 1 or 2 "big" storms and the rest from a couple moderate storms and that's it. I know that NYC (Central Park) is also now considered Zone 7ish - especially where you live, because of all the buildings around you. I also know that Central Park is right now, 0.1" under 40" of snow for this past winter. But that's above normal for the city and was mostly due to that same February storm where Central Park reported almost 24"! The normal average snow for your area is about 28" total for the season. Regarding the water feature - you could leave it out but you would probably have to empty the water from it unless you have a heater. I have a half barrel water garden that I am going to re-do this year (it eventually got really gunky). Over the past 10 years, I kept a couple aquarium heaters going in it during winter to keep the water from freezing over since I had fish in it. I tried to keep the water in the 50 Fs whenever the temps were in the teens. Here's a pic from 2003 of it: The wall mounted fountains are kindof cool. I know some posters here with more sun have solar-powered fountains. You can check back often as it gets warmer and you'll get some great ideas from people. I know there are a bunch of people who post here who live in NYC and they have some great balcony and rooftop gardens!

I really feel sorry for you, and I know that it isn't always possible to be there when a tree company schedules their appointments so you can intervene if necessary and it's possible that wouldn't be appreciated anyway. Also, companies like that doing the same job to two different customers may have one complain enough wasn't taken off and the next say too much. It has to be spelled out even if that takes drawing diagrams, and not left to their discretion. How they prune and trim (assuming they knew what they were doing) may vary with the desired outcome. It has only been rather recently that a tree care company has even been available with any type of certification in our area. We used one, and I got the impression that the only employee we saw who had a grip on the tree situation was the one who came to give us the initial estimate who then gave directions to the crew and, who were not nearly as experienced. IOW the promise and the delivery were two different things. Happens with a lot of trades, like when I had a g'house wired and had to stop a couple of apprentices mid-stream because they were clueless and the only crew on the job. We are on our third tree company now and it's a good fit. We have major trees here and it's an on-going issue to keep them in good order or suffer the consequences. I don't trust a new one until they've done minor work and I can see them in action. The owner of the one we use is here through the whole job and he is a good balance of experience, training and reasonable cost. If you only have occasional use for such a service, then it's your job to check credentials. Your trees are a big investment, as you have found out and not easily replaced or repaired. Never base it on cost alone or the first number you see in a phone book.

I'm looking to expand my collection. I need a Norfolk pine to plant on my partners grave. That's #1. Otherwise I'd like any haworthia, ferns, echiveria, plumeria etc. I have no palms or cycads and would like to get some. I like succulents most, especially fuzzy ones. I have a few things to trade Argintin mesquite, African sumac, pencil tree, blue chalk sticks, Mexican bird of paradise, Texas ranger and maybe some others. Let me know what you have and what you might like. Very open to trading and interested in a lot. Let's give it a try.

are they still available?