I live reasonably close to the lake North suburb of Chicago, zone 5 / last frost date is May 15/ and have shady garden, most people usually start planting out their begonia, coleus and impatiens on Memorial Day weekend or possibly a week or two earlier if the spring is fine, which is not often. Yes, I can WS many annuals including impatiens but they would not start blooming at least until mid July and even then it takes them a while to look gorgeous and bushy. So I would get gorgeous plants by end of August- Sept and then first Oct frost will do them in. Kind of not worth it doing for me. So I start my annuals indoor, coleus and begonias are started already, tuberous begonias I start in Dec- Jan. I started pansy/ viola in Dec and they are pretty much getting ready to bloom. They are outside in enclosed Florida porch under plastic wrap, getting their share of our chilly weather. I will set them out in couple of weeks into protected spot and will plant out containers in early April. Pansy can take a light frost and I could always bring in few containers when the weather turns real nasty. I will start impatiens shortly, mid March or so.This year my snowdrops opened as usual on Feb 20 so spring is not going to be early in my neck of woods.

any decent home and garden center or patio supply place should be able to point you in the right direction. the restaurant ones im sure are custom made and most likely very expensive. You may also try asking in the greenhouse forum, i linked it below. Here is a link that might be useful: greenhouse,etc

Happy Holidays to all here. Hi Marcia, Yes I sure do use the blooming bags. Last year I had around 50 of them. I use the ones from Vesey's, they are cheaper and work well. Just make sure to double knot the handles, so they don't pull through. Last year I also got several bigger ones at Home Hardware. The bigger ones are good for wave and spreading petunias. Ummmm I don't have to soak them....there is no way I would have that much time. After I plant them up early spring, I take the hose and push it down the back of the bags to make a path to about half way down the back of the bag. I just push the hose in there to water them every second day for the season. I use sunshine mix ummmm #4 or is it #1. not the one for seedlings the other one.....that holds water better. The planter filler one. Last year I had 15 impatien bags on my trellis wall that was new.....and a few on the side fence. The rest of the bags were filled with different kinds of petunias and pansys. The impatien bags I fill the top. And the regular petunias and pansys I also fill the tops. But if you use any kind of wave or tidal waves or spreading petunias you don't have to fill the top....it makes those bags easier to water. You do have to stand there when watering and make sure the water is comming out the bottom well before you stop. I fill all the bags up to the top....then use a pen to poke the holes in each slot. Then use the pen to put the small roots of the seedlings in the holes. This works really well. When I plant up the impatiens they are still small seedlings....not full size plants. Although I have had to do some repairs with fullsize plants.....it can be done....just not as easy. Also take petunia cuttings and put the cuttings into the bags. This works very well for me.....I keep the bags laying flat on a shelf in the greenhouse, till they take hold...which is usually only a few days. Make sure to keep some "repair" seedlings until after they are hung in their permanent place for the summer....things happen, they get dropped or bumped and you will have to repair. In the fall when I split the bags and dump in the compost pile......the soil is one big mass of roots...all the way to the back and top and bottom. I buy new bags each year. I have used blooming bags for years now.....they are easy to look after and put on a great show. For me they can go a week or so without watering...but I prefer to water them every second day just to make sure. Sierra

After reading the various threads and looking at the pics, I'm sold for the basement but we're also considering it throughout the first floor. I'm concerned about resale (though it's would be decades away). The homes in our neighborhood are selling for $700,000+, and the expectation of course is high end everything. I'm considering putting this in the main living area too due to the ease of care and who knows what I'll like in 10 years? Our last home we had extensive use of hardwood. I loved the look but the constant worry, and no shoe policy was unpleasant. I want a house that we can live in. For as cheap as this stuff is, we couldn't even have the floors refinished, for what this stuff costs new. We currently have hardwood in the front foyer, front bath, dinette, kitchen, and laundry room (I wouldn't say the previous owner made a wise move on that decision). With all the remodeling though, much of the wood will be trashed anyway, so it's like we'd be starting from scratch. Are we crazy to even consider vinyl (even for a decade) when we can afford the real thing (installation and all), when the expectation is high end? It's only my husband, myself, and a little dog on a daily basis.