Sherry -- sounds like you may have answered your own question -- yellow leaves, alkaline soil -- you could fix that! Acidify the soil with ferrous sulfate (a.k.a. iron sulfate or copperas) -- mix about a Tbsp per gallon in a bucket and wash in a couple gallons. Wait a couple days and measure the pH. If not as low as you want it, repeat the procedure until you get to under 7.0. Be careful with the stuff -- it oxidizes to make rust stains on sidewalks, cars, your new shoes, etc. If you get it on anything, rinse it off before it turns color. You can then maintain the lower pH by applying around a cup of sulfur (agricultural sulfur, flowers of sulfur, wettable sulfur, etc.) around the plant and scratching it into the top inch or so of soil. Yes, Tausendschoen is once-blooming. But the "once" is up to 7 months. Once the night temps get warm, it quits, and doesn't start again until we cool off. So we get no flowers June to December, usually. But when it flowers, it is continuous.

I like 'J.E. Murphy's Pink Tea' (which may be 'Mme. Emilie Charrin'). It has a perfectly healthy and vigorous plant, good leaves, and a flower of a decided pink color with a form which is both pretty and distinctive. Recommended. My 'Second Street Tea' is taking its sweet time to make anything of itself; but early this year, it started to show some interest in growing, so we'll see. The plant is not yet large enough for me to trust how representative the flowers it has are; but, as of yet, they're a warm light pink, and full of petals. 'Arcadia Louisiana Tea' is wonderfully happy in my garden--healthy, vigorous, bloomy, and beautiful. The flower color is essentially a chalky pink, which doesn't sound as attractive as it is. The bush is about six and a half feet tall, and thickly foliaged. It would dominate that area of the garden if it weren't for an extremely vigorous 'Faberge', which is just as tall, and, by its orange color, distracts from 'Arcadia Louisiana Tea'. I think 'Faberge' is an outstanding rose, indeed one of the very best; but I wish I had planted it elsewhere (it wasn't supposed to be so tall!). But no way am I moving a big, healthy, happy rose... Like 'Second Street Tea', my 'Florence Bowers' is a little slow getting started; but, that said, it did put out this year a good, if slender, six-foot cane, more like one would expect of a climber than of a regular Tea. The plant is young, so I can't really say much about the flowers; but it seems to bloom in flushes rather than anything like continuously.

The only negative thing I can say about this forum is that it feeds the need to buy ever more plants. I see the beautiful plants and flowers that you all grow and begin to "need" that plant too. I try to stay away from the garden centers but, as I know you all understand, it's an addiction. Whenever my husband needs something from the big box stores he knows that I will happily accompany him and he also knows to park by the entrance to the garden center! Also, with our heat and humidity, it's so easy to propagate plants. Coupled with gardeners who are so willing to share their clippings, no wonder our garden beds "grow". Beth, you asked about the aptenia cordifolia. I too kept it in a pot for several months, thinking I would use it as a draper in a lanai pot. However it seemed to be going downhill so I decided to plant it in the ground. It has been saying thank you every since. Mine is planted on a small slope and gets morning sun (eastern side of house). I recently installed a micro irrigation system in my flower beds (why didn't I do this sooner - I love it!) so the aptenia gets some water about every 3-4 days. I highly recommend the Diamond Frost euphorbia. I see it at both Lowe's and HD. I bought mine last year and immediately took cuttings. The cuttings root very easily. I now have 4 big clumps of it - 2 on the east, 1 on the south (the one in the picture), and 1 on the west. They all survived the winter without damage. I did cover one plant when we had a brief and mild frost one night because I wanted to "save" at least one. The uncovered plants did just as well. Marcia, thanks for the info about the barleria. I originally started it from a cutting about 2 years ago. I've read that it reseeds readily but I certainly haven't noticed that with mine. Mine gets the western sun and not a lot of water and still rewards with ongoing flowers. It's a winner for me. Another plant that gets the thumbs up is the Brazilian petunia. I have clumps of it on the south, west, and north side of the house and they all do well. As the clump grows and the plant roots are shaded by its own foliage, it tolerates our Florida sun even better. Now that it too is on the new drip system, it gets a drink as the temps rise; it certainly perks up in appreciation. I've also seen the hummer on it. June

Yes, Ingrid -- We all think it is an HP . . . But WHAT HP it is, we don't know. Here's an article on the rose. As you'll see, the color is quite variable -- blooms can be anywhere from Jackie's "candy pink" to a true fuchsia ... depending upon environmental conditions. Plant them side-by-side, and they all bloom alike. http://www.goldcoastrose.org/articles/tromn.pdf