I don't know if they are male or female. I googled it and attempted to find out but I'm still not real sure. My guess is they are both males. The new platy is a little bit bigger, but it's being picked on by the platy we already had. I kept the bigger platy in the net at the top of the tank overnight and just now let him out this a.m. And the smaller platy went right bak to chasing him around the tank. He doesn't quit either, continuously chasing it back and forth. This is just a 10 gallon tank. There aren't many decorations in it, but I could try rearranging them. He seems to chase him, wherever he's at. I don't have another tank to put one of them in. If this is going to happen with whatever fish I put in there, then I almost should get rid of the small, aggressive one, not the new one. What do you think?

DEFINITELY mulch them. And yes, heat-stress. Remember -- we have had record-setting heat for weeks now. I know it's worrying to water water water, when everything you read urges you to save water, BUT there are things you can do. When I wash dishes, I use a dishpan. I use a very mild dish detergent -- "Eco-sensitive" brands. The RINSE water from all pots and bottles goes to the nearest roses outside the door. When I'm done washing, DH carries the dishpan out into the garden, and empties it onto our less-sensitive plants. Not one bit of it goes to waste -- or goes down the drain. If you boil corn-on-the cob (or other vegetables) let the water cool, and then give it to your plants. That's exactly the way my Great-Step-Grandmother watered the roses in her farmhouse garden in rural Texas of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The minutes I spend outside, dumping rinse water gives me a quiet early-morning garden visit that's priceless. I'm sure it was the same for Grandma Mintice Cain. Any roses that come up with spider mites or aphids get the dishwater tossed directly at them.

How long has it been in the ground? If it is newly planted the stress could have prevented it from forming new flower buds last summer. It could be planted too deep. It may need more sun or it may need some superphosphate worked into the soil. Or it could have gotten to much nitrogen if it is planted in the yard and your grass fertilizer got to it.

Janet, not sure what the issue is but DofA is one that is planted up close to the foundation wall and it does very well--a monster in blooms and vines. The general thought is that planting near the foundation is bad because the plant's roots will be under the eaves and won't get enough rain. What I tend to do with plants planted close to the house is to water them well when planted and then begin watering further out from the house from then on out. Plants want to survive so will send roots outwards in many directions searching for where the water is.