This nursery is only a few miles from my where I live and I'm somewhat familiar with what goes on there. Unfortunately, I'm not very surprised by your story. The back room story is that the founder and former owner Hank Schannen passed away two or three years back. After that, the nursery was run by his survivors, and the nursery's focus shifted to native plants. Fancy that, a native plant nursery called "Rare Find" :o) Their conifer offerings, which had been on the decline for years, were reduced to nil with the nursery selling off their remaining conifer inventory and not replacing them with new ones. As a result, any conifers still in their inventory will have been sitting around for years without care, stragglers in a nursery whose attention is directed elsewhere. I will say that during the quality of their other offerings has continued to be very good, and it's a great place to pick up dogwoods, hollies, redbuds, viburnums, perennials, etc. They still have a lot of rhododendrons and maples, formerly their main focus, though I'm not sure how they fit into the plan. Last year, the nursery was sold to a new owner, and only time will tell the direction it takes in the future. Maybe if you complain about the sorry state of your plants they'll offer you a credit. If they do, now you'll know not to spend it on other conifers.

I don't like a lot of the decorating or crafting shows anymore. I remember watching Trading Spaces and other shows ALL of the time but I don't watch that stuff unless I'm desperate now. My issue is a lot like Pattico's. I HATE modern decorating and that's all the shows tend to focus on. Not everyone likes what is "in" at the moment! I do like to watch that show "Find and Design" on TLC on Sunday's because they actually go out and find things at flea markets and yard sales. They also added Big Lots to the list so they must be a sponser. I just like that they use old stuff for new purposes. That's what I'm into. When I redecorate a room, I don't want to start from scratch! I like to take things I have and repaint or do something to make them match. A lot of the craft shows are jewlery, pottery, clay, etc. I don't do that stuff either. I do country crafts, primitive mostly. You can't find that on TV! Once in a while they have awesome houses on Country Style on HGTV but not always. Some of those houses aren't country at all to me. ~Leslie

Nancy, Welcome home! How tragic that accident must have been. I'm glad you made it home safely and can just picture Titan going all out to welcome you home. I'm glad GDW, you, Tom and Jerry survived Titan's enthusiasm. I hope the animals will leave you alone and let you sleep tonight. They might not want to let you out of their sight. The combination of heat/humidity has been awful, especially up there in the northeastern quarter of the state. Jennifer, Winter's harshness can depend somewhat on whether El Nino develops or not, and they usually don't really know if it is truly going to develop until almost December even though they can see changes in the Sea Surface Temperatures months before that. The problem is that sometimes SST changes signal that an El Nino (or a La Nina) is going to develop, and then something happens and it never develops or it develops and is very weak or it just fizzles out before it really can develop. And, its impacts vary a lot and can range from minor to major and everything in between, so who can say, really? They cannot even get our forecast right a week in advance, so I don't put a whole lot of faith in long-term forecasts that have lots of moving parts. I think that we'll know by February 2019 if we're going to have a bad winter or not. (grin) Rebecca, Nice plants! Are the squirrels leaving things alone now? Jacob, Start it in flats indoors if that is how you prefer to start seeds. As soon as it sprouts, move it outdoors into the sun so you won't have to spend time hardening off plants raised indoors. Or, direct sow it into a prepared bed outdoors, cover with maybe 1/4" soil patted down gently on top of the seeds, water lightly. Keep an eye on it and water lightly every day just to keep the soil surface moist until it sprouts, which at the temperatures we're having now should take a week or less. I don't start basil indoors any more because it has reseeded all over my garden. This year I thought there were not many reseeding volunteers in the garden, but that was because they popped up late---in May and even in early June. Now I have basil growing in the middle of my Laura Bush petunias and my catnip, and they're all just slugging it out and fighting for control. Amy, I don't know how you get anything done with a grandkid climbing all over you. Nancy, Mortgage Lifter is a late variety, so it isn't a huge concern that it hasn't set much yet. In my garden, they tend to start late but set almost all summer even after other large-fruited tomatoes have stopped setting, so I consider their lateness a good thing---it keeps you in tomatoes late in the season. Jennifer, That is what I'd expect with a pumpkin plant. I think I was able to grow pumpkins and squash like crazy---more than a dozen varieties of each of them each