Steve Asbell Great suggestions, everyone!
CCSA Manila, I love the Christmas palm too, especially for the nice crownshafts and brightly colored fruit.
Judy, if you're referring to the first palm in the post, it's a canary island date palm. They're quite popular in zone 9 gardens!
Golfbeach, if I had to choose my favorite palm of all time, it would have to be the royal palm. I loved seeing native stands of them in the swamps of SE Florida!
Way To Go Palms: Cycads are definitely a great choice! My favorites are coontie and cardboard palm.

Vicky Moon I want to know where the writer lives and works? PLEASE - hope Ft Laud???

manderson19610 We thought we would give them a try in our patio home yard. Since it is quite protected the Mother in Tongue has held up well despite the Houston TX weather. Everyone is surprised when they see them used outside. We are going into the second summer and they look great.

Laura I love this plant as well! My bedroom is smallish, but always has room for a tall, narrow plant such as this. I actually did kill on once from over-watering - thanks for the tips on how little they actually need to be watered!

jrt3 Check out the Logitech Alert system. Well reviewed.

gasman240 I have this vuezone system attached to 5 cameras. I bought it o keep an eye on my home during remodeling. You can use your smart phone app to login and monitor your cameras. You can also login through a computer also. Theses are not security cameras which will be recording all the time. They have a motion sensing and non motion sensing camera version. When we live in addition to my security system I set these cameras to motion sensing mode. If camera detect any motion it records a 10 second to 40 second clip depending on your setting and email it to you. It may be better if they can text you alert instead or in addition to email. You can also set cameras on schedule recording too. These are very easy to set up.

dcecere8689 My cat suddenly had kidney failure and we had to put him down. He was only 8yrs old and that only happens to cats twice his age. We had a day lily growing in our yard and I now think that was what happened to him. It was so sudden I wish I knew it was toxic.

cateye Living Exteriors - The ASPCA lists death as a clinical sign for some toxic plants. For others it doesn't. For example, the clinical signs for sago palm are "Vomiting, melena, icterus, increased thirst, hemorrhagic gastroenteritis, bruising, coagulopathy, liver damage, liver failure, death", and for gardenia it lists "Mild vomiting and/or diarrhea, hives." You can see the clnical signs by searching plants at http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/poison-control/

Here are a couple of lists where the authors tried to list some of the worst offenders:
http://www.petinsurance.com/healthzone/pet-articles/pet-health-toxins/Pets-and-Toxic-Plants.aspx
http://www.petco.com/Content/ArticleList/Article/0/-1/316/Deadly-Plants-for-Dogs.aspx

sartarehare We live in a raised ranch in Seattle. Level entry, wood trim, vaulted ceilings, privacy, but we still get the downstairs L-shaped family room, extra fireplace, laundry room, bathroom and 2 car garage. 1900 sq ft of living space (minus garage). Local architect, bought from original owners and has NEVER BEEN REMODELED but well-maintained. That last piece was the biggest sell for me. (And the fact that we got a good deal). These homes lose can lose their character over the years from well-intended occupants. Time capsules are so fun to work with! I'm still painting but it's coming along. Love these homes. Perfect spaces still applicable for modern life.

alibonelli love, Love, LOVE a ranch home!

arthaus1000 Lovely article...but Felder did not exactly " invent "slow gardening. He may have coined the phrase though.I think my great -grandmother in Hungary should get that credit....As should most of our Grandmothers who have always gardened this way.......wink.

Nan Fun to see other slow growing gardens. Natural beauty. Thanks!

Kathleen Shaeffer Design, Exterior Spaces Agave attenuata (foxtail agave). They have moderate water needs and protection from frost and hot sun.

kellykyle1111 oh. many municipalities are banning fire-pits...they must not know all that you know

__jc__ See India for the pollutants from a fire! Seriously though, the fire pit looks amazing, a beautiful space.

alfbk This is great! I am going to forego the old signs and instead put down a piece of plywood and arrange old postcards that I collected when I traveled Europe! I'll just decoupage with Mod Podge it to protect the pictures!

tconta Beautiful, but the compartment isn't all that secret anymore eh?

blt178 The iron method is to use a med setting on your iron, place a white tea towel or napkin over the water mark and then briefly iron over that spot. Like magic...

inbelmont My husband left a plastic portfolio on our buffet. In just the right light or angle has left a "ghost" shadow. I have tried furniture polish but it doesn't work. Any suggestions? The buffet is "old style" and very shiny or glossy on top, but that's a whole other question!

Upholstery Club's Shelly Leer One reason an upholstery staple gun is so helpful when securing fabric is that the the gauge of the staple is much finer than those chunky silver staples. When shooting staples through fabric, you want the 'legs' of the staple to be fine enough so that they don't catch a thread and cause the fabric to pull, but rather go between fibers without snagging the fabric. The crown width is also important. An upholstery gun, electric or pneumatic, is 3/8" wide--more bang for your buck than tiny brad nailers.

witch06 reupholstering a chair is the most rewardind DIY project we can achieve. Easy and fun to realise I never get tired of changing old chairs according to the new decoration. This is my last version of these chairs bought in 1986

sowmya_padki Mitsura - hai, konnichiwa! That's all I know.

Vicky Tabcharany I think it's fabulous, he must have had a great time designing it all, and the result is mind blowing. I'd love to live there... But I think I'd add some colors to it

Kathleen Shaeffer Design, Exterior Spaces The wire was purchased from Howard Wire Cloth Co. in Hayward, CA howardwire.com or 800.969.3559
We used 2x2 12 gauge black pvc coated/welded. It comes in 100' rolls.