Happy Apache is doing a little better this season, no splotchy blooms but is slow here. Lollipop Kisses was a bonus I received, I like it.Sea dragon with its first ever blooms. Forbidden Desires is doing okay here. First blooms were pale, yesterday blooms were definitely better.Sherry

Woohoo!! The organic parsley is working!!! All of my babies are munching away :) I emailed the company listed on the label to ask if they used Bt. They responded quickly, and said while they don't use Bt, there might be other organic pesticides and they didn't recommend me feeding them to my caterpillars. I responded that I had no choice, because without food they were going to die, and that so far, they were doing great on the parsley. They were probably doing a little CYA with "we don't recommend". The brand I bought is Cal-Organic. I used it last year too. I re-tested this year because you never know what might change. I used to have luck with Whole Foods organic parsley, then one year my cats died eating it, so whoever they sourced it from must have started using Bt. In case anyone is going to try Cal-Organic parsley: Buy the curly kind. The Italian flatleaf doesn't hold up well. So, what I did with the curly parsley: I soaked it in a bowl of water, changed the water, then soaked again. Then I gave it a final rinse under the faucet. I snipped the stems before I put them in water, and I used a short fat olive jar I'd saved as the 'vase'. That way I could put the entire bunch of parsley in one container and have a good sized caterpillar buffet :) Here is the label on the parsley:

I use ammonium sulfate early in the season and then 2 more times in late spring and late summer. I grew up on a remnant of an orange grove in suburban Los Angeles. The old timer who had worked the groves helped us out to keep our trees healthy. He used ammonium nitrate which you can't buy anymore so I use the sulfate. He told my father at the time, just get the cheapest nitrogen you can.

My alyssum is doing the same, tumbling over the curb rather than on the lawn. I'm not sure what "Tiny Tim" is. A smaller form of alyssum? I would think you would at least wish to clip it back from the lawn because it will eventually kill the lawn it covers. A perennial 4-6" high would be a ground cover. I've had good luck with thyme, but mine doesn't bloom like alyssum does. There are some succulent ground covers which are nice, but if the sprinklers hit there, it could be a little too wet. Mexican heather is a taller but makes a nice border. I cant think of the Latin name now.