Nancy, I thought you were in Texas too? Thanks Lrae! Debra, I tried that planting in hot weather thing last year... boy was that a mistake. I had to put up a shade cloth and even then, they all struggled along. Just not worth the worry! Thankfully, since I am not in the north, fall planting works great here. I had GREAT success with that last year, and the other nice thing about it are the fall sales. Sorry to hear it is so warm there already. :o( Okbt - I'm sorry that it is only just splitting into two fans, or we could trade! Mona, it IS impossible to water, isn't it? I keep telling people here we need drip irrigation, but no one knows how to install it. With all the hot weather and wind we get here on the plains, you'd think it would be a no brainer. Ann - Thanks - I wanted this one real bad. I just love those purples/violets/lavenders! Hey Barb! It is killin' me! Sorry to hear you have some damage! I love my rose of sharons, I would be really upset... do you think it will grow back? I have two rose colored doubles here... maybe I can try to do some cuttings for you. GTF - I gotta know about your handle...??? I try not to look at my flowers after about noon. It is just too sad. Oh... that sounds like a bad accident, and not too far away from me either. I am telling you, those winds are hectic! Today is garbage day, and you should SEE all the stuff blowing down the street!

Yikes, that sounds crazy. I think I would have been thinking tornado and ran for the hills, LOL. Glad to hear you didn't have much damage. Nothing worse than just putting something in the ground and it being toast immediately thereafter. I put in two Annie's Magic Ball arborvitaes in a few years ago. They were tiny and I had just the perfect spot right beside my step. My younger son is the wipe-out king, he falls all the time b/c he doesn't think before he moves. We have 4 or 5 steps coming up to our porch and he got halfway down and wiped out and fell the last step or two, you guessed it, right into my newly-planted mini arborvitaes that were completely irreplaceable (new variety!) Well, I knew my son was fine (he always is when he wipes out), so I was lamenting over my arborvitae, he had completely broken one in half. My older son (10 at the time, I think), says "Don't you think you should be more concerned about your son instead of your plant?" Know it all kid, LOL He was fine! My poor plant is still recuperating, 2 years later! :) I know, mom-of-the-year, right :) But I swear, the boy can't walk 5 steps without wiping out. You get kind of use to it, after a while.

In terms of the black pots, I notice that if I touch them the upper band (with drier soil) is warm, but somewhere lower it transitions to cooler (where more evaporation is happening). (I think the brick patio cools the same way.) I think I'm staying good now, when I can keep an eye on them and keep watering up. If I had to leave for the weekend and when Santa Anas were expected I'd probably have to crank up the timer ... to uncertain results. Cool tomorrow though, and I should be able to transplant my habenero. Small garden: 3 tomatoes, 2 eggplant, 2 peppers. If I do a crossbar trellis 8 feet long I might do more smaller pots beneath it next year, like 8 five gallon buckets in a row along the back. Thanks for all the suggestions.

Moni, Congrats on the new house. So, if it hasn't rained any more since that one day, I'm guessing you are somewhere near Sharon and Lisa ('cause they aren't getting rain either). Ouch! Hope the foot heals quickly and I hope you're current on your tetanus shot. My son stepped on a nail recently and couldn't remember how along ago he last had a tetnus shot, so he headed to the clinic in town to get one. At the rate things are going, it may be a while before you get to dig out any of that devil's grass. We have a good shot at rain next week. I hope y'all do too. I cannot imagine you not being able to go out and ride your bike. I hope your life gets back to normal soon, and I hope you're not climbing the walls with boredom. Dawn