MORE rain, I can't believe 3 weeks later and it's just been more of the same! Had over 1" the other night, probably have that today since it is pouring (though not overflowing the gutters since DH cleaned them out after water started pooling under the porch and coming into the basement). Planted a couple dozen pepper plants on Friday, still haven't put out tomatoes and the rest of the peppers (put them back in garage this AM, we've been going in and out so much I don't know if they know they're hardened off LOL). Tomato trellis is all up and I started digging for squash bed but yesterday the tomato trenches were wet on the lower end (a couple really wet) and the squash bed looked like a hog wallow. I did add some pebbles to the bottom of 1 trench, dug out farther for drainage, and added some partially-composted wood chips and more top soil to all the trenches. We'll see how it looks Monday when the rain stops. I don't know if I'm even going to plant squash this year - though I finally started 6 cukes inside the other day. I bought 2 rain barrels - didn't hook them up, but just left the tops off this AM - we'll see how much they collect in 48 hrs! Need to get the sauerkraut washed out of them. I'm just hoping I can plant out 60 tomatoes and about 30 peppers b/t Monday and Thurs - then the rains come again! With the drought and the floods in the South, and all this rain in the Northeast, is anybody going to be able to grow any crops this year? CA doing OK? How's FL? Are we all going to have to live off canned goods for the next year?

Aacor11, depending on how extensive the damage is would determine how severe the treatment you might give. In the winter with colder temps your biggest enemy is probably dampness. If you can't tell the extent of damage or suspect its worse than you can see, you might have to pull the bulb, rinse it off to decide. If it's not too bad, you can use a mild bleach solution (different ppl use different %), but when confronting severe damage I have used up to 50/50 for 5 minutes on the basal plate and damage parts only - never the top where the leaves grow. Then let it dry completely.when faced with a bulb that had extensive damage I place it in a baggie with damp sphagnum moss, blow air into it and place it on the fridge for warmth (similar to chipping). The sphagnum has natural antibacterial properties that will prevent rot. If not that severe treat all damaged area with cinnamon and wait a few days before replanting.

Since Sunday the wind has died down after sending the smoke into the bowl formed by the mountains around here. It seems to be sitting over the whole Salmon Arm area like a dense, choking fog. The sun is a red ball at night and in the morning. We have not even been able to see a glimmer of Canoe which is a mile away. At about nine at night just when we feel like we're suffocating from the closed up house and the heat, the smoke seems to rise up a bit and we see the lights from Canoe. I've been able to open the house and get some air over the evening. Today it looks like it might have improved some but I haven't been outside for the sniff test yet. Here is a map. I love maps! You can see we are not threatened and are across water from the actual fire. The town of Sorento is about 5 miles from the Notch Hill Fire. If we were going to drive there (Sorento) it would be south through Salmon Arm (just off the map) and then north and then west. It would take about 1/2 hour. The scary thing is that the lightening started this fire during a drenching rain. There is nothing but undeveloped land up behind us with many trees, brush etc. I am looking out my window and the field on the other side of the driveway is fairly green so maybe we are not as dry here? I don't know. I just hope the firefighters are able to keep making progress and it doesn't take out any homes. The fires in Calif. are sure awful. I was glad to see this morning that Griffith Park - the Zoo is a distance away.

Nothing goes like you plan. Had everything ready. I forgot to ask George how he moistens the peat/vermiculite mixture so I used the garden hose sray in the cups before I stuck the cuttings in. It got too soggy. I tried to drain and squeeze out as much as I could. Then I look at the cuttings and don't know how to prepare them right, made another slanted cut under water as best I could, cut the flower heads off as best I could (some of these had three flower heads), some were very healthy but some had some brown stuff on them (none had mold) so I pulled those leaves off but not all of them, shook the water off, dredged in powdered hormone, stuck a pen in the mix, felt I had to pull some of the bottom leaves off or I couldn't poke them deep enough, stuck the cutting in that, pressed as snugly as I could, then buried them as deep as I could in the ground. I figured burying the cups in the ground might keep them cooler if it gets hot again, but then it was frustrating trying to get the pepsi bottles over them without touching the leaves and disburbing the cuttings more and getting the leaves tucked up in there. Some of the leaves are touching the sides, I guess that can't be helped. Finally I put up an old window screen to filter out some of the sun that will get through on the east side, most is blocked now by trees, but a little gets through in the morning. The north side would get some of the morning sun anyway and is not a good place right now, ground packed from cement work that was done, too hard to dig for me. I toyed with the idea of stapling translucent plastic to the screen but just ran out of patience. Once the sun hits the south, they should be ok in the natural light that is left. I was afraid the plastic would block too much light and I would have to move the screen every noon. I put the seventh one, the only one that didn't have a spent flower head, looks very healthy, in the cup, in a gallon baggie, blew some air in, sealed it, and set it on the table by my north window, put curtains to block the sun from the east window very close by. It made me nervous, and all I can do is hope for the best. You look at those cuttings and must have to have some special knowhow to know what to do with each one because each one is different. Then what to do with the rooting hormone with all the warnings about not getting it on your skin, wear rubber gloves, I didn't, so I sealed that up in a plastic container and will use it again because I don't like to waste it. I was thinking as I was struggling with all this and back was hurting, legs stiff, why am I doing this? Why not just buy my roses? Two more sets to go, one tomorrow and one the next day, I hope. Have to go to the grocery store and buy back some bottles. Maybe in time I'll gain confidence and more of a knack with it. It is not easy for me, and it is messy.