"I'd pick spots where you are thinking about moving them to if possible." I've been stressing out about what can handle being planted on the the north side of the house, which gets some morning and afternoon sun. I could have just put some of my 50 or so pots over there! I can't believe I didn't think of that. Do you think its too late in the season to try that? My plants from Bluestone have done great. I haven't lost anything yet. Most are in 2 gallon pots, with the shrubs in maybe 4 gallon pots. A few got a little fried when it was crazy hot a few weeks ago, but they have new growth. The astilbe (and everything else) were repotted when I got them, maybe May 15? They've all taken off. The astilbe and hosta pots on the ground are actually anchored to the ground by roots. But most of the 50 pots are elevated on a piece of plywood resting on saw horses. Yes, I'm in Maine, pretty much right over the border from Portsmouth. Our native soil is really horrid. Sticky clay with little bits of smashed up ledge. Zero drainage. I tested the soil a few years ago and it came out slightly acid. The plants are in pots right now, so they are getting whatever the potting soil companies put in there. We do have blueberry bushes growing wild, so I assume the native soil is acid. Everything is in pots because my final grade and loam (and lawn and flower beds) have not been done and I had an actual physical need to buy plants. The landscaping was supposed to be done first thing this spring. I put all the plants I got into bigger pots and diligently took care of them. They are SUPPOSED to go in the ground before fall. But we are no closer to that than we were this time last year. At this rate I am facing somehow over-wintering 50+ pots. Let's say I am NOT pleased about this. DH and I have had major arguments about the landscaping in general (we are in a nice neighborhood, and the yard is a blight with piles of fill scattered about and tons of weeds.). He basically wants me to hand him $15k and say "have fun spending it on a lawn". I want a plan (what machines need to be rented and when, how many days, how many yards loam, how many yards fill, how deep will the loam be for the lawn, how will be flower beds be constructed, etc.) with prices. Him? Not so much. So he stalls (after all, stalling means no work for him!). And I fume. I can't just let him run with it. I learned when we built the house not to let him make financial commitments without reviewing it with me. He prefers to just start without a budget, plan or estimate of cost. He won't even ask someone what they are going to charge before they do the work. I got quite a few surprise bills when we built the house, all a result of this behavior (learned from his mother, who thinks asking the price is anything is embarrassing). Yes, I could try to arrange getting it done myself. But I don't have the time (I have a 4 hour round trip commute everyday) and I shouldn't have to, since DH is a licensed contractor. (Yup, that's right). So, that is the saga of why I have a "pot ghetto". The weekend is here. Time to talk to DH AGAIN about the landscaping.

Julia, if we ever have an and a bloom at the same time, I will let you know. It has been, and continues to be a bit on the dry side. kay

Thanks baldloonie. garyg, I'm insulating the outside so it will have no bearing on the air flow. I already have radiant barrier decking and ridge vents and r-30 insulation in the attic. This will cost less than $20 so it seems like it won't hurt to try. We do plan on adding 6" of cellulose to the 12" of fiberglass that's in there now. There's really not much else I can do as the house was built in 2008(it was already completed when we bought it so we had no option to get HVAC and insulation upgrades), any other upgrades would be too involved and not worth it. I went ahead and added the 2" foam board today. I used a small circle of mastic at each corner to hold the boards in place, then used metal tape on the edges. Seems like it's working ok. The only concern I have is condensation build up between the sheet metal and the foam board if there are minute gaps anywhere but the whole section is above a large drain pan so I guess that will catch it. I would love to have a variable speed system, but I don't think there's a big secondary market for used systems, even ones only used a few months and I can't rationalize replacing the new 14 seer builders grade rheem with a more efficient one without getting something in return for the current unit. Our hot and humid summers and $0.12/kWH electricity in Houston cause some very high summer electricity bills.

I love growing hybrid tea roses. My favorite is called 'Double Delight.' It's the photo I use for my avatar. Its blooms start out a creamy yellow color, but in direct sunlight, the petals turn a deep red, and they are so fragrant. If the blooms open up on a very cloudy day, then they don't color up as much and stay a creamy yellow color with just a hint of pink around the edges. Your photos immediately reminded me of this trait. It's cool to see happen in other plant species. I can't decide which or your blooms I like more. As for my 'Double Delight,' I prefer it when they change color. It seems like the hotter and brighter the sunlight gets, the deeper red and more fragrant the roses become. Thanks for sharing, they're so lovely.^ I went to check on my garden one night, after a severe thunderstorm rolled through. When I shown my flashlight onto this one, I thought it looked pretty cool. So went in and grabbed my camera and snapped this photo.