I tried to grow a Savannah Holly in a shaded corner some years ago. Paid $95 for that sucker. It got a good two hours of direct afternoon sun, but that just wasn't enough. It got so leggy I had to put it down. I subsequently tried an auralia there, but it melted in that afternoon sun. Photinia does quite well there, though. Life is full of compromises.

Lynn, yes, your perspective makes sense . When I view your vignette I see a narrow swath of land and tend to lean towards a clean and simple background to play off of a a colorful mid and foreground. Everyone has a different approach. I planted Laurel 'tight and bright' 5 years ago as a background hedge and found it to be moderately slow growing in my zone 9 location ( northern california , a mediterraean climate ) The hedge is sheared only once a year and is easily maintained at 24 to 30 inches wide. We have 'just joey' roses, silver miscanthus and two arborvitae shrubs planted infront of it in a space of about 10 feet wide. photo taken on the day of planting - laurels are planted directly agains the fence ( during construction ) From Pools The laurels two years later From Pools the laurels today , 5 years later From Pools I had found the laurels were not growing fast enough to screen the fence so two additional arborviatae plants were planted in 2011 ( total of 4 )

What USDA zone are you in? 6B? 7A? You can expect Red Rocket to form a vase-shaped plant about 15 to 20 feet tall. Unfortunately that will shade out anything planted below or in between them unless you plant them very far apart -- like at least 20 feet, but then that defeats the purpose of using them for a screen. It's not the fastest growing crape, but all of them are fairly fast. Tuscorora and Biloxi are likely faster, but taller. That said, I would definitely consider using an evergreen (conifer or broad-leaf) for your screen for year-round privacy. Not sure how high you want to go. Green Giant can get quite large -- like 10-20 feet in diameter?? Look it up and if so, plant it the proper distance away from fence. Cryptomeria is similar in shape and also grows fairly quickly. Some don't like the bronzy look of foliage in winter. If you want something closer to the fence think about whether you'll have to do maintenance on the fence and how much (if any) room you'll need for that. Many hollies like 'Needlepoint', 'Oakland', and 'Nellie Stevens' might fill the bill. Skip laurels -- Prunus laurocerasus 'Schipkaensis' (with extra moisture in droughts), Bright n Tight Cherry laurels are some more ideas. Also consider Osmanthus x Fortunei, and even smaller southern magnolias like Teddy Bear and Little Gem (although that can eventually attain large size). Some of those I mention may need shearing depending on your size limitation which you did not give. This post was edited by dave_in_nova on Mon, Feb 17, 14 at 19:28

Newer version of Annie's Salsa - BWB only Annie's Salsa 8 cups tomatoes, peeled, chopped and drained 2 1/2 cups chopped onion 1 1/2 cups chopped green pepper 3 to 5 chopped jalapenos (for milder leave out seeds and ribs) 6 cloves minced garlic 2 tsp cumin (optional) 2 tsp pepper 1/8 cup canning salt 1/4 c fresh cilantro (optional) 1/3 c sugar (optional) 1 cup cider vinegar (see note on subbing lemon or lime juice option) 16 oz canned tomato sauce (to adjust density) 8-16 oz canned tomato paste (to adjust density) Mix all ingredients, bring to a boil, boil 10 minutes. Pour into hot jars, process pints for 15 minutes in BWB. Makes 6 pints. _________ A lot of changes have been made to this recipe over the years. Some people like lemon or lime juice in place of some or all of the vinegar, that's fine. (Note from Sheila - I like half lemon half lime.) Some people leave out the cilantro, that's fine too. Do not increase! Some people add more hot peppers or fewer onions, fine as long as you keep the same total measurements. (Note this is what NCHFP does in their new Choice Salsa recipe.) Some people leave out the sugar, that's fine. You can scoop out the goo in the middle of the tomatoes with your thumbs when I'm peeling and chopping for a less seedy version, so it's 8 cups of chopped tomatoes without the seeds and goo. Most who make it regularly as well as Annie recommend using a variety of different slicing tomatoes, not paste types, for best flavor and consistency. (Note: use the tomato sauce and paste to adjust the consistency of the final product to a "sloshy" consistency.) According to Annie "My salsa is not as thick as Heinz catsup but it's thicker than taco sauce. If you don't like it quite as thick or sweet, cut down the amount of paste. I would add some, then taste. Reducing that ingredient shouldn't affect the safety of the recipe. I use equal amounts of sauce and paste. You can pull it off the heat at any point and adjust for flavor. Before I cook it I check for salt, sugar, check the consistency. Add more pepper or cumin if I want. When I first started making this salsa, tomato sauce and paste came in 8 and 16 ounce cans. Like everything else, they've now been downsized, so now I have to use partial cans." Does anybody have good versions of the other recipes that have weird symbols in them for measurements?