As if today's heat wasn't bad enough, we got a storm this afternoon. I haven't heard if there was actually a tornado but definitely some insane winds. I watered everything, went to pick my kids up from grandma's and when I got home, there were rose petals glued to my front door from across the street! The little cucumber that I had finally gotten around to putting on a trellis 2 days ago had blown over, one of the pepper pots tipped over, and one of the pepper plants just snapped in half. I strung up 30 little green Cayennes to dry but I don't really know. Some of them were JUST starting to turn red, some really seem like babies. If I dry them and crush them green, will they still have good flavor? Oh and the corn was COMPLETELY flattened. After scouring the garage, we went straight to Lowe's to find some way to support the corn for under $7 which is how much money I have to hold me over till my next paycheck. Got a 25 pack of 4' bamboo stakes and a ball of twine and made a little fence around that bucket. It's all pretty well standing back up now but we'll see whether it's really ok and how it holds up to the next windstorm. I know one thing...I'm definitely going to quit bragging about how well everything's doing! Maybe I should just keep my mouth shut till the season's over! @JonPalmer - I planted pretty much everything the last week in May or first week in June. Most of it is in half Miracle Gro potting mix and half Black Kow. The first few things I planted are just the MG potting mix. I've been using the MG sprayer thing about every 5-7 days or so (when I have it and think about it basically). I'm just tickled with how well it's all growing in spite of everything!

Pots are a great way to add quick color, with either annuals or perennials. Unsealed terracotta pots look great, but the minerals in hard water (which seems to be the norm out here) will end up leaching through the pot, leaving unsightly white mineral deposits. I prefer adding an inner plastic pot to mine. Next, save yourself time, money and a lot of hassle by using only a good quality potting soil that has the added water retention granules. The soil in pots dries out fairly quickly, which in turn dries out (kills) tender roots. And speaking of bedding plants for pots, if you can afford it, buy quart or gallon-size, rather than 6-packs. Smaller/ younger plants still have shallow, tender roots that dry out much quicker, needing a lot of TLC, water and shade the first month or so. If not, be prepared to keep them in light shade for the first few weeks and keep them watered. And always, always mulch everything to protect roots and soil from heat . . . and drying out too quickly! A couple of inches with pots; 3"- 4" in plant beds. I've come to hate rock/gravel for mulch, as it absorbs heat which can fry many plants it surrounds. It also is a huge pain to clean it up! Our winds blow in dirt, trash, weed and wild grass seeds, etc. that settle between the gravel and then unwanted weeds start growing there, despite any under-layer of weed matting you may have put down. I've found that a shredded bark mulch works best for my needs here. Next, Sun. Out here, most potted plants do best with afternoon shade. Our sun from about noon through 5PM is brutal from early-Summer through mid-Fall. Your hot weather has probably started already. Being so much further south than I am, I imagine that you can move any perennial potted plants up against a south facing wall during your cold months. They just need to be someplace where you won't forget to water them (LOL). I tend to stick mainly with geraniums, myself. I love them and they fit in so well with our Southwestern landscape and designs. Many ornamental grasses also do well in larger pots. I have 2 large pots of Karl Foerster Calamagrostis at the top of the steps on my front portal. During the cold season I pull them up next to the house, which is in a covered area out of the wind. In spring, I cut them back and plant bright red salvia around the pot edges. It looks so pretty and they coexist nicely. Another great way to use potted plants is to just set them in your planting beds between your plantings. Instant color! I try to keep mine in areas where they'll get afternoon shade. Here are several more great xeric and semi-xeric perennials I've had great luck with: Echinacea, Red Hot Poker, Vinca, Mexican Hats Rock Rose (Helianthemum), Gro-Low Sumac, and Nearly Wild Shrub Rose. BTW, I'm assuming that your yard will be enclosed and rabbit-proof. If not, rabbits in the area may find your lovelies serve as the world's best salad bar to them. Most of the plants I've listed are fairly rabbit-resistant, though. Lynn This post was edited by lynninnewmexico on Mon, Apr 7, 14 at 14:38

Thanks rina. Yes, making one for my son should make for a fun spring & summer and give him the chance to harvest and eat something he grew himself. He's excited. Thank you for the advice. I may split up the lettuce. I'll grow some above and some below to see how it does. The top, this year, may end up being a "confined space" experimental bed. I'm going to do some lettuce in pots as well I think so if the top bed doesn't perform too well with it it won't be a great loss. I'd LOVE to to strawberries up top, but I think I'm a bit too late for this year. (I think here in FL, strawberries are pretty close to harvest.) I'll need to plan for it next spring.

Plastic lined whiskey barrels work nicely. I gave up all my waterbowls because raccoons kept trashing them :( too small and they could tip them over. Waterproof foam pots with no holes work too and they are often cheaper than stoneware/ceramic. I've had a lot of ceramic pots crack in winter over the years.