I am currently growing "Blue Lake Pole Beans" after I did a little research on different types of garden beans. From what I understand Blue Lake Pole Beans are some of the only, if not the only type of beans that are completely stringless. Mine seem to be growing tremendously well, although this is my first year gardening and I got a very late start. My beans are at least 6-7 feet tall and producing flowers but its too hot and dry to really have any beans right now. I'm hoping in a few weeks we get some relief and shortly thereafter some beans!? Also my soil is a little too clay based and is going to take a little time to develope by adding organic matter in order to support the plants sufficiently. The pole beans are all the way on the left growing up the galvanized wire cages. Also I would recommend you direct sow the seeds into the ground. Starting pole bean seeds early and planting the seedlings did not work out so well for me. I had way better success with the seeds I just pushed into the dirt. Next year I will sow them into the ground after the last frost. I did not have the garden bed built early enough to do so this year. I also did not do much planning and kind of threw everything together on a whim. Looking back I wish I would have taken a little more time to plan, but hey then I would be even more behind in the growing process. :P Make sure you give youre beans something tall to trellis up! Simple things will work like planting next to the fence and attaching some nylon string trellis you can find at any local nursery or big box store. I am growing some morning glories up some hemp twine I wrapped around the tops of fence post. The strings are anchored lightly in the groung with some cheap metal garden stakes that look like a really long staple. (got them at atwoods 98 cents for like a dozen stakes they will rust however they are not stainless). I'm rambling... maybe I should have just said, "do a little research on blue lake pole beans. I think they are what you are looking for!"

Hi, Maryl, I come over here every now and then because I get so tired of nothing-but-veggie talk. I mean, there is a limit, huh? I grew the Justicia in a pot 2 or 3 years ago. I thought it would be attractive to hummers, but it wasn't......not at all. I grew it in partial shade and the resulting blooms were not as bright as I'm sure they would have been in full sun. If you're not necessarily going for bloom, there are lots of tropicalesque plants with great foliage for partial shade, like Alocasias (Colocasias, too, but they need a lot more water than the Alocasias), Spider Plants (Chlorophytum), Caladiums, Ti plants (Cordyline). Blooming tropicals, which is where it looks like you are headed, include the Dragon Wing Begonias - a lot more flower punch and leaf color than the bedding types, and as with most Begonias, they grow in part shade. I'm attaching a page from Logee's catalog, of various Begonias so you can see that the Wax or Bedding Begonias are not the most attractive Begonias available. There are several "types" such as cane aka fibrous, shrub, rhizomatous, tuberous (don't grow well in the south IMHO, Rex (difficult to grow), thick-stemmed, trailing/scandent, etc. You can find some of them locally in OKC at TLC and Horn's. The attached link is just FYI. Chenille plant, Tibouchina or Glory Bush, Heliotrope (fragrant!), Hibiscus rosa-sinensis varieties, Lipstick plant (Aescynanthus), Pachystachys (Lollipop flower). There are lots of summer bulbs that grow well in pots - inexpensive - like Dahlias, Calla lilies, dwarf glads, asiatic/oriental/orienpet/trumpet lilies, Crocosmia, Agapanthus. Sometimes, at reputable stores, you can purchase a bag of bulbs that flower at different times during the summer so you have something in bloom all the time. Agapanthus will bloom from late summer thru fall. Dahlias bloom all summer and fall. The others have a specific bloom time so you might want to grow several of them together in a pot as suggested. One online source I recommend is Brent & Becky's bulbs. But if you're on a budget, Lowe's or HD or Walmart usually have packages for a low price. I feel the bags to make sure the number of bulbs inside is the number listed on the bag label. Some may rot in transit. I like to get bulbs that are a bit moist but not soaking and you can tell by squeezing the bag. Hope this helps some at least. Susan Here is a link that might be useful: Logee's

sandra The link at the bottom gives pretty good instructions for freezing tomatoes. It's probably the easiest vegetable there is to freeze unless you want to take lots of pains with it. There are lots of ways to handle tomatoes you want to freeze. A lot of people just put whole unblemished tomatoes in a Food Saver bag, remove the air, and seal them. Others cut them apart and remove the blemishes and stem ends. That's my method since by the time I get around to it, I have surfaces everywhere covered with tomatoes. IOW, I don't peel or seed them but blend them all together in a food processor (my Smoothie maker). Other people remove the skins before freezing them by giving them a short boiling-water bath. Some people freeze them individually on cookie sheets and then put them in plastic / Food Saver bags. Some people make the sauce first and freeze it in blocks, then put it into large plastic / Food Saver bags. So you have a lot of choices, but once you understand you don't have to blanch them and decide how much up-front time you have to process them, it's very easy. Here is a link that might be useful: How to freeze tomatoes

That's how I would describe it, maddielee. Maybe not quite as tender as rib eye but a similar experience - for a significant difference in price. If shopping rows of prepackaged beef looking for chuck eye and its placed next to rib eye, it really doesn't look much different other than the price. Not that any beef is especially inexpensive any more ;0) Yesterday I paid $6/# for chuck eye at Top Foods, on sale at a discount of $2/# from the usual $8. Chuck roast at Costco was $5.50/# and I bought a package of those, like them on hand for those cool coastal days where I can put in the oven and forget them, practically cook themselves. Filet mignon at Costco was $12.99/# and I did splurge on a package of those but we'll split the package into two dinners for two, serve with a great salad or a roasted vegetable so needing a little smaller portions of meat. We don't eat the amount of beef at a meal that we used to anyway, just don't feel that we need the number of ounces we used to consume at one sitting.