This is a great thread! I've learned SO much this year as it was my first true "gardening year". There definitely were a few bumps in the road but overall I think it was a great first year considering I had very little to no experience, and a sad, naked patch of grass when I started. I must credit the many experienced, helpful and friendly people on this forum for all the invaluable information you have shared on this forum over the years, as I have picked it apart this year and it has been a priceless source of knowledge and inspiration. Here are a few lessons that stick out to me right now. 1- Give roses SPACE... apparently more than you think they need. As someone that is brand new to roses, I made what I assume to be the most common error made by a new rose grower & planted my roses way too close together. And a few of them too close to my house. This has caused me all kinds of trouble, most of all it has encourage blackspot to spread from one plant to the next, down the line, eventually reaching the other side of the boarder, I'm still not entirely sure what to do about certain layout problems that I've got, but several things will be moved/removed this fall, so I'll just have to sit down and plan it out... which leads me to ... 2- PLAN PLAN PLAN where to put big things like roses, trees, and other shrubs. Most of my most frustrating gardening errors revolve about my placement of something, be it a rosebush or another large plant. 3- I need to pay more attention to the shrub sizes given in online reviews and forums and less attention to the shrub size the nursery lists in the description. 4- Rose slugs are jerks. They really are the worst, and now that I know what they look like and where to find them hopefully they won't cause as much devastation as they did this past spring. 5- Plant everything immediately or ASAP. From my experience in trying to care for plants that are still in their nursery provided pots I have gained a whole new respect for nursery gardeners & the magic they must use to keep these masses of fledgeling plants alive. These baby plants (mostly talking about perennials, but tiny bands fall into this too) in their poor quality soil and flimsy nursery containers are the equivalent of a ticking time bomb when left in my care, even on a mostly shady porch and watered regularly. I have lost so many plants that were waiting on me to plant them, for no apparent reason at all other than they were tired of waiting on my unrelenting schedule. 5- Cut back the rose more severely after big blooms. So many of my roses are looking scraggly and overgrown right now and it is driving me crazy, but I know cutting them now could put them in danger of suffering more winter dieback, so I guess I just have to live with it. Next year they will be getting more regular haircuts. 6- Sweet potato vine, my newfound love this year, was both a blessing and a curse. I think someone above mentioned putting sweet potato vine in with their roses for container interest, but I would have to recommend against it. These things form a thick, chaotic network of roots like I have never seen before! Every planter that they were in they choked out all the other plants that went in with them. They completely killed all their companion annuals, and just plain sucked the life out of their companion roses. Just for an example, I bought the famously free-flowering Easy Going and Living Easy as bands, put them in GIANT containers with a small sweet potato vine in each, great soil, full sun, consistent water and they haven't done anything all season. I think easy going had maybe 2 tiny flowers and Living Easy had zero. Neither has grown any taller or wider than when I got them, meanwhile the fragrant cloud (not the most free flowering plant) which I got at the same time, in the same shipment is in a tiny pot off to the side on my porch with only afternoon sun & is already 2 feet tall and blooming regularly. It has to be the sweet potato vine, it is one hungry, fast growing beast. I love the bright green foliage and draping nature of this vine so much next year I might just put it in its own pot on a tall plant stand behind the shorter pots so that it may drape down behind them all, but it will never be a companion plant for me again. there is so much more but I don't have enough time to write it all! Jessica

I am growing almost all native perennials this year. I have many successes, but am trying to determine why the failures occurred. I suspect that some of my containers got too wet, despite multiple drainage holes in the bottom. This happened with the large pop bottles. I think the holes on the bottom needed to be bigger. Also, the air circulation was poor, so these containers had the most "green stuff" on the soil surface. Overall, I wasn't impressed with using pop bottles, even though some people use only these containers. Other salad containers I tried were too shallow and the starter medium was always either too dry or too wet. So much for those. I've had the best luck with those black plastic trays with clear lids (from Canadian Tire) that hold four multi-cell inserts. I punch holes all over them, both tops and bottoms, and use 2 pieces of green twist-tie wire to hold them closed (so the lids don't blow off).

bpgreen, thanks for helping me remember what RTF is. Steve said "...She'll eat some pie, but it's all about the crust for her.... I have to eat a whole pie myself!" Sounds like torture. I'd suggest you keep making 'em. Maybe one day she'll acquire a taste for it. I used to be a crust person myself. I discovered that I have 'superior' taste buds and now love the pie filling too. I just use much less spice. It was irritating to me to eat apple pie that tasted like cinnamon instead of apples. Many recipes call for too much spice, IMHO. I have a good no-sugar-added pie filling recipe.. I adjusted the spices to suit myself and, this year found a good low fat crust recipe. I'd never realized before having fruits fresh from my own trees, just how good they would be. The apples from my Fuji are different than those from a grocery store... more flavorful and even crisper. Don't rub in my lack of nectarines, Steve. :-( The thought of a juicy fresh nectarine or peach (or even frozen in a smoothie) sounds delicious! One year we got a box of nectarines fresh from a friends tree. Great fresh, needless to say, and the low sugar jam I made from them was fabulous! Parrots: Part of the reason I grow organically on my property..... I mostly have African parrots but also have a couple of Blue & Gold Macaws and a flight of 3 older cockatiels (2 well into their 20's). The "Psittacine" in my online name means 'of or pertaining to parrots'. I was a 'psittaculturist' (raised and studied them) for almost 30 years... retired from the "raising" part a few years ago. They definitely aren't for everyone because, if their needs are truly addressed, most are higher maintenance pets than a dog or cat. I've raised many species of parrots, or have studied them. I've also raised barn swallows, a killdeer, sage thrashers, humming bird, magpie, a starling (fun bird! much like a Magpie) and a common sparrow (Twiggy, one of my favorites)and maybe others I've forgotten. Have never been able to save a common robin, though. What species of conure was yours? Steve said: "Always wanted a falcon, though! Maybe someday..." Not an easy thing to get a raptor license. There is a guy that lives a few blocks from me who is a falconer and has a raptor rehabilitation license. His golden eagle died of West Nile Virus last year, (he now has a new one for his education program). They are beautiful animals. Crystal

Thanks George. I live in central Indiana in zone 5. Our spring weather is pretty variable. This spring was pretty normal. It's been hot and humid this summer. Mostly 80's, and a couple 90s. I did have a summer awhile back that was in the 90s most of the time, and the beans didn't make blossoms. But this summer hasn't been that hot. I do water them well during the summer. So I don't know if it's an issue of heat, and maybe this variety (Blue Lake poles) is just extra sensitive to heat? Also.....are stink bugs more active later in the season? I realize that the stink bug problem doesn't keep the beans from flowering, but I don't like to eat beans that have been sucked on by those little jerks. haha