I basically agree with all that has been said above. Here are a couple other things to consider. First, in the Deep South where I live, parsley is strictly a winter herb. It gets too hot for it here in the summer. Oklahoma gets really hot too, right? So, that might explain the parsley death. Second, did you dig the soil underneath your bed? Tomatoes and Peppers like a nice deeply dug bed, and your raised bed doesn't look more than six inches deep. This fall, you might try double digging your little bed and then sowing red clover in it. (If you don't know how, just say so. A lot of us can tell you how.) Allow the clover to grow all winter and then just as it begins to bloom in the spring, go out and turn it under with your spade. Two weeks later, you'll be amazed at the difference in your soil, and the clover roots will have put lots of nitrogen into it too. (This technique is called cover cropping. It's inexpensive, organic, and very effective. Try it.) Don't despair! I had rather similar results my first year with raised beds and I had MANY years of gardening experience. It just takes time to build your soil. If you do the fundamentals, you'll see a big improvement next year, and the next, and the next. It's a good idea to get a soil test since you started with bagged stuff. Look in your yellow pages for your county agriculture extension office. In my state, a soil test is $6.00. You will get a computer report that tells you how much Nitrogen, Phosphorous, Potassium, and more your soil has or needs. Why guess? In the meantime, it's a very good idea to go to your public library and check out a couple of basic books on vegetable gardening. Pay very close attention to the "boring" parts about soil preparation, compost, mulching, etc. There's no reason to learn everything the hard way! And if they have a book that is specific to Oklahoma, get that one! This is a big country and the differences in climate from one area to another can be crucial to your success. Here is a simple way to know when it's time to water. Stick your finger down into the soil to the middle knuckle. Then rub that finger together with your thumb. Feel moisture? Don't water. Check tomorrow. Feel dry or very nearly so? Time to water. Pay attention to how much time has passed since the last time and before long you'll get a good idea of how often you need to water. Oh, and if you have mushrooms growing in your soil, that's a pretty good sign that your moisture levels are high. But then, they may be only a little bit high and you just imported mushroom spores in with the straw. Keep an eye on things. Do the finger test. But don't panic.

It is an herbaceous perennial and as such once it is killed by frost in the fall you can cut it back to a couple inches above ground level. If kept in that container, you may want to keep it in an unheated garage over winter and put a snowball on it once or twice a month for just a little bit of moisture. Don't let it become a block of ice. tj

In the first picture, you can see a small flower bed at the end of the arborvitaes, well that is gone, I now have shrubs in that space. The shrubs are Pinky Winky Hydrangea, a Winter berry male "Jim Dandy", an American Cranberry "redwing" and a Blue Muffin Viburnum. They're all a good size, especially the red wing. That's about 7 feet now. I need to get a pollinator for both viburnums, red wing and blue muffin. I have one last question. When planting the arborvitaes, do I need to pull out all the roots or can I leave some in there knowing that they will eventually die. There are just so many. I have the whole already there, just need to clean them out and amend them somewhat. I like conifers too, I think they really so wonders for the landscape, not to mention that they're not a lot of work to take care of. I'm getting tired of working on my flower bed every day. Want to start planting conifers instead. Many thanks for all your help! Linda

Hi, Iowarosie I saw your note about white fly problems. While Mallows, or "hardy hibiscus" are known to attract white flies, the tropical varieties (H. rosa sinensis) are not as prone to have them. In fact in most cases where my tropicals have had white fly problems, it was because the critters were attracted first to nearby hardy hibiscus. There are currently nearly 8,000 registered varieties of tropical hibiscus in the American Hibiscus Society's nomenclature database. I have a few hundred of those varieties, and add more whenever I can. I also have a few varieties of hardy hibiscus. Regards, Rick (HibRick) Here is a link that might be useful: Lone Star Chapter, American Hibiscus Society