Contrary to what another poster wrote here, I have nothing but praise for Advanced Tree Technology. I ordered an Autumn Blaze Maple and an Exclamation London Planetree. Both were carefully packaged, and quite large for the price paid (well over 4'). Both trees leafed out beautifully this Spring and are doing great. There's no way I could have found trees this nice and of this variety at any of the local big box stores (HD, Wally World, Lowe's) and as far as Pike's in Georgia is concerned, they're basically a has-been joke which went into bankruptcy. So I for one am thankful for internet nursery options. "Second of all, that site doctors their photos." This is an empty argument. How many web sites DON'T doctor their photos?? At least enough to enhance color and contrast. It's standard practice for most. Shabby image, shabby sales. Sharp, colorful image, better sales. That's common sense, not suggestive of anything criminal. "Third of all, they sell junk trees. Paulownia, Pear trees, silver maples. These are junk trees that you don't want." Either this poster is deliberately going out of their way to smear this company, or they have Advanced Tree Technology confused with someone else. No where in ATT's current catalog or web site will you find either silver maples OR paulownia trees. Check for yourself (see link). Yes, they do sell a hybrid Cleveland Select pear, which is supposed to be an improvement over the old Bradfords. Just because this poster sees it as a 'junk tree' doesn't mean everyone else feels the same way. "Forth of all, after shipping, a 3-4' tree is $71.90 THAT IS A RIP-OFF." Again, I have no clue where this poster is getting their facts and figures, unless they live in Timbuktu. I live in GA, and still have my receipt. Only $64.50, including S+H, for 2 trees shipped in soft fabric rootbags. I thought it was a pretty good deal, even more so since I'm happy with both trees and they're doing fine. And no, they don't anything like 'junk trees' : )) Here is a link that might be useful: Advance Tree Technology

There are many lovely vines you could use. If you want a fast-growing annual vine that would bloom repeatedly throughout the summer, you could try any of these: Morning Glory, many named varieties, fast grower, morning blooms Moonflower, fast grower, heart-shaped leaves, large white flowers that open in the evenings, lovely fragrance; starts bloomin in mid-summer You could plant moonflowers and morning glories on the same trellis, and have blooms in the morning and in the evening. Cardinal Climber Cypress Vine Purple Hyacinth Bean Vine Black-Eyed Susan Vine Scarlet Runner Bean Vine, fast grower but can balk at high heat Mina Lobata--can be hard to germinate, but then grows quickly and has lovely flowers Cathedral Bells aka Cup-and-Saucer VIne If you want a perennial vine that will return every year: American Crossvine--lovely, tough, fast-grower, loved by Hummingbirds Sweet Autumn Clematis--sort of slow the first year, but will reward you forever after with lovely, sweet-scented blooms in August when you really need something lovely in the garden. Likes shady feet and at least partial sun. Worth trying again. Once established it is very tough. Clematis--there are many lovely clematis vines that have beautiful blooms, but you will need to do careful research to find one that can survive our summers Wisteria--fast grower, but doesn't know when to stop, and this vine is a monster, so be sure you really, really want it because once you have it, you can't get rid of it easily Trumpet Creeper, Madame Galens--One very fast-growing, very tough vine. Orange tubular flowers. Sometimes this can be invasive, so again, be sure you really want it. If you plant one, be SURE it is a named hybrid as they are much less likely to become invasive. There is a yellow-flowered version called 'Flava'. I grow them both on a trellis and they have not been invasive for me. Honeysuckle, Coral--a hummingbird magnet. This is the well-behave American native (Lonicera sempervirens) and not the invasive Japanese Honeysuckle. Lonicera heckrottii--a couple of the named varieties are 'Goldflame' and 'Pink Lemonade' Boston Ivy English Ivy Silverlace Vine and Climbing Hydrangea can be slow to get established. Passionflower Dutchman's Pipe Climbing Roses There are many others, but these are some of the more common ones. Air Potato Vine is an old passalong plant that is very fast growing but is hard to find in nurseries. Coral Vine/Queen's Wreath is only reliably hardy to zone 8 but is a beautiful fast-grower. IT will have tip damage at 32 degrees and will freeze to the ground if temps hit the mid to low 20s, but it is gorgeous. Dawn

There are several sites online that sell Little Bluestem seed by the pound. The commercially available seeds are: Aldous (Kansas) Cimmaron (Kansas, Oklahoma) Blaze (Nebraska) Camper (Kansas, Nebraska) I ordered some grass seed from Pase once. You get a very small amount of seed, I mean really small, like 25 seeds or less depending on the variety. The price is low but you really get what you pay for in this case. The B.S. seed sold from Plants of the SW is one that I can talk about since I planted it one year. The plants are very nice and light blue, classic bluestem with a good upright habit. The rule on starting grasses is: The first year they sleep, the second year they creep, the third year they leap. Bluestem seed germinates very easily but they really need warm weather. I'm trying some indoors this winter and the plants frankly look pretty dismal & haven't grown much at all in my sunny room with the south exposure. It gets a bit cold at night but I'm talking only 60 degrees. Its all but a failed experiment, I usually do much better in there with other seeds. I looked up King Ranch Bluestem. I think I've seen that growing on roadsides in waste areas or abandoned farms. The best way to tell if its bluestem at the seedling stage is that the leaves are VERY flat at the base and resemble Iris foliage, they always remind me of tiny iris. wiscons--agastache always dies on me in summer. It looks fine then up and dies. A woman on the Texas forum said the same thing happens to her every time. Maybe its the humidity? I don't know but last year was definitely my very last try since it was the supposedly 'easier' to grow 'more tolerant' cana type.

My ambitions have scaled back considerably - I now clear much smaller areas at a time - no more than I can easily resow with native grasses and flowers. I allow myself a blast of herbicide to do away with the worst of the nettle and bramble and hand weed until the grass and flowers are growing well enough...and I am still propagating as many plants as I can after the initial shock of proudly clearing the first huge bramble patch (a million tiny brambles appeared almost overnight)...and I have decided to get along rather than fighting all the time. I have a little wheeze at present, using the brambles as 'nurse' plants. They have shallow and not terribly competitive root systems while also making good natural tree guards so I cut back the longest canes, thin some out at the base and plant maiden whips in amongst the blackberries. The little saplings benefit from the support (and although deer pressure is very slight, the bramble also helps with protection against the infrequent water deer incursions)...and bulbs are turning out to be the restorer's friends - over 10,000 bulbs in 3 years are beginning to make little pools of light and colour... I let the celandines have their head, as well as wood anemones. It still feels terribly experimental and contingent...but nonetheless, I have planted the first trees I raised from seed this autumn - little understorey rowans (sorbus).