Yeah, now that it´s rainy season here I don´t have to spend half the day every three days watering the garden. Means I can get into town and online TWICE a week now! Unfortunately, the rain often interferes with the phone service. :( Thanks for the belated birthday wishes, yes, it was grand.

Wow! Quite a bunch you have there. More adults are arriving daily here to nectar on zinnias and pentas and other delights. Amazing how they find food and host plants, isn't it? From July Pics Thanks for letting me tag onto your post. Nell

Sariah's Curly pink is notorious for producing pods of that size. Part of me hates the pods because it really slows down the following year's bloom. My TMG just opened its second inflo on a 7 tip plant after it had 5 double pods. There is at least one set on TMG already and Pink Pansy has some too. Also an Unnamed TMG seedling (from Jandy's stock) which bloomed for the first time has pods forming too. Babies having babies. No doubt due to the absentee father.

I live in a very dry sunny place, and though I love to eat arugula back in the US, after 2 or 3 seasons I was convinced that arugula is just too hot and spicy here even in the cold season. Then I tried watering it more and found that worked perfectly. It's delicious and not too hot even in sunny weather, as long as I keep it watered consistently. Arugula is very cold-tolerant so I like planting it over the winter in my solar greenhouse that drops below freezing for 2 months every night (and warm in the daytime). I find it very productive, very fast, and then it bolts and I pull it, making space for something else. I'm talking about the large-leafed, annual, arugula with whitish flowers, Eruca spp and not about the small, perennial in mild winters, arugula with yellow flowers. That is also good, and I find it doesn't go too bitter ever, and is still good to eat when the flower stems come up; but the leaves are so small, it's not nearly as productive.