| Now that depends whether you are planting into real dirt - or you live in an appartment many feet above the ground. ;-))) It also depends on whether you like to fuss with your plants or not. A possibility is some of the friendlier cacti. They don't all have mean spines and many of them flower when they're quite young. They don't need much care over the winter but they do appreciate being watered and fed and given fresh mix to live in over the summer. They can be addictive, if you know you have 'collector' tendencies. I like Lithops and Dinteranthos and Astrophytum. The Cactus forum here is pretty friendly, too. Another possible, something that looks quite exotic but isn't really, is the Bromeliad family. Some of the Tillandsias don't even need to be planted (but they do need watering). I would stay away from orchids. I would. They can be seriously tempting. Just one more... and the next thing you know is you've lost your yard to a glasshouse or tunnel house. Orchid addicts anonymous. However, if you did - have a look at Pleione. There are some lovely varieties. They are reasonably frost proof in z8, happy in ordinary pots and potting mix and have big flowers for their size, with quite a long flowering season. But you have been Warned. ;-))) None of these get to any massive size, usually, though there are massive specimens. And daffodillady's suggestions are delightful Well worth exploring if you are more interested in 'regular gardening'. PS 70-ish is a very good age to be gardening in. And 80+. There's no upper age limit at all. | 
