Apparently this is a popular commercial variety of roasting pepper, which makes me suspect a uniform fruit set late in the season. One of the hallmarks of a successful commercial variety is a tight, concentrated harvest window. I often get one early pepper from plants of this type, then a heavy fruit set in late summer. Here is a link that might be useful: Marcato at Harris

Thanks lovefornature, claire, and kendra2... it's always our pleasure to share our birds with others who enjoy them. lovefornature - It takes time to attract a lot of birds to your yard or garden. But providing them with fresh water, healthy foods, and a variety of plants and trees for cover will eventually bring many lovely birds within reach of your lens. I think most folks have lots more birds near their homes than they ever see. We've spent years watching ours and trying to give them every reason to visit us... Simply tending to and observing them consistently over the years has allowed us to photograph 70 species from the comfort of our deck. Thanks again all, and happy birding. Kenn Here is a link that might be useful: Birds Blossoms,&Butterflies Vol 5

Wow, your house sounds cool! Knock-Outs stay green here in 8a, but not the salvias; salvias may be evergreen in your 8b zone, & of course the bearded irises are evergreen, & the muhly grass, while not evergreen, does retain its foliage through the winder. Salvia greggii is blooming here already, & the early/mid-season irises are just beginning. the salvias will bloom thru summer. As the year wears on, ruellia (Mexican petunia) will bloom & will continue until cold weather, as will zinnias & probably your coneflowers & daylilies. Someone will undoubtedly know more about the other flowers you mentioned. Here, I like coreopsis in the summer, but I haven't figured it out yet. It seems to go full blast through the heat until one day it...croaks. This summer I'm going to trim it after the first set of blooms start to fade. Crinums are big, splashy, showy flowers & plants; if you go to the San Antonio swap, Tally often has crinums to share. Crinum dies back in the winter, but I think it's worth the space it occupies! If you have room, flowering trees are wonderful. redbuds are the first ones to bloom, in spring, followed by vitex/chaste tree, & then the crepe myrtles go wacko all summer. Late summer/early fall, obedient plant, lycoria radiata, then goldenrod (which looks good with the tall Mexican petunias). I'd say mix the annuals with the perennials; only you & the plants will know which is which anyway, & you can have a much broader pallette that way. You might use annuals that are self-seeding, so that you don't have to start over every year. Zinnias, celosia, ornamental peppers, & morning glories are annuals that return year after year. On your fence, you might use coral honeysuckle. It's a beautiful coral color, & it will eventually cover the fence, & it's evergreen. Best luck, & have fun! edited to add: How could I have forgotten Lady Banks roses??? The bushes are so large that people here use them for shrubs, but if you have the space they're enchanting. Pale buttercream button-sized little roses cover the bushes in the spring, & after they fade, you still have a *thornless* evergreen shrub.

Garden soil in containers is usually not a good idea as I tends to compact and choke-out the root zone. However, it seems like you current issue is the lack of hardening-off the plants. They need to be gradually exposed to more sun over several days at least, but this can take a couple of weeks. This time of year, the sun is at its hottest and any interior light other than a full-blow HID setup is nowhere near the intensity of the sun. Start out by placing them in the shade, then partial shade, than full sun in the morning/evening only, all the way to full sun all day. See how they react; move them accordingly if they can't take it. Even fully hardened plants can look sad and wilted and require some shade in mid-day if the temperature is really up there.