Who told you that a Tuscarora Crepe Myrtle would survive in Nebraska? Very young Tuscarora Crepe Myrtles easily suffer a lot of winter kill in the South Central Plains 6b/7a zone areas. It is true that once their trunks grow to about 1 1/2 inches thick and when their roots have become well established they seem to stop experiencing winter kill of the trunks, but it seems like in Nebraska, you would almost need to winter protect, not only the planting bed, but also the dormant trunks. I mean for at least as long as it takes for any newly planted crepe Myrltes to become well established and for the trunks to gain that kind of thickness. In NE OK's zone 6b/7a winters nearly all our Crepe Myrtles go dormant just like our other deciduous shrubs and trees and they do not leaf out again until the middle of May. Then, depending on the cultivar, they will begin blooming by June or July and keep reblooming until our first early winter frost. None of our Crepe Myrtles that truely die during the winter come back. Instead their branches just become dried out and brittle, and no new suckers grow from the root system to form new trunks. That is, unless the roots have been well established for at least a few years of growing season activity, before the winter kill of all its trunks occured. I have noticed, that in our USDA zone, the Tuskogee Crepe Myrtles have displayed no winter kill in their trunks the first winter they experince after the first growing season, not even when those trunks are fairly thin. There may be other Crepe Myrtle cultivars just as resistant to trunk death during harder winter conditions, but the Tuscarora certainly does not seem as if it would be one of the best of that grouping. I mean at least during the first years after its first planting when its trunks are still very thin and its roots are not yet well established.

The cold is no longer a problem here either lol! No ground hogs are larger.....but a rodent is a rodent. I'm just not sure if Gopher and Prairie Dog are one in the same or not? Back home in the Northern Great Plains I've only seen Prairie Dogs in "Prairie Dog Towns" and there are usually hundreds to a colony. Maybe these guys are just getting started ? :O! Northerner, I'll have to remember to get some Flax seed from the new plantings. If you want any sooner, I could send some older seed from which I got this years spring seedlings from. Germination was good :) Are your plants just not getting as big or? Karen, here's hoping you get some relief soon! BTW So far so good with the Deer Out repellent!! Yesterday was a nice overcast day with morning showers and perfect for planting more seedlings out, finishing up one of the beds and working on the compost pile. I got Snapdragons, Nicotiana alata, Hyssopus officinalis, more Calendula, more Malva, Mustard 'Tatsoi', more Coreopsis and Dianthus 'Siberian Blue' planted. Still have more to plant, but gonna have to start getting up and out much earlier to beat the heat.....ugh! Happy Gardening :)

I could look at your pictures all day; I'm so grateful you take the time to share them. I haven't been on here in quite a while and seeing these in my first few minutes makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside!! I'm with Ron; some shots from the roof would be killer ; ) -Nicole ps also there aren't enough thanks for telling us which plants are which.. I've just added "Anita's Golden Cloak" to my dream list!

I believe your problem isnt so much your lights as its your temperatures and the fact that the plants are right next to a furnace ^^. Im guessing your haworthias don't have a chance to absorb the water that is given to them, top that with extreme dryness and warmth that might be pushing the plant use up its reserves of water causing the sinking leaves syndrome. Transpiration 1) An increased rate of evaporation due to a temperature rise will hasten the loss of water. 2) Decreased relative humidity outside the leaf will increase the water potential gradient. Drier surroundings gives a steeper water potential gradient, and so increases the rate of transpiration. Haworthias IME flourish when days are 60-70 and nights 40-50F. They really appreciate that temperature drop and cool temps. What are your average day and night temps? I think that will be most telling.