As for feeling guilty, keeping fish is no different than a cat or dog. Most fish are farm raised. Very few are wild caught. "Most" fish sold now are hybrids and are a little more colorful than their wild cousins. Also, in a properly maintained and established tank, the fish usually outlive the wild ones. A far as low maintainance, it depends on your water chemistry and quality. Not meaning your tap water is safe to drink and has no bacteria, just pH,nutrients and hardness. For example tap water that is hard and higher in pH is going to be more work for the fish that require a more acidic environment, also the type of plants that will do well in it. This can be reversed for acidic water for the needs of hard water fish. Any way you can save alot of money by building your own tankstand. They usually cost as much as an aquarium kit. For live planted tanks with the "red" plants you like (my favorite also), you need a high amount of light. A few plants do well in the low light that is usually provided in "complete" kits. I can go on and on (I normally do), so I'll post a few sites for you that I found usefull. This first is all around the best IMO. P.S. Goldfish only become a problem if the tank and filtration isn't sufficient. A bowl is way too small for them. When they grow they emit more ammonia and poison them selfs. Also they can grow to 12"+, a min 30 gallon tank with good filtration will work great. Here is a link that might be useful: Best info IMO

Oath5, An oldy-but-goody is the Pee Gee Hydrangea. If you explore old 19th century graveyards, you'll see it was frequently used. The blossoms turn wonderful sepia tones late in the season, that dry easily, and can be brought indoors for decorating until you get tired of them. Here's an old comment I took from the Sears Henry Heirloom Plant Collection: "The introduction of the hardy Japan Hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata grandiflora) in 1874 awakened a new interest in this genus of plants. With its immense panicles of white flowers, The Great-Flowering Hydrangea is a shrub well worthy of a prominent position in every garden. Its flowers appear at a season when few others are in bloom. It is a very free growing shrub, easily propagated, and thrives in all kinds of soils." - Orchard and Garden, A.S. Fuller, Aug. 1888 Here is a link that might be useful: The 1893 Sears Henry Heirloom Plant Collection

I've always been happy with the plants I've received from Heronswood Nursery (on the Kitsap Peninsula, I believe). I fell in love with the offerings from Mt. Tahoma Nursery, but I don't know whether they are mail-order only, and I haven't ordered yet, so I can't personally vouch for the quality of their plants. I'd LOVE to visit Cistus Nursery in Portland (as long as I'm thinking PNW road trip here...). I'm certain there must be some amazing nurseries in your region. Wait...find a book called "The Jewel Box Garden". The author runs a nursery in the Vancouver (Canada) area, I believe. I think that Collector's Nursery is in Washington not too far from Seattle, too. Again, I have no idea if they have on-site retail sales. If I'm not mistaken, Little and Lewis are based in the Seattle area as well (really cool garden art).

Still looking. My daughter's inlaws have one of a forest scene where a deer or rabbit or something appears then disappears. This is honestly, more to my liking - just not a big H.Potter fan, I know that's heresy to some, but I'll pass it along to my daughter who is - it does sound cute. She'll ask but the inlaws probably don't know who put the aforementioned wildlife screen saver on their computer as they're not very computer savy, she said.