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

Are there any leaves left on the plant? If not then just be sure to keep the potting mix only slightly moist or it will rot the roots. A potting mix as you described will do just fine. If the orchid mix has perlite and charcoal or other additives I would be suggest mixing it 50/50 with potting soil. You can even do 2/3 orchid mix and 1/3 potting soil but you will have to water more often. Also when you repot use a small pot just a little bigger than the root mass. Mike

Hey, sorry to bring up this dinosaur thread, but I was toodling around looking up H. pauciflora and found this. I got a few cuttings of this a couple of years ago, and it is my second best grower. No die back or leaf loss. I kept lopping the long vines in two and popping them back in the pot with a smidge of rooting hormone, and now have a full little 4 inch pot that will likely need a 6 inch this year. I have to celebrate my successes with hoyas, as I have a boatload of failures (serpens, curtisii to name a few). Here's what I provide, and it seems to really like it. I grow mine cool and bright. House gets down to 15 or 16 at night (winter temps). It seems to tolerate drying out well, and grows in spurts during the summer and fall. No growth in winter, while my others hoyas give the odd bit of growth. I'm hoping for some flowers and googled what they look like. How lovely!

Cena, whenever you have free time, you have my permission to paint any of those pictures...what an honor! But only if you take a picture of your painting so that I can see it!! One of my co-workers also asked if she can paint the lake picture (with the reflections of trees). Quinn, Anchorage is such a beautiful city! The only thing that was weird about it is that it doesn't feel like Alaska (except when you see mountains in the background!). The phrase we were told that Alaskans use when they are in Anchorage is "I can't wait to get back to Alaska" - I just love that!! Anyway, we were in Anchorage for a bit, but mostly we were in the Denali area and in the Kenai/Seward/Homer area. Denali was my favorite. As for moose poop, I don't think there was a gift shop ANYWHERE in Alaska that didn't have those moose poop gifts...you are so right!! Glad you enjoyed the article - but yes, I think this top ten feature might make people go broke! Gabi