I want to add my two cents worth about my disappointment with the way Org. Gardening has turned out. I have read it for decades and am now reluctantly giving up. Garden Design is useless. Love Fine Grardening - yeah, it's lots of pictures (I think the best photography of the lot), but really good articles and advice. I have volumes going back for years - that's the one I keep. And I share them a lot w. new gardeners and friends. It's easy to locate specific articles with useful info. Also like Horticulture a lot. And I have just become a "member" of New England Gardening Club - primarily for the magazine People, Plants and Places - which is really quite good, but also because with joining comes a discount card for many NE garden centers and nurseries. This advice is only useful for NE, obviously - but if you are in this region check it out at newenglandgardening.com. I also belong to the Americal Horticulural Society and their magazine is excellent - that's an expensive join, but I get free entrance to many botanical gardens and so it pays me to do this (besides which, it's a good org to support_) I know this is supposed to be about least favorite but, hey, it just leads one to think about what one DOES like. sorry if this is incorrect

Hey, the first really positive response since I first posted back in October last year. Some nice people have been in touch to offer to report back from fortbcoming hikes in the hills - but so far no definite sitings of the elusive tree fern in question. Thankyou so much for getting in touch - that's made my day, Kekoa. The next challenge is to get a definitive ID on this little Hapuu (Cibotium nealiae). Between us, I'm sure we can pin it down one way or another. We'd need close-up photos of a fully developed frond placed on your hand (for scale) - one shot topside, one underneath. Choose a portion of frond closest to the trunk for the photos, not the frond tip - there are more ID clues down at the trunk end where the first few pairs of leafy pinnules are attached. Also, a close-up of the stipe (stems) bases as they emerge from the crown - try and get the first couple of feet of length in shot. Again, there are diagnostic details here. All that will have to wait until your newly planted trunks have pushed up new fronds, of course. In the meantime, any chance of emailing me an image of the frondless trunks in your garden? It would be great to hear from you - on or off-forum. Steve Pope - Brighton, Sussex Coast, UK

If we are doing combos allowed, then, I want a smattering of the extinct Cottage Living with a hefty dose of Renovation Style. This months RS the Before & After issue with the brown chairs on the front has the house my house wants to be........but never will.........Joan's house in the article "The Rescuers". Red

Ok it still hasn't bloomed but if you look closely in the center it looks like it's trying to! :) I'll post another photo when it actually opens.