From what I've read/heard on the net, it seems that Black Jungle ships MUCH better plants in the summer. I don't know why this would be, since all the greenhouses in my area have great plants in the winter as well as in the summer, all year in fact. I will certainly never order from them again though. They sent me one plant as a substitution, which I did NOT want, two of the plants have since died (and not because I'm bad with plants, because I'm not), and everything was quite small, making their prices outrageous. I don't know about their selection, as I've only been checking their website for about 2 years, but they do seem to have less than they used to. And certainly in the winter they have way less!

Fertilizing, and in particular, fertilizing with nitrogen cannot force activation of buds being suppressed by photoperiod and/or chilling. Once the duration of the dark period reaches a certain point, buds are pretty much dormant, and additional chilling seals the deal by ushering the plant into deep dormancy. Whether or not one fertilizes in fall, growth that hasn't hardened off is going to die back to the buds that began developing during the summer. When plants become fully dormant, it takes a varying amount of chill units to release a plant from its dormant state. From dormancy, plants normally pass into a period of quiescence, during which buds are fully capable of being activated, but are inhibited from doing so by ongoing chill. Usually, the onset of spring growth occurs after dormancy has been 'broken' and temperatures have remained at levels greater than about 42*. I fertilized this past Wednesday, 10/5, and I think that will likely be the last time unless we get at least 2 weeks of additional temps above freezing at night and into the 60s during the day. If you're using organic forms of nitrogen like hoof/ horn/ feather/ blood/ fish/ cottonseed/ ..... meal, you should stop fertilizing before mean temps drop below 55* to guard against ammonium toxicity. I had a heuchera of mine die a few weeks ago. The manager at a garden nursery told me that after planting I should be applying Transplanter fertilizer (5-15-5) every two weeks for two months---even if that means going until the end of October! I assumed you did it one time. Would this be good to do for all perennials? Another horticultural myth. First, plants use about 6X more nitrogen than phosphorous, so if the plant is in a container, it would be virtually impossible to justify supplying 5-15-5 fertilizer. If the plant is being planted out in the landscape, the only way that much phosphorous could be a benefit is if there was an existing phosphorous deficiency. which would be a rarity anywhere other than heavily farmed fields. The idea that nitrogen is for above ground parts, phosphorous is for roots, and potassium is for the general well being of the plant is well wide of the mark. You might have heard the ditty "up, down, all around" to "help you remember" what N, P, and K are supposed to do, but the truth is, all nutrients (absorbed by the root pathway) are equally essential to all plant parts. Fertilizing should be a more holistic effort with an eye toward balancing NPK % ratio to the ratio at which the plant actually uses the nutrients. This will allow you to fertilize at the lowest concentrations possible w/o deficiencies. Using 5-15-5 means you would be supplying about 7.8X more P than the plant can/will use, based on the % of N it supplies. Al

Shes said she’ll likely need a wheelchair, which requires 5x5. Add in a helper and she’s def not out of the ballpark with 7x7. If you have the space and the resources, why not make life easier? 5x5 = 25 square feet, and that's enough space to turn around IN the shower. Realistically, you'd go straight in /back straight out. And realistically, the question would be, Will the OP be able to walk a short distance into the shower, or will s/he need a hospital shower chair. In contrast, 7x7 = 49 square feet, almost double the size of a 5x5 shower. This isn't making life easier; rather, it's eliminating the possibility of a shower pan, which is the easiest /most stable option, and it's adding a huge amount of wall to clean -- wall that won't be reachable with a single hand-held showerhead. Someone building a home to help ease their lives when someone has a progressively debiliating disease has needs ... Maintaining hygiene and dignity for anyone with a disability or disease is very important. Agree. If we were talking about simple aging (instead of a medical condition), I'd add that lack of adequate bathroom facilities is the #1 thing that sends people to nursing homes instead of being able to stay in their own home.

Thanks, all. DH thought it was too dry, so this morning I added more mayo -- quite a bit more, actually. That seemed to do the trick. I didn't feel like cooking any more this morning, still have to make a batch of icing to make before heading out, so yea I took the lazy way out and hoped for the best LOL! I've made this recipe so many times, it always comes out great, so IDK why it ended up too dry, maybe it just wasn't a good cooking day I guess....