thanks greenhouser2 ---- i've been lookin on craigs list in lots of locations - also ebay but nutin yet --- thanks for the reply --- i'll keep lookin

Thank you all for sharing your experiences. In my case since our yard is not totally fenced in, when someone comes to the door, we all hear the dogs. The general contractor told me that all of his men had been with him for 10-20 years. He spoke highly of all of them, and I had seen them as they did other work. What I did not totally understand was that the vinyl tile I chose for the living room had a difficult pattern to match, and the general contractor did not want to try to lay that tile. Therefore he brought in a younger experienced tile person who could do a good job. That man had recently hired the older man who took my ring. This man was unknown to everyone. Once the police came, they made it clear to me that the man had some kind of a reputation. My mistake was huge, but it was money. Just money! When I keep things in perspective, I realize that those quick mistakes can be made so many times each day. I need to count my blessings and move on. Your supportive emails are helping me to do that. My husband and I bought that ring in 1963, and a couple of weeks ago I managed to get it off my finger to have it re-sized. We bought it together, and I worked while we were paying it off. Now in my new frame of mind, I will buy a gem that is not at all like the original, and I will totally enjoy it. Thanks for the support. Sammy

It sounds like you are pretty new to gardening overall. If this is true, I would not recommend growing clematis from seed - the seed is hard to find commercially; it is unlikely you will find any seed that will come true to form (the vast majortiy of clems grown are hybrids) and it is not a fast process to develop a vine of any significance from seed. Bob's idea is good - find one or two started plants at your local nursery and go from there. Or select another type of vine. You may be mistaking what is considered to be an "invasive" plant also - most vines (especially annual vines) grow fast and vigorously and since they do grow by wrapping themselves around whatever they can reach, they can appear to overwhelm or even strangle other plants. But that is not what is meant by 'invasive'. You just have to pick the right vine for the right situation.

I think there's more to it. I'm not clear over whether this is indoors or outdoors, though it seems like it would be indoors. If it's outdoors, you probably already have mushrooms or other fungus living in the ground there, especially if it's a very moist spot. Virtually every location in nature is colonized by something. If you want something specific, you might need to find a way to clear what's already there. Also, different species survive different ways... some form symbiotic relationships with the roots of plants, some consume mostly dead wood, some consume mostly dead leaves/stems, some live more broadly in the soil and consume things like dead roots, some parasitize other fungus, some parasitize plants, etc. If it's indoors, and you really don't care what you grow, there is a bananna yellow mushroom called Leucocoprinus birnbaumii that grows in all sorts of flower pots in houseplants; it's particularly well-adapted to living indoors and manages to get there unintentionally well enough that practically anyone who discovers a mushroom in a houseplant has that species. It does grow in soil. You might be able to ask around and see if someone you know has accidentally discovered it in their own houseplants and you could grow by setting the mushroom itself in there, or by getting any amount of soil from a pot where it is growing and transferring it to your own. It's interesting because of the bright yellow color.