Jodi: I hope you don't loose your mind Jodi! lol I feel your pain, although what's strange is that the snowy conditions are all around us in every state while just the warm rain storms move in here, even with over 50 mile an hour winds..But before and after that it's frigid.. It was in the teens Friday and today in the 50's..Tuesday, back to the 20's again..I wish this was over already. Have you seen what our friend "Nancy" is dealing with in Florida? She say's it is going to be in the mid twenties again with the destruction of many tropical plants, including damage to her Mango's last week, let alone again this week. Sheesh, at least her Jades are coloring up fast...Crazy I say.. By the way, please watch your back with shoveling the snow, and please post us some nice picks when your pretty bulbs bloom? It will be a site for sore eyes by the time they do so..:-) Jojo....How are you? I like the black bottle idea too! That will be a fun hobby..The paints are on sale at Michael's this week and pretty cheal at HD.. I wish I could use this method. No container dark would warm up for me in full sun around here..The sun only acts like a flashlight until about Feb now..Even if your weather should be colder, I can only imagine the warmth of your sun against any wall, or protected area..I have walked about in your area with snow on the ground with my t-shirt only..I loved it.. I wonder how your jades are doing this time of the year? You must be getting some cooler temps to turn them color.. Dormancy dance? lol... I finished that dance weeks ago when the leaves to my fig tree fell off due to frost..Now they are being stored in the dark and in my shed, where the temps hover in the mid thirties or higher until the spring..I guess I can finally say I have an advantage with the cold this time around..It makes winter a bit more bareable knowing that some of my plants will benefit from it..:-) Josh...That is the best news I have heard all day in regards to this dreay dark weather! Thanks for the reminder, considering that we still have another week or so for the sun to lower even further in the sky. It gives us hope that just as soon as the first day of winter arrives, the sun will start it's climb up hill again, thank God..:-) Hey Mrlike2u! Good to hear from you...You are right, Jodi's plant are much better, but your's are still nice looking..lol, In all serious, when those decide to bloom, we want to see them. They should do very well in your care..By the way, the tops of some of my Desert Roses just rotted right off on the seedlings..:-( Donald: Very good looking fruit..Great job there..Congrat's on your Orchids too..Wow. Ykerzner:Fungus gnats, sugarcane, bagged mixes, and light frost's..Guess which two I like the most? Hint: It can be very sweet when slightly cooled....:-) Josh: P.s.. What nice looking cactus you have there.. Mike

Ron, Phoenix Perennials might be worth looking at if you're into agaves, yuccas, and sedums. They started doing mail order a year or two ago. The owner is a great guy and I suspect he will increase the selection of agaves over time. I ordered from Plants Delights once before and am tempted to do so again this year, but, of course, it gets expensive when ordering from Canada. I finally orderd a couple of plants from Jamie at Valley Succulents, who is also great to deal with, but will pick the plants up in Comox in the spring. Finally have (well almost) Aloe plicatilis and Sedum palmeri Jeff! :-) Here is a link that might be useful: Phoenix Perennials

I ,too, like the idea of planting heuchs in groupings. However, the reality of cost set in at some point. Therefore, I mostly started to buy one of a kind to experiment with and if it did well I intentded to buy more if it's patented or to divide it if it's not. Another thread got me thinking that it's too bad that the heuchera breeders don't do more garden trials before releasing new cultivars, so they can give specific instructions on their requirements for survival. I'm with someone else on this forum who stated that he will not buy new introductions until they are proven winners. To get bach to the point of this thread, I use heucheras as accessories to other plants such as hostas in the overall garden design.

I've got dozens of Salvia greggii plants. Some do fine without watering but a few do not & its beyond me why this is. I have one that will look ratty and stressed thats on a slope where there are lots of tree roots but others look fine higher up, they get more shade so maybe thats the difference? Its not THAT much more. I notice a bit of watering will bring them around and encourage blooming but I'm too lazy. I will give the really bad two or three plants a drink when a month has gone by without rain but mostly they are on their own. I've got several plants that need no watering in summer. The trick is to find the ones that will do that and still tolerate some wet periods we get from time to time. I choose xeric plants and sort of experiment. Some make it, some don't. I loose more plants to rain than drought. Here are some plants that never need watering and still look good here in Oklahoma, I'm on a slight slope so I get good drainage. Most prairie grasses with a couple exceptions look best when its hot and dry. Flame Flowers Desert Marigold Ephedra Blackfoot Daisy Missouri Primrose Purple Prairie Clover Dalea greggi Ratibida--Prairie Coneflower Dyssodia Annual Bitterweed Sphaeralcea ambigua & S. angustifolia Heath Aster Lantana, the wild types Purple Texas Scullcap Liatris Zexmenia Mealy cup sage Annual gaillardia All the artemisia both native and the ones in the nursery trade except for silver mound. It melts and turns into an ugly dead mat flat on the ground.