i'm only an ok pepper grower--this year's better than most. here's my accumulated wisdom: 1) pick the right variety. for sweets, i've had great luck with fat n sassy, flexum and sweet spot (all from tomato growers supply). hot ones--tabasco, habanero, anaheims. 2) plant them as early as possible. when you plant your tomatoes--i.e., probably the beginning of march in n fla., maybe earlier. you might have to protect them from frost. for fall planting, they should probably go in now (mine have). 3) plant them CLOSE together for support and to protect from sun scald. stake them or grow them in cages. (i don't have room for cages, so instead i use multiple bamboo stakes--as many as 4 per plant.) 4) hot peppers do very well in pots. use a loose, well-drained mix that includes pine fines, perlite and peat. i use equal quantities if i can get fines in bags; otherwise i use a mix from my local landscaping co that is 1/4 hardwood fines, 1/4 pine fines and the rest peat. on this forum, search for "post hole method" or posthole method. it's how i plant them in the ground--essentially, dig out a cylinder of "dirt" and replace it with dirt. i haven't sprayed mine. they're under attack from stinkbugs (leaf-footed) and flea beetles, but they're healthy enough. i fertile monthly with a small amount of balanced fertilizer, and every once and a while a handful of epsom. i just got a BIG bag of peppers from happy_fl_gardener. my own plants have tons of fruit on them, and will produce another crop in the fall, as soon as the light changes enough and it cools down (sometime in september). it CAN be done. but it takes some practice and luck.

Thanks for all your kind compliments. This was my learning quilt for using my free motion foot AND walking foot. Learned what a pain the walking foot can be while trying to go around hexagons! And also that I really need to leave my sandwiching until Quilting group at church so i can tape the backing to the table while I'm pinning. I'm loving looking at it. It's a bit hot here at the moment to enjoy covering myself up with it.

Here are a couple of cycads in a greenhouse I haven't shown yet. The The first one is an Encephalartos gratus from Mozambique in a 45 gallon container that has about 30 inches of trunk. The last plant is an E. ferox, tubular form female in a 90 gallon container. If anyone ever does buy this plant, I'm not sure how I will move it. But I will figure that out if the time comes. I'd probably have to rent a bobcat with forks on it. The picture really doesn't show that is is 10 feet across.This second picture just shows all kinds of different cycads. Looks like a cycad jungle.

Thanks for your input. I'm surprised humidity is a factor because those hybrids are of Anise hyssop and A. rugosa (Korean) are both native to moist places. Perhaps it is the heat then.. I'll still test them out but I'll only start with one plant in that case. As for the Southwestern ones you may wish to try Agastache aurantica cultivars they are supposed to handle more summer water and they have a good, quick germination from seed or at least mine did (I use Swallowtailseeds). I grow 'Arizona Sun' (pictured) and 'Tango' Agastache aurantica just fine in pots (over a bed so they can root into the bed). I add vermiculite to the potting mix to make it a little more neutral+well drained around the crown. I also grow some 'Arizona Sun' in-ground in a west facing bed that is very well drained + has ample root competition from old palm trees. Some look quite rough after the wet season here but none have died thus far. They do require deadhanding for tidiness as the entire branch dies back after seeding otherwise. They are short so they are good for containers. The leaves are intensely minty in a good way and I use them for teas.