"BTW - history completely contradicts your belief in soil testing. Almost nobody gets soil tests now and they weren't even available to homeowners until recently. Like a lot of modern technology, it can be a useful tool. However, people got along just fine without them in the not to distant past." What does that even mean? History contradicts your belief in soil testing? How does history contradict a belief in soil testing? That sentence is an example of making up something that sounds intelligent but has no basis in fact. Soil testing is an extremely important part of all the crops growing in this country. If we had a better understanding of soil science earlier in the 20th century then the dust bowl probably wouldn't have happened, or at least it wouldn't have been so bad. Turfgrass, like any crop, has its ideal soil conditions. The closer you can get to the ideal, the healthier the grass. How would you know if you need lime? Let's say you need lime, which one would you use? What about a phosphorus deficiency. Most fertilizers have little P, so are you supposed to guess if you have deficiencies? Andy's plan is the right way to do it. Sure you can do a renovation by omitting steps, but if you want the best results you will do it the right way. Rushing it will usually result in doing it again next fall.

Fire ants make mounds and not holes. The mounds start out small and become larger as the colony population increases. These mounds look rather innocent until you disturb them, and ALL of the ants boil out of the mound all at once. Again, there is never a discernible hole. I never worry about ants in my yard and garden, other than fire ants. Fire ants can be a problem for humans, pets, bird nests, beneficial insect eggs and larvae, and such.

Stuart, currently I am out of stock (larger seedlings) but in July or August I will probably sell the remaining 5-10 seedlings. They are too small now. I have thought about selling on eBay (eBay.co.uk). I should look into that and figure out if it's worth it (you know, eBay and Paypal seller fees). In May or June I will sow another batch of seeds, maybe 50-70 seeds of Adenium arabicum 'Yemen', A. obesum, A. multiflorum, A. somalense and some pachys (Pachypodium rosulatum var. gracillis, P. saundersii and P. horombense). The new seedlings will be sold in March or April next year. Unfortunately I don't have the time for growing more like I did the past year. It's fun watching them grow, see the excitement of the buyers and enlighten them about The Beautiful World of Adenium. ;-) But the watering schedule is simply too time-consuming. ;-)

I have some Kentucky Wonder beans that are growing like mad, but they aren't blooming. I thought it was because of the heat, but now that it's cooled off a bit and it's raining, and still zip, zilch, zero. My Contender bush beans are starting to bloom, as are my hyacinth beans, but not the Kentucky Wonders. I haven't fertilized them in awhile, but when I did, I used Miracle Gro 15-30-15, so I know it's not too much N and not enough P & K. The soil they're in has earthworms, too. Should I just start again fertilizing them? I'm going to get some 10-10-10 next week, should I use that instead? I swear, after all these years, Florida gardening still baffles me sometimes.