Hello plantponderer, My former garden club did a similar project some years ago - at that time I was the person encouraging really good signage, against the advice of the more experienced. The results were mixed, at best, and since then I've heard many horror stories, and have spoken to horticultural folk at Austin's botanical garden. So my first question to you is this: how public is the garden? If there's unrestricted access to the beds, be prepared for the signs to be stolen, destroyed, relocated, used as fencing equipment by youngsters, and if they are light enough, sometimes taken away by critters! Also, the very same sign that tells the gardener what a wonderful plant you have will also tell the garden thief what's considered valuable. They no longer label the best stuff at some public parks because horticultural knowledge and moral depravity aren't mutually exclusive, darn it! If you have some means of restricting access and/or keeping records of who was present, that would be a different situation, and I hope that's your situation. As to form - one interesting method was developed by the great Illinois plantswoman and author Trudi Temple. She made her signs by using woodburning tools to write the botanical & common names of each species on rectangles of wood. She had someone make heavy wire stakes with a sort of open curled circle at the top. The wooden placards had a hole drilled top center, which was threaded onto the wire curl, then the straight end of the wire was inserted into the flower bed. You could easily add standard symbols for sun/shade/moisture, paint or stain the lettering for contrast and cover it all in polyurethane for protection. Good luck with the project! Annie at the Transplantable Rose

Thanks for the help. I could use some more opinions: Should I put a fabric backing on the label and turn so the seams are enclosed or should I use press a piece of slightly smaller Timtex on the back and turn label edges under before I stitch it label on? The Timtex didn't seem that stiff when I used it for making fabric postcards. However, I don't know if it'll stay attached through repeated washings. I think she'll appreciate the sleeved cuddle blanket. It just so happened that Brookstone had a buy one-get one sale so I got hers at half price. More amazing to me was that shipping (via UPS) and handling was slightly less than $4.00 for both. The other is my gift to myself and I know I will love it when it weather gets colder. Often have trouble sleeping so I read in bed a lot. It's hard to keep my shoulders warm and still have freedom of movement of arms for turning pages. This will save me from having to get up and put on a robe or sweater. Of course, the idea of comfort blanket or quilt isn't original. I simply love cuddling in my comfort quilt made by friends at the 2010 Camp Cheerio Retreat. It is always on my couch ready to cuddle under while watching tv or reading in my living room or just looking pretty and reminding me of the wonderful warmth of quilting friends. There are eight of us chipping in and so we also are completing the basket with six 1/4- to 1/3-pound packages of various chocolate-covered nuts, fruits and fillings (amaretto, Irish Cream), some chocolate "rocks" (actually look more like gravel), a variety of hot cocoa packets (like dark, milk, and white chocolate, truffle, hazelnut...), a mug with beautiful picture of Lake Superior agates (she is a geologist as was her DH), a pretty bookmark, and a nice gift certificate to a book store. Oh, and I made Jackson, their dog, some homemade doggie biscuits.

Shocking to me, a pineapple palm volunteer sprouted in one of my garden beds. I left it growing year afteafter year, and now I must either dig it up, ball and burlap it, OR kill it (no room for it in my yard.) Would you suggest I muscle it and ball and burlap it to sell, or would you just kill it? It's about 6 ft tall and very full. My dilemma... Where would I sell it, craigslist?

Ok, I read. It's been a learning curve to cut down on grocery shopping over the years as my kids left the nest; why, I'm not sure. My mother, a depression-era teen, always stockpiled food that was on sale and we ate almost all of it. This was before dates were put on packages of food and unless a can was bulging or there was mold on the bread, we ate it. We didn't have much money so this was perfectly doable. However, I have to admit that as a person whose stomach isn't iron (as my mom's was,) I have a very hard time eating food that isn't good-tasting, though I have no problem with eating food past code dates that taste fine--milk and eggs come to mind. It is a "first-world" problem for sure, and when I realize something in the pantry has not been eaten by the date, I so hope a charity will take it and be able to use it. Debby, is your store not willing to donate expired food, or do they worry about a lawsuit? Bossy, I'm glad to read what you have written. Try as I might to buy what I think we'll use up in a reasonable amount of time, old habits die hard and I find myself with the guilt of "expired" (is it? Mostly, no) food.