Do you mean what kind have you got or what kind should you get? What size and effect are you after? I think most would be happy in that situation.

Us Brits are kind of renowned for being polite. "Hello, please and thank you" are all part of our vocabulary ;-)

Hi Steveng and welcome to GoY. If you scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on 'S' then sedum you'll find lots of advice. Oh and Badfish is correct, please and thank you go a long way on this site...

Hello. I think that it would have been better to critique the individual on etiquette and not to have generalized it to the flag. Thank you very much. Besides, maybe your perception was not the new member's intention.

No-one has 'flagged' the question Loosestrife...

I think Loosestrife may be referring to the "Us Brits" comment versus the USA flag on the question.

But getting back to the question, this article http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/2631/#b might help - "us Brits" don't often have to worry about plants for hot areas.

Now the question comes, should members expect answers only to be answered from a UK perspective even though this is a world wide (initially originated in the UK) web site where answers can be coming from any member around the globe. Understanding that a majority of members reside in the UK it would be very unfortunate to balkanize this site. Also, I have seen many questions placed without the hello. , goodbye and thank you's so I wonder what started bad fish off on social amenities advice?

Would hate it to be a UK only site Loosetrife, i just don't like the way people demand an answer. There's probably just as many UK questions like it, i just picked up on the one here.
Most of my younger working life was spent looking after an amaizing palm house with many different species of exotic plants.....i'm still learning and l love seeing some of the tropical stuff on here...keep it going.

The comment has been made elsewhere that GoY has a predominantly UK membership and, being parochial, it is difficult for some of us to appreciate the range of climates that you get over in the US. We tend to understand ranges such as tropical or Mediterranean but the US can cover just about every climate given the geography of Alaska to Hawaii and your hardiness zones.

Given that it is world-wide web, then yes, answers can come from anywhere around the globe, but most will be from a UK perspective.
It does help when US questions include a city or state, rather than just stating US - I'm sure that applies even to regular US GoYers like yourself.

I know full well,Ubanite, the problem most GOYers have with answering questions from the USA. Please go back and read my answer to new member Pawssom's question "will pathos and peonies grow well in north Texas" which was entered on 7, Mar 2015. Also, when I answer a question which I realize might not be satisfactory to the geographical location I make an effort to preface the answer with " from an USA point of view...."
Badfish I understand your frustration. A while ago I was in an antique shop. In a corner was a box full of letters, postcards and personal diaries written by a variety of people dating from the late 1800's to the early 1900's. I purchased this box. I took it home and spent many wonderful hours reading its contents. The handwriting was exquisite and every sentence written stated complete thoughts beautifully and respectfully. This from what I could ascertain was from common everyday people of the time. Sadly, this way of communicating thoughts, is coming to an end with the advent of texting messages and other new technological ways of communicating and interacting with each other; schools over here are even considering eliminating cursive handwriting from their curriculums. We see this with our own eyes these days as a failure to communicate as we have known it and from time to time may even infer disrespect from it. For today's generation it's the new norm and I doubt that there is anything that can be done about it.

You'll have noticed that some questions never do get an answer Loosestrife as none of us feels competent to do so. Questions from Australia can be particularly difficult.

I'd object to this question (if I were to object at all) simply because it doesn't contain enough information - it is not clear whether the asker is wanting an ID of an existing plant, or asking which plant will grow in that spot. Nor does the asker indicate climate or at least their USDA zone. Whether or not they've said please or thank you I find largely irrelevant - you always have to bear in mind that sometimes, especially these days, people who ask questions cannot string a sentence together properly on paper, maybe they're illiterate, or perhaps are not used to writing, maybe English is not their first language, or they're a bit ga ga or just not very well, maybe they can't type or have arthritis in their fingers, they're terrified of technology, there's all kinds of possibilities which might explain the brevity. I'd certainly consider any and all of those before jumping to being offended by a perceived 'demand' Badfish, even if that is, albeit understandably, your first emotional response.

I know what you're saying Loostrife - Looking at the standard of writing in the round of spring exams, I wonder whether writing has already been eliminated! I doubt if I came across more than half a dozen papers in over 1000 which were legible (without straining to work out what was written). But we're not permitted to tell students that they have poor handwriting.
Mind you I have also worked with 19th century scripts that had beautiful penmanship which had so many flourishes that they were almost unreadable.

I think we should all maintain cultural relativism. My sister-in-law told me that it took her years to realise that when she went to a local shop she was expected to say 'please' when asking for a product and then 'thankyou' at the end of the transaction.

I'm wondering if subsidiary points like these might be dealt with in a blog or a separate question though - the questioner isn't likely to come back with more details about what they wanted to know after all this?

I pm'd the questioner early on to give him a heads up to what might happen with the answer string since this happens sometimes and it shows the enthusiasm that members have for GOY.

Good idea Loostrife2 - did you ask him what he was intending to ask?

No, I have not heard anything from him. Looks like he is hesitant about diving back into the pool. I don't know why not since the water is warm from my point of view:)

Ah well, like so many one offs we'll probably never know...