Surprising to me there are no soil temps showing for my entire county of Mecklenburg yet Raleigh area has many reports. Wonder why that is? Don't know how to rely on such a map since there's no way of knowing if the readings are recorded in full sun or what time of day. Even the soil moisture readings have got to vary all over the place in one yard alone. But it was interesting.

will there be another event you know of this summer. I have 200 lirope that I started from seed and 20 boxwood from cuttings. I would love to get some hostas and other plants.

Shankins, Welcome home to OKC and congratulations on the "new" life you are making for yourself here. I hope you find peace and happiness here. Now, the tomatoes..... Arkansas Travler has stood the test of time, having been grown in its' current form for over 30 years. It produces well in the heat and the tomatoes are yummy. Black Krim is one of my all-time favorite heirlooms. The only problem with it is that the coloring is deceptive and you may find yourself picking them too early at first until you understand the particular reddish-greenish-maroonish color they have when they are truly ripe. The flavor of a ripe Black Krim is out-of-this-world. Merced is a once-highly-recommended hybrid that has been dropped from commercial seed production. It was bred to be a very reliable producer in our climate, and it delivered as promised. However, it was NOT bred for flavor, and you can tell. It is not that it necessarily tastes "bad" (although that is how many people describe it), but just that there are many, many varieties with better flavor. (Kirts, you will occasionally see Merced in some stores because some wholesalers bought up all the seed they could find when they heard it was being discontinued. The will continue producing and selling it until they run out of seed.) You may like the flavor of Merced just fine, but I didn't. Everyone's taste buds are different, so some people love it, some hate it, and some are in between. Washington Cherry is one I haven't grown, but pretty much all cherries grow well here, and most of them taste the same as all the other cherries. A couple of cherries that offer truly outstanding flavor are Black Cherry and SunGold, but they are hard to find commercially as plants, although they are available as seed. I am not a fan of upside-down tomato planters and consider them a novelty. You will never get really good production from them. Part of the problem is that you have to hang them somewhere, so their sunlight will be limited because of that. They also dry out really quickly which can lead to several problems, including blossom end rot. And, finally, they weigh a LOT by the time you add up the weight of the container, soil, water and plant. Am I saying you shouldn't try the upside down planters? Heck, no. I'm just saying they have a lot of drawbacks you need to be aware of so you can be proactive and try to keep them from ruining your fun. As for the W-I-N-D.....this year we seem to be having it in excessive amounts, even for Oklahoma. At least in our part of OK (I'm way down south in Love Couny), March was fairly backwards this year....coming in like a lamb and going out like a lion, and those strong winds have stuck around through April. We've had a lot more wind-related problems here than usual.....power outages, broken trees, loss of tree limbs, etc. I know, though, that in July or August we'll be wishing for a good stiff breeze to come cool us down. ...

kimba217, I've lived in Enoch just a bit over 11 years. Fruits I have planted include: Almond, APPLE, apricot, blackberry, Cherry (BUSH & Tree), RED & WHITE CURRANT, JOSTABERRY (which is a black currant/gooseberry hybrid), grapes, nectarine, peach, Pear, PLUM. (I have gotten some fruit from the type capitalized...the most productive ones so far are _fully_ capitalized... no fruit from the others). Most failures here were due to late spring frosts, though some were also due to infestations of grasshoppers a few years in a row. Both problems can completely take out a plants new spring growth, killing the ones that don't have energy for a second start up. The first few years we lived here we tried several varieties of raspberries, but had no luck with them even making it out of dormancy. Sure would love to grow some, and may try again. The currant jam I make is wonderful, and raspberry might be even better! The very easiest grapes to grow is the concord types - they dislike alkaline soil a bit less than most others. I have Himrod growing ok...finally!!.. no grasshoppers and my scattered brain finally remembered to protect them from the early frosts! I was informed that American cultivars do best in our alkaline soil. I'm ready to try another variety but have to figure out where to put it first! I am basically an organic gardener and don't have allot of time to 'baby' most plantings but do have compost piles. As pawsitive said, compost is one of the best things you can do for your soil - no matter where you live. I compost everything that I have that is compostable and get horse manure from a couple of different sources... thankfully, many available around here. When we first moved here, our new home was on a blank, horrendously shimmery-HOT 1/2 acre! And, being an age that HOT was already a miserable internal-infernal thing, I needed trees immediately! We bought some fast growing willows and Souxland (sp) poplars. These have been very valuable to us to chip up branches to use as mulch! As other trees are growing up, some of the fast growing 'trash' trees have been eliminated, but some will always remain to add to the mulch. As for nurseries: The two local nurseries are Ladybug Nursery and Garden Park Nursery. Big Trees Nursery is a bit down south, in Kanarraville. Be aware that at least one nursery here carries a good variety of plants/trees/shrubs/etc. that do NOT tend to do well in our soil/altitude/winters/and/or winds. When I confronted them on why they carry plants that will have a tough time growing well here, the reply was "That's what some people moving in from out-of-state, or from different areas of the state, want. If they don't get them here, they'll just mail order them in." Many of the box stores also carry plants marked as 'perennial' which ARE perennial....in zone 7 or 8 or ... you get it... just not our zone. Use caution. If you don't want to waste your money, you still have to study the habit of whatever plant you are interested in, unless you want to use some as annuals. Yikes... too long a ramble! I apologize!! Hope this will be of use.