too much coffee grounds will ruin your soil?

Gymgirl - I was looking for plants that do well in the shade in my zone (6b). I googled shade plants zone 6 and found several sites that list tons of plants with decent descriptions and pictures. Give it a shot!

Lesseee.... Salvia coccinea, red salvia will still bloom in the shade... gardenias do good in shade... (I'm pulling from my memory in Phoenix things that might do well in your heat, but not sure about the humidity). Some of the cannas might at least give you nice foiliage if not blooms - and of course, coleus. Um.... ferns ... how do hostas do in your area? Sanseveria (mother-in-laws tongue) used to be planted out in front of my house, a few other succulents but they need really really good drainage in a wet enviornment like Houston.

Great idea michaeljo and Gymgirl you could also check out some of the nursery sites that have "premade" garden beds. Maybe get some ideas from those. As well as a picture on height, planting depth, etc....... Shucks wish you were closer, we could play garden together. I don't have much shade and unfortunately am about to have even less and we are going to have to take down an elm next to the house. Phooey! But I'd rather not have it in the kitchen with me. I'm looking around for a new shade tree to plant in that area, but so far haven't found anything that I really like.

Thanks, guys for the clarifications and the plant tips!

Hi
I have just started learning about putting down newspaper layers and I don't understand the no color thing. I Know not to put down the shiny slick ads, but my newspaper also has color pics with their stories. What about those?

I e-mailed the gardening editor at the paper twice like the paper said if you have a problem but never got a answer. Here in Huntsvile, Al. sometimes we hardly have a winter and sometimes we have ice storms part of the fun of living in the Tenn. valley. Thanks

Ann

Ann, from what I've been told, the inks used on newsprint are soy based and really not a problem.

Now, I would like to hear all of the issues with the shiny stuff. I'm not convinced that I can't use at least some of them.

Well our newspaper uses a different process to print color on newsprint. The colored ads are printed on a different type of paper and they still use a lot of toxic chemicals to get the colors. What those are, I don't remember. I'll try and remember to ask that question on the Mother Earth forum. If anybody would know that would be the place. It's a good question, though.

Cool, I would appreciate you posing the question - it's so easy to just let "common wisdom" rule our lives without ever understanding why and using the good technology changes, too.

Well, this sparked my curiosity.. cause I use coffee grounds in my compost.. I just checked the Ph and its neutral... myth busted. LOL

Further reason for not answering the phone anymore, lol.

I don't even *need* a reason to ignore the phone anymore......LOL