year for the first 6 or 7 years we lived here. Then the squash bugs and SVBs found us and the squash and pumpkin party was over. I've never grown as many since, and mostly only C. moschatas because they can survive the SVBs and can outgrow the damage and diseases carried by squash bugs. In our climate, squash bugs and SVBs are just everywhere and are highly mobile and can travel long distances searching for food. It is just our cross to bear in this region, I guess. Jacob, And that is one of the reasons I've never even wanted to try the Florida Weave---I doubt I could keep up with it during the peak part of the growing season. I prefer cages because once I set them up and stake them, that's it, they're done and I don't have to worry about it for the rest of the season. So, y'all, today we had hornworms in our garden. Not tomato hornworms. Not tobacco hornworms. Nope. We had the hornworms of the White-lined Sphinx moth (probably the sphinx moth that is most abundant here in our area), which even is my favorite sphinx moth that I see flying around. I like them because they have a splash of pink on them. These were not the first White-lined Sphinx moth caterpillars we have had in the garden this year. There's been a couple before this. So, let's say that all this season, I've seen two of them in the garden and I relocated them outside the garden. Then, today, I looked across the garden and spotted a bat-faced cuphea plant that had been devoured. Just devoured. I walked across the garden to it and found 3 5th-instar hornworms on it. That was just the beginning. We found 13 hornworms on the cuphea plants, and Tim relocated them to the Back 40 behind the barn. Then tonight I found a 14th one. It was getting pretty dark so I relocated it to the ground beneath my shoe. Ooops. Were these creatures on the dozens of four o'clocks and daturas that we grow just for them? Nope. They were on one of my favorite little flowers that I raised indoors in flats under lights to ensure we'd have those flowers this summer. In all, we found seven of them on that first mutilated plant that I had noticed from the other side of the garden. I'll watch for more tomorrow. Y'all know I am usually very hornworm-tolerant, but I have to say that finding 14 in one day did not make me very happy. That's a lot of damage occurring at once. If the plants are too heavily devoured, they really lack the strength to bounce back. So, I'll be watching more closely for them now. I think they are a bit easier to spot than the tobacco and tomato hornworms because of the color of their spots, which stand out a bit more. Worried after finding those first 13 that there might be more, I tried to quickly check tomato plants for them. I didn't find any on them, but found a ton of stink bugs and leaf-footed bugs on the tomato plants, especially on the SunGolds. I guess I'll work on that problem tomorrow. Tim and I went to Spanish Fort, TX, today to the cemetery where my paternal great-grandparents, grandparents and my oldest uncle (I think he was the oldest) and his wife are buried. They all died before I was born but we used to go with my parents, aunts and uncles to visit their graves and tidy them up every June. So, today, Tim and I went back for the first time in a very long time and hardly recognized the place. It is a very old cemetery, and one that never had a perpetual care plan in place, so whatever care it gets is from folks who have family buried there. The grass has largely been replaced over time by Mother Nature with wildflowers. It is so much more beautiful with all the wildflowers than it ever was with just the grass. Someone has cut down all the tall, very old cedar trees, and I used those cedar trees in the past to find the family graves, so it was harder to find them this time. Luckily, as I eventually discovered, the lone cedar tree left in that cemetery still shades some of my relatives' final resting place. The oak trees that grow along the cemetery fencelines are twice as tall as I remember. Tim thinks it has been about 30 years since we last were there, but I think we went once about 15 years ago. Since the cemetery was full of wildflowers, it was full of bees. Tons and tons of bees. Spanish Fort is a virtual ghost town now, but the cemetery, the wildflowers and and the bees remain. It was a great reminder to me that Mother Nature does as she wishes and plants her flowers and other plants where she wants them, especially when there's no one around really fighting her wishes in that regard. And all those bees----while we gardeners may worry and fret about where all the bees have gone, I can tell you where thousands of them are....they are buzzing around the wildflowers in a tiny little old country cemetery that has been in use since at least the mid-1800s. Not many people have been buried in that cemetery in this century....most of the more recent burials are in the New Cemetery, established in 1939, but I didn't see many wildflowers and bees in that one, just a lot of short, clipped grass. If there is a shortage of bees anywhere in that county, it is just because there's not enough flowers elsewhere to lure them away from the old cemetery's wildflowers. I liked that cemetery with its flowers and bees. All cemeteries should be filled with wildflowers like that. It was just such a peaceful place, quiet except for the buzzing of the bees. Dawn

