You guys must try https://www.storesonlinepro.com/store/1818384/?sitecookie=8e6f069988792b3c5c0feff58737a10a I'm sure some of you know them as being squaw mountain gardens..,not sure if this is just a branch or if they changed completely. I've ordered six times in two years and am always happy with my plants. Prices are $3.75 per named semp and $.40 per un-named cutting. I can also pay $3.60 for "growers choice" with name labels and get no less than 4 named semps...one each. The orders come in paper lunch sacks, bare root with a name tag inside, each order gets about 4-5 medium size semps. (1-2") and at Keats 3 of mine have always had chicks growing. I counted my pot of nouveau pastel just for a guide...I planted it two weeks ago right out of my bag and have 4 2" hens....one 1" and each hen has TONS of chicks. One side from my seat I can loosely count 19...so u get your money's worth. I've bought from eBay....I usually pay $5 for ONE small semp and then shipping....or even if I'm lucky to get a $3.99 lot of four I still have higher shippig than cost of plant :/ smg has a $4.95 had leone charge and then ur ship pinch ages with size if order. My last order had 12 named semps...40 cuttings and 3 sedums. $7.40 shipping. So not bad.

Jammie, My purple podded beans have produced sporadically in little waves. Beans are affected by the extreme heat too, just like tomatoes. I tried extra hard to get my bush beans in the ground on time this past spring (I tend to focus too much on tomatoes and then everything else gets planted only after the tomatoes are in) and it paid off. I think last year I planted them a touch too late and it got hot before they produced too much. Then the grasshoppers showed up and ate them down to the ground. For your girls, you need to plant Tanya's Pink Pod Bush Beans. The pods actually do turn pink, and the beans are tasty as well as pretty. (When you cook them, they do turn green just like the purple ones do.) Last year and this year, Tanya's Pink Pod have produced better in the heat than any other bush bean. You know, for the girls, y'all could put in a pink bed or a purple bed. Think of all the veggies that come in those colors: eggplant comes in both pinkish-violet and purple, there's pink tomatoes (including a pink bite-sized one called Sweet Treats) and purple tomatoes, pink podded bush beans, purple podded bush beans, purple podded pole beans, purplehull pinkeye southern peas, purple carrots, purple broccoli, purple cauliflower. I bet there's more pinks, but now that I'm trying to think of one, I can't. Oh, I am pretty sure there's pink popcorn and there is a pink kale, but it is ornamental and not edible. There's a pink swiss chard and, of course, pink-fleshed watermelons. I think y'all could have a whole bed or row of pink or purple plants or plants that produce either pink or purple foliage, flowers, fruit or veggies. Another fun thing with kids is to dye easter eggs using plants for natural dyes. For a couple of years I planted a "rainbow garden" in my veggie bed, where every raised bed was one color, and I had a bed in every color of the rainbow, in the same order as the colors in the rainbow. It was a lot of fun, even though it was quite a challenge to find fine some things in some colors. Every bed had a mix of veggies, herbs and flowers in that bed's designated color. Another fun thing we did when our son and nieces and nephews were younger was to plant them sunflower houses and also big teepees covered in a mix of pole beans, ornamental gourds and mini pumpkins. The kids could play in the sunflower house or teepees like they were playhouses or forts. For a sunflower house, you plant your sunflowers in a square box shape so the flowers form the 4 walls. After your 'walls' are 3 or 4' tall, you plant morning glories or black-eyed-susan vines or any other annual vine to climb the sunflowers' stalks. By the time the sunflowers are 5 or 6' tall, you can run twine back and forth from sunflower to sunflower like roof rafters, and then your vines creep along the twine and form a room over the house. It is the cutest thing. Just be sure to leave a 'doorway' area so the kids can go in and out. Gardening with kids is tons of fun! I grew up in a gardening family, so always have been a gardener. When I went to college, I majored in business....and even laughed about the fact that our local community college had a horticulture program. I remember joking about "who would want to major in horticulture?". lol To me, horticulture was just something "everyone" did, and I couldn't imagine anyone would want to make a living at it. I shake my head now and imagine that studying horticulture would have been right up my alley. Dawn Here is a link that might be useful: Tanya's Pink Pod Bean at SESE

Jeanne, I am really,really sorry to be so late getting here. I always love seeing what you do, and the wonderful things you have to decorate with. I've never seen rustic chicks like those, so perfect for your decor too! That lighted egg sounds so neat with the colors that change! I also love the framed birdhouse picture. Mr and Mrs Bunny are such a cute couple! I remember lusting over those Easter blocks last year and wishing the Hobby Lobby I get to go to had them. Your home is always so welcoming and I'd give anything to live next door and be able to see everything in person. hugs, Karen

Nicole...Purple Martins use only dry nesting materials; around here they like pine needles, wheat straw, twigs, old mulch, etc. They usually add green leaves right before egg laying begins. Mine used a lot of maple seed "helicopters" this spring. Some PMs add layers of leaves right before egg laying begins. Some add one lone leaf and call it good. They don't use anything soft. I fill the gourds with fresh cedar shavings in the spring; I pack them tightly and fill the gourds to about 1/2 inch below the entry hole. Some of the birds don't bother to add anything else. They spend nest-building time eating and resting and getting strong. When the chicks are 10-days-old, and again when they're 18-days-old, I remove them from the nest, take out all the old nesting material, add Sevin dust if I see any mites, add new cedar shavings, and replace the babies. The adults buzz around and watch the procedure, but they're very use to my nearly daily "help." It keeps the chicks clean, parasite free, reduces bacterias and molds, and helps ensure they all fledge strong and healthy. No. Most birds "in the wild" don't get this treatment, but with the martins it's all a numbers game. I try to ensure each egg laid has the optimum conditions to hatch (didn't do so good this year) and each hatchling lives to fledge. I love tending my little flock. I can do a complete nest change/clean out in about two minutes so it's really not a bother. Janie...LOL. Of course he's a guy. No lady would be caught in such an over-indulgence stupor! LOL (All their "parts" are internal, boys and girls,)