Hey everyone....Thanks for all your tips and experiences... Larry....How are you? lol..You are too funny...I once almost hired a kid to water mine until he watered my fakes plastic ones too... Danielle..Congrats on that...If I meant away for a week and someone forgot to water my plants for just two days, many would croak..I've thought of having just succulents, but I can't seem to do away with my fragrant ones... Linda..Yes it has been a while..What's happening? I hope your fish made it this year..Boy it was brutal...All mine did. The water never froze because I kept it turbulent..Thanks for visiting and your ideas.. I'm sure you would do that for me. You are so kind:-))) Planto..Thank you so much..Yes, it is a bummer..It makes my heart heavy with sadness..Such a good guy and destroying his family...I hope he recovers. He loves my plants and the thought of taking care of them got him and I excited.. Purple...I am so glad you got to go away and came back to no issues...That's my plan...I hope you had a great time..You needed it I am sure.. Yes, being able to wake up and go to bed any time you want is something I have not done in years...Not to have to look at the clock is a luxery..I miss those days. I live in Northern Ma...Just on the border of N.H almost near the coast....So it can get cold here still by May which leaves me no choice except to wait until the end of May when all are safe outside. Ia m hoping to go to Florida..Far from here. I tried that stay home and relax thing and it did not work out. All I wanted to do was work on the house and more..Not good. I am talking about sleeping on a beach for days or reading a book on a chair at teh beach or by a pool, maybe Pugs house, Laurs or Patty's..lol I get up at 5 every day, run a cleaning buisiness, then work full time..Work out 4 days a week after work at 8 pm and then care for my parents about that. I also care for my home, feed the birds, cat, fish and plants...lol MIke

I have not tried poorman but have read that it is a very good variety. I am having the best luck with 'welcome' so far but this is only my third year with gooseberries. I have 4 planted including 'glendale', 'pixwell', and 'hinnomaki red'. Of these 'welcome' has the most attractive deep pink berry and is by far the most productive. As far as flavor goes I cannot discern a lot of difference between these 4 varieties, all are good if well ripened to the pink/red stage but I believe 'welcome' is slightly better overall. Mine are all planted in half day of shade and so far all 4 have stood up well to the very hot summers I have. I have tried growing 'invicta' two different times in the past but have had no luck in getting it established. I was not at all impressed by the "one" fruit I did manage to get on 'invicta' before it died.

"Will shredded leaf mulch blow away?" Not significantly. In the past month or so I have mulched the gardens with over 12 large leaf bags full of shredded leaves. Despite the fact that our property appears to be sheltered from the wind, it is not. The wind tunnels up the road from the bay, and the wind in the bay is fed by that of the Atlantic Ocean, so we get stiff winds. In walking through the gardens yesterday I noticed that a few pieces had gone over some new seedlings, but not enough to snuff them out. In regards to established perennials, I simply don't worry as they will push their way up no problem. Great stuff for mulching!!

I just figured out the easiest way to do mine. We have strong winds at times, but the house will shelter some of it. My half gallon jugs, I thought I'd cut the right length of twine or some nylon cord and tie easy loops in each end. Then I'll wrap the twine around all the jugs and use a twistie to secure the loops, tying them all together. May do another level of it in case it slips down, can run the twine through the handles of the jugs on the perimeter. I hope it will work. I can easily open it up to check plants more closely, read labels, or move the whole group, etc., and just twist them back together again. I guess I can just pick out any jug in the group, lift it up, inspect it, deal with anything needed, and just slip it back in again without untying. When I get to the pepsi bottles, I may do the same thing rather than try to stick them in a box or burn holes in something I'd rather not. As I start planting out, I can just shorten the twine and tie another loop at one end and twist together again. I'm just setting them on the sidewalk for now, hope they'll drain ok, probably better than they would have when I set them on the ground. The ground can get saturated from melting snow and cause the water in the jugs not to drain very well or maybe I'm wrong about that.