13 QUESTIONS TO FIND THE RIGHT TILE INSTALLER Qualified tile contractors have the verifiable experience and use proper methods and materials. But how do you know your contractor is qualified? We have surveyed homeowners, designers, contractors and other construction industry experts to compile a list of questions every homeowner should ask an installer before starting a project. To help ensure the tile contractor you hire is the right fit, start with these 13 questions: 1. Are you licensed in your area? Verify. Some states do not require tile contractors to be licensed. 2. How many years have you/your team been working exclusively as tile installers? It takes many years to become proficient as a dedicated, qualified tile professional. Five years or more would be an expected minimum. 3. How were you trained? Do you participate in on-going professional training from organizations and/or manufacturers, and specifically what? Tile installers who have completed an apprenticeship under a Qualified Tile Installer/Organization and participate in industry training are generally more likely to follow standards and industry recommendations and stay current with products, materials, and industry updates. 4. Tell me about your favorite tile installation project and why. What project(s) were challenging for you and what did you do to overcome those challenges? Get to know the tile professional as part of your project team. Do they take pride in their work? If you have a General Contractor (GC) or Designer who is hiring the tile installer, it may make sense to request meeting with the GC/Designer and tile installer in advance of the installation to plan and answer your questions. 5. Do you have a company website or social media pages with photos of your work? Professionals will have a public presence that is available to consumers so you can review their work and customer reviews. Lack of a traceable, legitimate, and experienced business should be a deterrent to hiring. 6. Can I speak with recent customers and view photos of those projects? Qualified, experienced tile contractors will have a history of satisfied clients that are happy to recommend them and share their experience. 7. Are YOU FAMILIAR WITH THE TCNA HANDBOOK and ANSI STANDARDS? DOES YOUR WORK FOLLOW THESE INDUSTRY RECOMMENDATIONS? The TCNA Handbook coupled with the ANSI Standards are the industry recognized guidelines for the installation of tile for a wide range of applications. A qualified tile professional installer will be familiar with and know how to specify and use these reference tools. 8. Do you have successful experience working with the type of tile I plan to use? There are different methods, materials and considerations when planning and installing various tile products such as ceramic, porcelain, large format tile, handmade tile, mosaics, natural stone or glass. Verify their experience and training with the tile product you have chosen for your project. 9. What manufacturer’s products do you use and do you comply with manufacturer instructions? There are many manufacturers of quality tile setting materials. Most perform well with use of approved methods and adherence to manufacturer specifications. Most qualified tile installers will be well versed on the methods and systems they prefer and should be able to answer your questions about their process and materials and associated warranties. 10. If wet areas (showers/baths) are to be included in the work performed, what approved system/methods will you use to assure a long-lasting installation? Tile installations in wet areas require some very important preparation to avoid leaks and unwanted moisture problems. Unapproved methods, and the use of materials inappropriate for this application can contribute to a very costly and unwanted result that too often requires complete removal and replacement by a qualified professional. A quality installation should last decades or longer. 11. Do you have liability insurance, and if you have employees, are they covered with Worker’s Compensation Insurance? Make sure you can verify appropriate insurance coverage. 12. Do you belong to professional organizations like NTCA (National Tile Contractor’s Association)? Industry involvement is one indication of a tile installation company’s commitment to their craft. It gives them access to education, technical information, and other resources to assist them in professionally serving you. 13. Are you a Certified Tile Installer (Certified Tile Education Foundation, CTI) or do you have Certified Tile Installers on your team? The certification of tile installers is an important step forward for the consumer and is “one” indication of professionalism. The industry has established a process to certify tile installers. Certification identifies an installer as being a dedicated and knowledgeable professional whose competence in installing tile has been verified to meet specific tile industry standards.