Plant sterile varieties like 'Diana' , 'Helene', 'Aphrodite', 'Minerva', 'Lucy', Here is a link that might be useful: rose of sharon varieties

debelli, by means of explanation..tourist cities like Charleston area and Charlotte the land value is just too high to be affordable for the better garden centers we prefer. It takes a fair distance away in less pricey suburbs to find these garden center gems run by people who know plants and area soils and growing conditions. They are much fewer and farther between than they used to be and if they don't have a good website with directions, they're doomed. One year they're there and you've made an exciting discovery. Next year, they're gone.

Woody it all looks so serene and peaceful absolutely lovely, a retreat from a hot summer's day. Do you have a seating area where you can just sit and enjoy? Right now we are having a June like we've never had before, June here is usually on the cool side with a lot of rain, not this year, everything is frying even with all the watering I've been doing. The flowers on the Rhodo trusses which usually fall when spent are drying crisp, as thin as tissue paper on the plant, same with the climbing roses, even with all the watering petals aren't falling, the flowers are just drying up, looks awful I hope this is not a sign of what's to come in the future. We are situated in a funny little pocket, sometimes my garden is ahead of others around here, sometimes way behind. One year we had a killing frost the end of August and did all the dahlias in while in other gardens they flourished for another couple of months. Most years we don't have a light frost until the end of October, early November. Last year we had a killing frost beginning of November right out of the blue, the weather had been so mild everything was growing merrily along and WAM! my Ayesha hydrangea really took a hit, had to cut it right back this spring so no flowers this year. But that's gardening for you sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. All in all gardens are magical places, full of joy, wondrous discoveries, contentment well maybe not when couch grass and herb robert raise their ugly heads lol, weeds and all there's no place I'd rather be. Starting on the 15th water restrictions we've NEVER had before, it looks like we might be down to hand watering in the near future, thank goodness all our rain barrels are full and capped off. On the bright side all the veggies are looking good, I mulched with a thick layer of straw before planting, fingers crossed. I ran around last night with my camera hoping to find something decent enough to post but everything just looks weary. Maybe one spot where the Campanula portenschlagiana is running rampant on the little rock wall, I'll try and take a picture later. Oh well this is the year for renovation, editing, replacing and planting something new and interesting when things cool down, hopefully next year things will look a little better. Annette

Alright, y'all! We excavated it and I think we have an old septic tank on our hands. However, we think it pre-dates our house, which was built in the 40s. The pipe that fed the tank at one point comes from the opposite direction of our home, and we found what appears to be evidence of an old foundation further back on our property. Very cool! My husband hacked up the bottom and sides of it with an axe, and we filled it in with several cubic yards of sandy loam and large rocks, watering and tamping between each layer. This thing is solid now, and I'm glad that no one fell through the "roof," as it was composed completely of dirt and interwoven roots. The previous homeowner definitely knew about it, as a large paver was placed over the small hole that we initially discovered (eye roll). I'll attach photos and you guys can tell us if you think it's a cistern or septic tank. I love this thread, by the way! Thanks for everyone's help!