Question for grannybj65-- Do you keep yours in a detached or attached garage? I brought mine into an unattached garage where I have been leaving the florescent lights on. One of the three is now blooming. I have 3 beautiful long white blooms and two buds. My garage has such a wonderful aroma right now. I bought a small utility heater that I was going to hang up from a wooden beam in the ceiling but heeded the heater warning that said not to use where gasoline is stored which is where the lawnmower and gasoline cans are housed. From what you are saying, it may be possible that my brugs could possibly survive a winter in an unheated, detached garage? I think the low here been 29 degrees so far and actually none of my plants have been affected up to now. I also have in my garage peppers plants, an allamanda that also produced a couple of blooms, a deep purple petunia that full of blooms, a variegated hisbiscus that put out more blooms at one time in the garage than when it was outdoors, oleander, cape honeysuckle, penta, lantana, sweet potato vines, and several more that I can't recall right now.

1) A good potting mix will be free draining and hold plenty of air for the entire, expected life of the planting. You'll not likely achieve this with any blend of potting soil/manure/compost. The ingredients are just not stable enough & will hold too much water for too long. 2) Layers are ineffective or counterproductive in containers, including 'drainage layers'. They (drainage layers) simply decrease the amount of soil in the container & thereby decrease the total volume of water contained in the soil, which allows air to return to the soil faster. It is better to grow in a homogeneous, free-draining mix throughout the container. This also prevents the possibility of alternate layers of saturated soil in the container. 3) Fresh manures should never be used in containers. They are too 'hot' and manure itself, whether fresh or aged, breaks down to very fine particles very quickly. This can easily cause the soil to hold too much water, at the expense of aeration. There is information in the link I'll leave. Pay particular attention to the favorable comments that can be read as affirmation of the idea that long term aeration should be the number one consideration when considering any container soil. Al Here is a link that might be useful: More soil info

So pretty. My wooden barrels also fell apart, nonacook. I was visiting my daughter in Kansas City and at Costco they had hard plastic ones. So I bought a pair and put flowers in them. I think I will add birdhouses now, thanks to your idea, kirkus. Are those watermelon million bells, perennials? They are beautiful!

I posted this whiskey barrel awhile back, sorie...& guess what, it's very old & had to be moved because we are siding our house...there was no bottom left in it! I'm hoping to still use it if we can move it back to the spot in the upcoming months...don't see why we can't as long as the hoops that hold the boards stay in-tack! I planted Hosta, Chives, Coral Bells in it & since it's fairly close to the house, they have wintered over quite a few yrs. now. Also had German Ivy but it didn't winter over. Jeanne S.