Sue, Been there, done that! I have grown broccoli for many years. I used to buy plants and was limited to what the greenhouses had. When I lost the ability to buy green comet I then switched to seeds. I now grow spring planted broccoli and mid summer planted for fall harvest. I could, and probably will, say a lot about this! my recommendation to you is to buy seeds of calabrese green sprouting italian (cgsi). Many stores sell the seeds and catalogs as well. This is an excellent variety tho it is a late variety. Due to the lateness, 82 days to maturity (dtm), I also grow an early variety that has a 50 or 60 dtm. Early dividend is my early variety tho this spring I'm going to switch to de cicco to see how it does in the spring. Not impressed with it's fall production. I don't like packman (very well liked), it's the only variety that has given me trouble. Tried de cicco for fall harvest last summer, the side shoots were almost nil and head size was small. Perhaps as a spring variety it would do better, not for fall for me, cut the head and done. So buy plants or start seeds of an early variety and either pull them after the main head matures (about 7/4) or keep them for side shoot production. early dividend has good side shoot production all year. Broccoli is fussy about when to start and put out in the spring, if it's too cold or too hot it can ruin head formation. Broccoli is a heavy feeder so it needs fertilization too. Summer heat is not broccoli's friend but it will survive in full sun all day if you water it and do quite well. The hotter it is the more often you water. Here's why I recommend cgsi. The main heads are large. Now most broccoli grows shoots, mini heads, but they are small and you can spend 5 minutes cutting 2 handfuls of side shoots. In august I can't justify baking in the sun for that. In the fall the side shoot production goes up and you need to cut a lot more. Cgsi grows large side shoots, like mini heads, but not tons of them. Very reasonable production even in the heat of summer and you spend a minute or two cutting side shoots from 6 plants not 30 minutes fussing with those mini shoots! While I have grown cgsi for a few years, this summer cemented it as the best to grow. This past summer in august we had texas heat and mississippi humidity, it was brutal. My cgsi broccoli just thrived! In the past, my broccoli plants wilted severely or died but I was not watering them enough I know realize. After the main heads were cut side shoot production, even thru 95-103 degree days with 80-82 degree nights and dew points of 78-79, was the best I ever had. Why? I watered. In that intense heat I gave each plant 7/10 ths to 1 1/2 gallons of water each evening about 4 pm, morning may have been better but I work. My well thru my hose gives 1 gallon in 10 seconds so if I counted to 7 that was 7/10ths of a gallon. I do not mulch broccoli it attracts slugs. I had 2 plants that went bad in may, shriveled leaves, no stalk formation, they looked terrible. One died, I just ignored the other. By late june it actually started to grow lots of leaves and by mid august 3 separate plants were growing in that 1 spot, huge plants, each bigger than any cgsi I ever saw by 33%! These 3 made the other cgsi look smallish. They (the 3) produced vast amounts of broccoli after the main heads that were immense but thru that time the spring planted plants also produced very large shoots with 3"-4" heads too! So don't believe that broccoli is just for spring or fall. Cgsi does well here and you are basically where I am. Having different varieties with different dtm will spread the harvest but just so much. Typically dtm is 45-85. this is why I recommend cgsi, those large and prolific side shoots, mini heads 3" sometimes 4" in diameter, spread the harvest. Starting from seed requires lights. This can be as simple as 1 4' 2 tube shop light fixture with 2 99 cent tubes or a $800 plant stand with lights. Whatever route, you must keep the plants, any plants not just broccoli, within 2" of the tubes so you have to be able to either adjust the fixture or the plants to maintain the correct distance. Lights on 16 hours per day no more no less. Broccoli seed should be started so that 5-6 week old seedlings (no younger no older) can go out 2 weeks before your last frost date for spring planting. For me that's 5/31 (last frost date) so mine go out 5/15 so I start my seeds 4/1. for summer plants/fall harvest I time the dtm (harvest for mid to late sept) plus seed starting so I have 5 week old plants and plant on that day. Broccoli will grow up to thanksgiving but the reduced light will greatly diminish growth, my point broccoli as a mature plant tolerates freezing well. Broccoli is sweeter after several frosts. I would not recommend direct seeding in summer tho I have never done it. The reason is the soil is just plain hot, very hot. All my fall crops (cabbage, broccoli, kale, even rutabagas in peat pots you can't disturb their roots) are started inside where it is cooler in july and august. I did direct seed carrots for the 1st time on 8/1 last year with good results but they must be kept damp by covering with burlap or boards. Even in the spring, carrots are hard to germinate and that trick works then too. But I suggest starting your broccoli inside about 7/1 to 7/7 put out about 8/5 to 8/15. any later and you may run out of growing season. The interesting thing I found with july started broccoli last year is that even tho I was pushing the envelope with my dates (cgsi is 82 dtm while the de cicco package says 48-80 dtm that spread is absurd and both varieties went out the same day), the cgsi broccoli seemed to know that the days were shortening and actually produced heads a lot earlier than the stated dtm! I picked the de cicco at about 50 days and the cgsi was about 10 days later - far less than expected. You learn something new each season. tom

I think the problem is that you are keeping it in a room. Fuchsias are tender garden shrubs and should be out of doors in the summer. They need excellent light (but not blazing direct sun) and lack of it will make the flowers sickly. They do not make good houseplants. You don't say where you live so I can't tell how long yours could stay outdoors. And please stop fertilizing it every time you water. Every couple of weeks would be plenty.

OMG one of my top favorites!!! The flower is just spectacular Bill! Congrats on your first M.S. bloom! I had wanted M.S. so badly, and finally was lucky enough to get a large 2 feet long cutting with 2 long tips, a month ago! It is rooting and looks like it's doing fine, so I'll be really thrilled if I get any inflo next summer! I've heard often that this variety is very hard to grow, but it will make the reward so much sweeter if it does bloom! Jen: Your Hawaiian Royal does look very much like M.S. Very nice colors! You and I both love those fiery orange colors don't we? :-)

I have to agree with Jessy on this, only because of past experience. It's been gnawing at me as I got to know about you and your mother. A personal story - my parents had a cottage in Maine, we went up every summer, I loved it. (My father and grandfather built about a dozen cottages on the lake and sold all but two of them.) I still go to Maine every summer. After I married, my XH and I would go up to the lake (different cottage), and when we had kids, we took them up. My parents were there and we would all do things together, we had wonderful vacations. My kids loved it, especiallly having their grandparents at the lake for swimming and fishing, etc. When my parents got too old to make the drive by themselves, I would drive them up, get them settled, and later come up with my family. At the end of the summer I would bring them home. My sister never went back, she did not like Maine or the cottage - too rustic. Apparently, this bugged my dad. I would talk about how much I loved it up there, and looked forward to having the cottage some day for my family to use. He never really commented about it. Well, when my sister took over the financial management for my parents, she reviewed the will, and found out that my father was leaving the cottage to her, and not to me. He told her that if he gave her the cottage, maybe he could somehow change her mind about coming to Maine. She had a lot of long talks with him, and he finally undestood that his reasoning was wrong, and changed the disposition of the cottage to me. Well.......... then he started worrying about lawsuits (god, I never want to get old!?), and decided to sell the cottage to my cousin, who owns the adjoining property and cottage. He sold the cottage just when I was getting a divorce - I have to say, losing the cottage hurt me more than ending the marriage, I can't afford to replace it, but husbands are a dime a dozen! LOL Your mom my have the same reasoning - my poor son, if I give him money, he'll love me, I can win him back. I've seen this happen to friends - it destroys families.