Chelcass, be aware if you have a mountain lion they are bigger than bobcat, Beautiful face & long tail about 2 ft. on 1 I faced. Maybe I mentioned it on here before but I was going to nursery part of hardware store & noticed large hole in chain link fence, the freeway is right behind it & there is grassy strip so very easy for hungry animals to come into the city from the mountains 1 mile above the store. I was walking & wondered what kind of dog was walking toward me, he had such a long tail, I couldn't see his face as there were some potted plants out in the aisle & he was looking towards area where parents send their kids while they shop. about 100 ft from me he had to go around a pot & I saw his beautiful face & realized it was a wild animal but I wasn't sure what, I backed up but they are very fast & if he wanted me for lunch he could have, it was on anniversary of my hubby's death so was really unsettling, anyway I told them about it & told them I did not want to read about 1 of those kids mauled & killed. The ducks were completely enclosed even top so he would have had to work at getting in. We went out (no kids were there that day)& looked for it(how dumb was that) none of us looked up, they go up in trees.(or roofs etc. & several are sighted every year, 1 in Santa Clarita couple of days later, could have been one I saw. It weighted more than most dogs. Chelcass, you don't want to run into 1. If they are hungry you will be supper! Glad to hear you are green now, that's an improvement!!Jan

Those black eye susan which bloomed last summer grow so slowly this year, while the new one which I sow their seeds last fall grow so fast and almost ready to bloom. Is it natural this way? I also noticed that other perennials which bloomed have a die-back condition, whereas who did not bloom remain green through winter. Is this because those who bloomed need more time to recuperate and store their energy back to their roots, so the green leave grow slower? Thanks

There are a couple of pictures here that might help you: Black-eye Susan seed heads, chaff, and seeds http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/53/ Black-eyed Susan seed heads, and seeds http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/54/ The seeds are the little uniform dark things and are underneath the chaff, which are the dried up flower filaments that remy mentioned. I've found that I can use the blade of a pair of scissors to scrap the chaff away, using an upwards motion (in shaving terms this would be called going with the grain), then I just dump the seed head upside down in a bowl and knock it against the side a few times to get all of the seeds out. It isn't essential to separate the chaff and seeds, that's just the way I do it.

I expanded my garden area this year and want to plant a couple of rows every two weeks. I think I just got started too early. They are starting to sprout, but are struggling. Ground is just too cold. Maybe this warm weekend will help.