Once we start having days above 80 degrees- and especially having our Santa Ana winds, my peas start turning yellow from the bottom first. The "younger" your pea plants are, the more this warm dry air will affect them. (Older plants can take a little heat.) Two years ago, my fall peas were so good that I decided to plant a "spring" crop in February. But they struggled, turned yellow, then brown - I got some flowers but never any peas. I had to pull them up in April. (They don't last from year to year.) So this year, I just planted twice as many in October. If you are looking for some greenery on your patio, how about a tomato plant or some rosemary. They are both hardy. And if your balcony is protected, the rosemary is perennial. (Sometimes we can even get a tomato to last the winter to here!) hope this helps.

hello! i currently have a passion flower vine growning indoors. i bought two plants in late spring. and put them outside in almost full sun. they liked to stay moist but not sopping wet. indoors it seems to dry out quickly so im watering it almost every other day. I have lost some leaves, and due to me being in Upper Michigan the sun just isnt the same so the leaves are lighter green, but it is alive. give it as MUCH light as you can! and soon you'll figure out a watering schedule that will work with your plant. :) goodluck!

Scott: I also thought I had an iron deficiency when I first saw these symptoms on two peach trees (this was over 15 years ago), and liberally applied some fairly expensive liquid chelated iron products out to the drip line. I could have saved the money, since it didn't make any difference at all. The problem was bacterial disease. When otherwise healthy trees begin to exhibit these symptoms over a one or two-year period, it is usually not a mineral deficiency. I also think that keeping stone fruit trees open to good air circulation in the center, and annual renewal pruning to grow healthy new wood may slow the development of diseases like this, but have no real scientific evidence to prove it. Sofaman: Peach trees with generalized bacterial disease will survive for a while, but continue to lose branches. Leaves will also fall prematurely. The dormant spraying I do with copper is intended as a preventive measure, since this disease cannot be successfully treated once it is underway. I spray my peaches with Kocide twice in the dormant season; once in late November or December, and again just before bud break. You can try it on an already infected tree, but I doubt it will slow or reverse the disease. The time to start dormant spraying was 10 years ago or more, and even then there is no assurance of success with a peach tree that old. I am sorry to have to tell you this, but it is my best judgment, since I have seen exactly the same thing happen on a fair number of trees over the years. Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

I adore the Gulf Fritillary butterflies! My neighbors had 2 passion vines on the wood lattice topper on our shared wall. Both ornamental, no fruit. One was the classic purple flower and the other was a red flower that was more bell shaped and produced nectar that meant it was always full of ants. Well we always saw butterflies flitting about but never caterpillars. I think the ants ate them as soon as they hatched. Well the lattice was rotten and new neighbors moved in who sweetly asked if it was OK to remove it. We were more than happy since we wanted to replace wood with steel topper. But then I seriously missed the butterflies. I saw zero for a year. I missed them so much I planted a passion vine on the shared wall of the other neighbors. Just the purple flower that doesn’t have nectar so it won’t attract ants. Well for the first time in a year, I see not only butterflies but larva! I plan to cut it back to the “trunk“ each winter so it doesn’t get out of control this time. This vine is incredibly vigorous and could completely cover a carport if you let it. I don’t care about the flowers which are always there or the look of the vine, which is always green with chew holes, but my heart sings when every day I sit in the patio surrounded by the fluttering of beautiful amber butterflies. Usually 2 or 3 but sometimes 7 or 8 as I also provide nectar flowers for them. For me, the whole point of the vine is the butterflies.