There as many techniques for fertilizing plants as there are gardeners ;-) You are realizing that by reading the info provided by various 'expert' sources as well as various opinions. More or less they are all correct ;-) If anything I would err on the side of underfertilizing so ferting with every watering is not something I would do unless the plants were very lackluster in their performance in comparison to what I thought they should be doing. For example, a heavy blooming annual may slow down it's blooming. Give it a feeding and a week later it is in full bloom again. Experiences like this, over time, will give you a sense of what, how much and how often more so than any routine, one size fits all schedule will. I think a good 'starting plan' is to mix in a little slow release fertilzer (get one that is labelled as a "complete" food meaning it has micronutrients in it instead of just N-P-K) and then use a fert mixed with water every couple weeks at half strength. From here, alter the frequency and strength and wait a couple weeks to observe how the plants respond. It's a bit more complicated in that some plants need really high fertility and others very little so knowing a bit about the plants you are growing (you can just divide them into low, normal and high) for their fert needs helps. But, this comes with time as well. No worries, err on the side of caution with ferts and everything will work out fine. Waaay easier to cause problems with over ferting than under ferting.

since Clems take so long to get established I would not plant an annual vine with them. The roots would not do well with the competition. Daniel Deronda is a type II for pruning and Jackmanii is a III so I would not plant them together. I prune my DD as a III most of the time but I have a longer growing season than you. It blooms twice a year for me, it is my longest bloomer I just love it.

I have about 15 tropical hibiscus. For the ones that are in one or two gallon pots, I just sink the pot in the ground and hide it with bark mulch. In the fall, I yank out the pot and bring indoors. Best of both worlds, although you have to water a bit more than if they were in the ground. The hibiscus in bigger pots go in ground and I either dig them up and repot in the fall, or I take cuttings and start over (at some point, they are just too darn big to drag in and out). Musa basjoo grows in ground. I used to bring a potted pup indoors for winter but they are now established enough that I don't bother. Cannas usually get direct planted and I bring in some rhizomes to overwinter dormant. This past year some actually overwintered outdoors for the first time. I personally don't care for the look of a pot sitting on top of a garden bed, but I love them around a deck or patio. datdog, your planters are glorious!

In for sure... Barb (rosepedal) - Haves list posted Norma (bigmama4ever) - Lists posted Regina (ladygreensleeves) - Lists posted Chell (chellflower) - Lists posted Dawn (dtm1966) - Lists posted Mariann (galium) - Lists posted Dee (gardendee) - Lists posted Getting ready to cave/May be... Frances (fcoffill) Melissa (hazelnutbunny) - Lists posted Thanks everyone for participating so far in the "get to know each other" activity. It's so much fun to read everyone's answers!! Regina, that variegated lipstick is a beaut! (P.S. I have variegated lipstick on my wish list...lol!) I think I have my husband sold on the idea that we don't need electric for the pond right away. BUT, we will need to get electricity back there somehow for the winter if I want to overwinter my fish and plants in there. Here in MN, I think that the pond would have to be 6 feet deep or more in order for it not to freeze to the bottom! I'm not sure what the exact depth is, but it would have to be very large and deep. Thanks for all the info!! Your pictures make me so jealous!! Beautiful!! Mariann, I think that people probably hesitate to give technical advice because they may not know enough to explain it well. I've been in the business for 11 years and have worked with varying degrees of users, some with hardly any computer knowledge. I've also spent a lot of time writing lots of time writing detailed user documentation. I guess it all comes with experience. If you ever have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask! :-) I don't have a greenhouse, oh how I wish I did though!! Frances, great website and awesome art too!!! Art is one of my many hobbies too, but I don't have time for it now that I'm in school. Now I only do paintings when I decorate one of my rooms. I wish I could win the lottery and retire so that I would have time to indulge in all of my hobbies!! :-) Thanks for adding the extra tip, that's a great one!!! BTW, everyone is encouraged to include a tip if they think of one!! I will be posting another tip early next week. Oh, I almost forgot...after reading you talking about the bulb planter, I ran out and bought myself one last night!! LOL. I used it today to get my new tropical garden planted and it's AWESOME!!! Thanks!! Barb, renting a trencher is a great idea and hitting all corners of the yard is a great idea too!! Thanks for the advice. The only problem is that we have an underground sprinkler, so we may have to dig it by hand after all. We don't know exactly where the water lines run. If we cut a line, it's pretty easy to fix them. Just more work! bluespiritartist, why don't you go ahead and post your full list and we'll see what you've got. If nothing else, perhaps someone would want to do a side swap with you! :-) And yes, we will definitely be having another tropical swap before the fall...hopefully more than just one!! Hi Heather (divahethr), good to see you!! Hope you're doing well. Chell, looks like you got a great box from bigmama!! And your greenhouse looks great, it's really coming along! Your rooms full of plants look like mine! I have that exact same mini-greenhouse in our spare bedroom. BTW, what ever happened to Redheaded Stepchild? She was great! So, after I ate dinner tonight, I got up the energy to get my tropical garden planted!! it's mostly bulbs so not much to see now. I can't wait for it to start to produce, it will be beautiful!!! I took some new pictures of my other gardens last night. I will get some pictures posted soon. No time tonight, I'm pooped and ready for bed! I don't know what was up with the forum yesterday, it must have been something major though since it took them so long to get it back up! LOL, I was thinking that lots of people were probably suffering from withdrawals like I was too!! Dawn, I don't think that you will be disappointed with this swap!! This group has been trading for a few months now and everyone has been very generous so far!!! I am so glad that you decided to take a chance with us!!! Good night! Amy