Woody, I love your peony cage. I have a large clump of old fashioned peonies in my front yard and I think your solution will be perfect. Thanks for the pics, it really helps. Also, I see from some of the comments that I may have misrepresented my DH somewhat. I was asking for suggestions not showing you a final plan for the trellis. DH will be happy to make a trellising system that will prevent my veggie bed from becoming a tangled mess. Also our choice of vegetables may change from year to year (and there is crop rotation to consider), I would like a design that can be modified easily if the need arises.Ideally we would like to have a framework trellis that is permanent but we could live with one that will last us a few seasons. Natal: Do the texas cages hold till the end of the growing season and do you use them only for tomatoes ? That might work as a temp solution. So more details : the plants are mostly heirloom tomatoes, butternut squash, and cucumber. one or two eggplants and a few hot peppers. The bed has two rows of veggies and a gravel path on one side and a tile path on other (hidden by straw) so I have access to both rows without walking under the trellis. I am short but not that short (or flexible :). The trellis needs to be at least 4 feet off the ground, 5 ft would be better(plus a foot buried in soil). Here are more options I found, tell me your thoughts. This is from GW using cattle fencing but it would require mixing copper posts and aluminium wire. One with just copper http://www.homeenvy.com/db/5/105.html Copper A frame Thanks Usha

Thanks again, especially for the candytuft ID, they are the stars of the spiral right now but they're starting to go to seed. I have a fountain in the front yard, and although I agree it would look great I wouldn't want to deal with the hassle in that particular spot. Birds love fountains, consequently they need to be cleaned frequently and it always involves splashing a lot of water on the ground and walking around the fountain a bit. Maybe I could get a birdbath and hook it to the irrigation system, but a statue would be easier and require less maintenance. I think I'm a one fountain person, a second is not something I relish taking care of but I wouldn't dream of getting rid of the one I have. Most recently a bench has been added to the garden, I realized that the place where the path brushes the raised bed is the coolest and most comfortable spot to hang out so I mentioned it to the DH and next thing I knew we had a new bench. I love it, it's perfect for sitting and enjoying my new area.

For the first time last year, I used Texas Tomato Cages in 25-gallon Smart Pots, and didn't prune. It worked very well. Here are a couple photos. Mortgage Lifter-Estler's at front left, Earl's Faux at front, right. Behind them are Kosovo, Omar's Lebanese, Cherokee Purple, and Goose Creek. All except the Omar's Lebanese (a complete dud in my garden) produced very well. I had less disease than when I used stakes. By final harvest in September, most had climbed over the top of the 6-foot cages and were a couple feet on they're way back down. Three weeks from planting out, June 8, 2012: Six weeks from planting out, July 1, 2012 (Mortgage Lifter in forefront):

Hey! Did you guys notice the color! That color will show up under any length pants. It's almost neon! The yarn was left over from a scarf, hat and mittens set. Imabest, I found the "toe-up" pattern on the net. It was from one of the links that were shared on the other thread about socks. Judt a minute, I'll get it....... Here it is! This is what I used to start it, but since it became like a foreign language, I couldn't follw through. http://sarah-knits.blogspot.com/2006/06/toe-up-sock-pattern-invisible-double.html (doesn't that picture look just like mine!!!! LOL) Dances, You have me almost encouraged enough to try again. I had to laugh at your comment about having with "A" hole in the gusset. I ended up with a bunch of them. Sheilaj, I know I just need to get a commen cense understanding of turning the heel. I'm getting that by looking at my boughten socks. I did like the feel of that first one.