Alrightly lets see wow Lynn you responded so fast!! Thanks sooo much alright I am in Gardendale,Al so I am zone 7b. I am really most interested in Flowers, although on the side of the house We would really like to add something tall to block the view of the house when people are driving in the neighboorhood(it just looks so bland) We were thinking a flowering tree of some sort OR maybe a weeping willow??? My kitchen window overlooks this area and I think something like a weeping willow with a small circular bed around it would be gorgeous here. It is 8am now and the sun is shining on the area quite well so I guess that space would be full sun except for 2 maybe 4 hours a day, of course with a weeper it would be dappled shade underneath. Ok in my lil uniform back yard with my big one hulking tree, there is a yard to the left with a couple of tall trees and to the right there is a yard with NO trees or flowers and behind is woods so I get dappled shade most of the morning and then 2 or 3 hours of sun in afternoon. I really am new to this and dont really know how to officially label weather I have full sun, shade etc. any advice on that would help. My soil hummmm Dry as of this month with our nice lil drought lol I really have no clue?? yes I know I need to go into the Green Thumb Hall Of Shame!!!! As far as flowers I love lilies, tulips, irises, Glads,amaryllis,calla's,clematis,Wisteria,hydrangea,hollyhocks,and foxglove oh i love foxglove and delphinium. Do we all see where this is heading hah hah I love big tall blooms We also want to start a pond/watergarden type thing in our back yard also. Waterfall, koi, and all!! See yall hate me already, i feel like sucha nuisance already :o( As far as trading plants I can get some things, my grandmother has prob one of the top 3 gardens in North Jefferson County with lots of awards and recognitions and she is always offering cuttings and to give me things I could always list some of what she has and bring some of it and mom also, and the homeschool thing hit the nail on the head, my brother and I both homeschooled and we have most everything up to 11th grade which he will soon need after this summer, so someone might need something I have. Ive got lots to trade Anyways let me know what you think and I can always take a few digi pics of the space now so you can see what I am working with! Thank You SO SO SO much. Kalyn

We have alot of people that still can. I've also heard more this year, that the grandparent age group are teaching their grown grandchildren how to can. All my sons know how and now I'm teaching the grandkids (ages 11-5). I used to sell 10-20 boxes (25#) per day on Saturdays when people starting to can. It was normal for me, but most others didn't sell like that. I made sure that all of the boxes were the same quality as those on the table, and I think that's why I could get $50/bushel with no questions. Several times, we had to make time to sort the boxes before giving them out. People would stand and watch us throw out many that didn't look good enough. That usually sold others that were watching. I'd do the same thing with peaches.

Lynn, I think it has been pretty trying all over. I don't know that I can remember another year with so many different weather-related issues. It is hard to advise someone on plants that you can't see. With the pole beans, if their new growth looks healthy and the disease is not progressing onto it, I'd let them stay and see if they produce. If the disease issues are continually spreading to new foliage, I'd take them out and replace them. Bush beans are a bit iffier. They tend to produce over a fairly concentrated time (3 to 6 weeks) so if they have issues, I'd replace them because they probably lack the vigor at this point to produce heavily. Now to answer your specific questions: * No, your bean season is not over. You still have time to plant pole beans through the end of this month, but I'd choose some with shorter DTMs. You can plant bush beans through about the second week in August, although the sooner the better in case Mother Nature throws an early first fall frost at us. * Yes, you can plant in the same place. If the choice is to replant in the same place or not replant at all, I'd replant in the same place but I'd be sure I removed all the old plant debris first, and then I'd mulch the new plants heavily with straw or hay to keep rain or irrigation water from splashing from the soil up onto them and possibly spreading disease that way. (That's assuming it ever rains again.) I plant pole beans in virtually the same place every year because that's where the 50'-long trellis is (and I am not going to move it every year), and I don't see a disease carryover issue. * Without knowing what diseases are affecting your beans, it is hard to know if the disease could be seedborne. The general rule is not to save seeds from diseased plants, but in the real world, people do it and sometimes they regret it and other times they have no problems. If you want to reuse the seed, you could dust the seeds with sulphur if you have the powder type of sulphur before you plant. I don't know that there's anything you're not considering. I'd say your bean problems are undoubtedly a result of the combination of heavy rainfall at some points in the growing season, accompanied by or followed by extraordinarily high humidity and heat indices. Luckily, summers this miserable are rare. Beans grow well in containers, but they require very close attention to watering in August and sometimes into September if rain is not falling. There are different challenges every year. You probably will have a great bean year next year, but something else will go haywire. It always does. Gardening is an inexact science and the weather throws all kinds of curve balls our way. That's how you learn and broaden your experience as a gardener, though, by facing each year's challenges and learning from them. You never stop learning. Dawn

White Doyenne is an incredible pear, with fine flavor and smooth texture, but unfortunately it does better in drier climates. In the heat and humidity of Alabama it could be very prone to disease. Some other suggestions, have you considered apricots? They are wonderful when eaten right off the tree, much softer texture and more flavorful than the ones found at the supermarket. If you are willing to wait until next year, I might recommend Renee Claud Doree plum. They are small and green in color but they have exceptional flavor, some connoisseurs regard them as the best tasting variety, in fact. Sour cherries are somewhat more disease-resistant than sweet cherries. Mesabi is a hybrid between a sweet and sour cherry and has some disease resistance. If you get a sweet cherry, Lapins may be the best one, it is resistant to fruit-cracking, and being one of the few self-fertile varieties, the rain in April will cause less of a problem with pollination.