We have had such strange weather in my area I am having the same experience. I decided to let everything do its thing. To get some blooms later in the season I started direct sowing some annuals seeds. My favorite for that purpose have been Zinnas and cosmos. My plants look weak as it is because of the weird weather I am just not going to stress them any further. We have had so little rain everything is budding early they look weak from all the dry weather. JMO

Azaleas can be transplanted any time. However when they are blooming or actively growing, care must be take not to disturb the roots and to give water but not drown. Because the roots grow near the surface, a bed prepared especially for rhododendrons and azaleas need not be more than 12 inches deep; deep planting or too much mulch in the growing season keeps the roots from getting the air they need. In fact, it is a good idea to set rhododendrons about 1 inch higher than they grew at the nursery. Azalea plants may be transplanted in blossom but it is better to transplant them early in spring before they bloom. Make sure that the plant is getting wet. Rhododendron guru Harold Greer noted: "Quite often a plant will get completely dry and then no matter how much water you apply, the rootball will just keep shedding it. The top of the soil may seem wet, and the soil around the plant may even be very wet, but the actual rootball of the plant is bone dry. This is the major reason for failure, or at least less than great success when moving a plant. It is hard to believe that a plant can be within mere inches of a sprinkler that has been running for hours and still be dry, yet it can be SO TRUE!"

Something to share on favas... we accidentally found the best recipe that is also easy to make - and oh wow they are good! Wash young fava pods (mine ranged from pea sized beans inside to thumb tip sized beans) and pat dry. Toss pods with Olive oil, kosher salt, black pepper, and some minced garlic. Cook on the grill until blistered turning as necessary - about 6-10 minutes. Take pods and put in a platter with raised sides - sprinkle with more salt, pepper, garlic and squeeze on some fresh lemon juice. Eat them pods and all. You will want to string the larger ones, but oh these are so incredibly good this way, no peeling necessary. It's very messy - plan on lots of napkins and a good crisp beer, white wine or other beverage to go with the yumminess. This could almost be a meal of its own - consider serving with fresh bread. :)

According to the Takii PDF file the Canna Cannova Seed strain has taken over 10 years for development to meet the cooler and shorter growing climate of northern Europe. These cannas should fit well within large areas in the United States. Producing F1 hybrids such as this is expensive and time consuming undertakings. They more importantly offer the consumer virus free cultivars that are difficult to find available from most sources. One’s other option would to be purchasing tissue cultured and virus indexed plugs which are also more expensive and definitely not widely available. Therefore, depending on the source, the price may not be out of line for the product in my opinion. Here in the states, I did find a listing for some of the Cannove series available from Ball Seed Co. Given the time of the year and the fact that this is a new product, the availability may be limited or gone. Takii introduced the Tropical Series of canna several years ago and seed became readily available. Kent