keepitlow, at first I thought the thing about keeping shoes in your fridge was a joke taken out of context or something like that, but there was a link to the full article and... oh my gosh! You know, when I was in college and lived in a 300 square foot apartment I STILL tried to cook in my tiny kitchen. I had lived in the dorm the year before and was so sick of other people cooking for me and not having that control over my own food. I can't imagine just unplugging your fridge and eating take out all the time. I mean, yes, I do get take out sometimes, and go to restaurants, but if I lived on it... it's so fattening and so expensive! *** macky77, "'My soil won't grow anything and I can't afford or don't have time to build raised beds and buy all the special ingredients you NEED to make super soil.' The most common situations they cite are either living in rental properties with neglected yards or new developments where the topsoil was not replaced after construction." Well, as other people have said, yes, new developments can have awful soil. Bermudagrass sod doesn't take much. I live in a rental house with a neglected yard (at least until I got here). Actually it's kind of interesting to see what's hanging on in a yard where nature has been allowed to take over. I used to have scarlet sage growing in the front (hummingbirds LOVE that stuff) until the Lawn Police ordered us to mow it down, and in the back I have pigeonberry, black-eyed susan, wild sunflowers, and rain lillies growing, along with some other wildflowers I have yet to identify. I betcha the land is actually better off for it rather than being maintained as a Bermudagrass monoculture soaked in herbicides. But anyway, back to having good soil, this goes back to my idea that maybe people think growing veggies is harder than it really is. I live in south-central Texas. The soil here is clay with limestone rocks, and I'm growing stuff right in it. Didn't build any raised beds (don't want to build any permanent structures at a rental house). Potatoes didn't seem to like it, but tomatoes, beans, peppers, squash, etc. don't seem to mind one bit. Digging in it is a big of hard work, but it's better than gonig to the gym. I wonder if the garden media has anything to do with this. You know, TV shows with perfect looking gardens, soil you can dig with your bare hands, etc. I wonder if people actually think that veggies NEED perfect soil to grow. Sure they might grow better in perfect soil, but they can make do with what they've got. You don't have to be Martha Stewart. I see gardening as a partnership between me, the plants, and Nature. That means that I don't have to do ALL the work. Lots of plants grow just fine with no human help at all. Veggie plants have evolved alongside us for a while and now need some help, but I still feel like I'm letting them and Nature do most of the work. When people say they can't grow plants here because it's too hot or dry or we have bad soil or something, I always think of the Hopi and related tribes that lived off their gardens with no modern technology in the DESERT. I don't live in the desert, and I do have modern technology, and I do have the farmer's market and grocery store as a backup, so I think I have it EASY. Actually, it reminds me of something from Buffalo Bird Woman's Garden where she talks about how white people don't know how to plant things right. I forgot specifically what it was she was talking about, but I only wonder what she'd think if she saw our gardens today.

Gaura- I love this stuff! It can get a bit unruly, but if you stake it early it stays out of the way. I actually never saw this before I grew it myself. Its one of my favorite flowers now =) Nigella- The cutest little annual, but I never see it in anyone else's garden. Geraniums, other than red- I see red geraniums in every other flowerbox and planter I pass, but that's about it. This year I picked up 'Solstice Chocolate,' gorgeous mmohagany flowers and beautiful ruffled foliage. I also got 'Speckles' in pink and white, adorable =) Calendula- Am I the only one in the county who grows this? I think so =) Tovara virginiana (painters palatte)- Lights up a shady spot, beautiful compliment to hostas, I am (again) the only one in the neighborhood that grows it. Chocolate Joe pye weed- No one but me =) Can you tell I'm a winter sower??? hehehe =) GW

Well, the nursery woman is partly right. The plants are grown under ideal conditions, and generally farther south, so they will be two to three weeks farther along when they are for sale than the same plant would be if it had wintered over here. The nursery I used to work at got their shrubs from North Carolina mostly. It sounds like you are supplying appropriate cultural conditions. It may take a couple of years for the plants to adjust to being transplanted and to their new environment. Also, are you in a part of the country that had drought problems last year? That can set plants back A LOT! We had a flowering almond for years, and it was covered in blooms for weeks every spring, until it succumbed to a severe drought several years back. I'm not a shrub expert, but I'm wondering about the fertilizer you are using. If it's high in nitrogen, you may be getting more leaves at the expense of flowers.

There are plenty of photos of strawberry plants on the web. They have different leaves and little white flowers. They have runners that start new plants. He has ripped you off. Sad.