mmqchdygg, no problem on the questions. Keep asking all you want. This was a new thing for me last year. My gardening ability was very crimped last year do to emergency spinal surgery and I couldn't do much gardening. I had to improvise, get lots of help and just dump seedlings where ever they could fit or whatever containers where handy to put things in. I ran out of room on the fence after I had about 40- 50 different varieties of MG seedlings planted. Since I wanted to keep varieties separate, I couldn't plant more than what I did around the fenced in back area. I had read on line about the Japanese growing lots of morning glory vines in pots so figured, if the pros could do it, so could I. I didn't find the vines got too long and figure it was because they where stunted in growth from being in pots. the first thing I did was put the cheapest brand of coffee filters in the bottom of the pot and moisten it to cover all the drainage holes. This holds the soil in, lets the water drain out and prevents the roots from getting into the ground. then in went miracle grow potting mix and depending on the size of the pot and the number of seedlings of the variety I was planting, the seedling/s. Once in the pot, I covered the top of the soil with a thin layer of the cheapest bagged bark mulch I could buy. This helps to keep weeds out and some moisture in the pot. Then I put a plastic tomato pole in the center of the pot to start the vine going up it. I rigged some wire coathangers that I got from a local cleaner, (they gave them to me free) together and tied them with some twine and stuck them into the soil with the pole in the center. As the vine grew I kept twisting it around the coathangers and the pole. And, when they got a little to long for my likeing, I held my breath, and clipped them back. All that did was branch the vine into 2 more vines and more buds. They didn't bloom quite as profusely as the ones on the fence, but was more than happy with them. 2 of the MG I put in a 12 inch pot, with 4 seedlings and put them in a plant stand beside the front railing and trailed the vines up the railing. A couple of others went into a couple of hanging pots and I hung them from an arbor that I bought at Brooks Pharmacy a couple of years ago. Had to assemble it ourselves and put it in the ground (a real pain) but it has held up well for 2 winters. Brooks pharmacy has them on sale this week for more than I paid a few years ago, $19.99, but I bought mine in August and they where marked way down. It's 8 feet tall. those did really well too, I just kept wrapping vines around themselves and if they got longer than I wanted them too, I just pruned them back. There are some nurseries around me that sell vining plants in large pots to keep them in. They use some kind of metal trellis type thing to keep them vining. I can't remember the name of them but when I saw them they where all out last year. I plan to get at least 10 of them this year and will let you know what they call them. What I've found over the past 4 years of WS is that just about any annual and perennial can be grown in a pot. All it does is not allow the plant to grow as large as it would in the ground and it won't bloom as fully as it would in the ground. So many of my plants went into pots and bunched together last summer to make it easier for others to water for me, and everyone was really impressed with they way they grew and the fact that the pots could be moved all over the place to brighten up various spots in the yard. I'm planning to do the same thing this year. I had a coleus in a 12 inch pot that grew to 4 feet!!!!. I got it at my plant swap and it was only about 4 inches tall in June 3rd. It kept getting moved to a bigger pot till it got it's final home in the 12 inch one. My tomatoes where all in pots and did great too. I even had perennial malva's in pots and just put them in the ground in the fall. (I could garden in Sept., I know, the timing was not the best but hey, this year I'm fine and can't weight to get in the dirt). By the way, not that I'm a big Walmart fan but when it comes to my gardens, every place to shop is fair game. They have the best prices on plastic pots for outside use. Got my first ones there 4 years ago and you would think they are brand new. All the pots come with a saucer, which I don't use outside 8 inch $.88 10 inch $1.98 12 inch $2.98 17 inch $4.99 holds 16-17 qts of soil. use these for my tomatoes. They come in terra cotta color as well as dark green and a grey color that looks like stone. BE brave and put those MG in pots and have fun. The link below is from a website about growing mg in pots. I've linked to that specific part of the site, but do check out the whole site, really great and facinating info from a real Japanese pro on morning glory and growing. Ask if you have any more questions and when I get the name of the stake things from the nursery will let you know what they are called. You could check with some local ones around you as well. Fran Here is a link that might be useful: Japanese methods of growing morning glory in pots

Very few of the dry beans in the supermarket are pole beans. Pole beans are labor intensive to harvest. On the other hand most local supply stores sell bulk seed by the pound. Here that will run 3-5 dollars per lb. Southern States Coop here has McCaslan, Kentucky Blue, Kentucky Wonder, Missouri Wonder, French Horticulture, Blue Lake, White Seeded Kentucky Wonder, and Rattlesnake in that price range.

And another thing: elevation placement. The stuff they wish to move is placed at eye level (for the lady shopper). Its a little low for the average male. Knick-nacks and items that appeal to kids are on the lower shelves where they can grab and whine. This can backfire, so the more expsnive choclates are on higher shelves out of reach of toddlers. At my local store, they use automatied sprinklers to keep the veggies moist. A few seconds before the sprinklers turn on, a recording of thunder is played with the sound of falling rain to warn shoppers to stand back - the spray is about to begin. Over on the other side of the store are dairy cases. Motion sensors detect when you are nearby and a recording of mooing diary cows begin - that can be anoying. The store is laid out so that people arriving through the main entrance passes by the office. Usually, the owner or a trusted staff member is seated to see you pass by the open office door. They'll say "hello" to each customer as he/she enters the main shopping floor. Music is played over the intercom. Golden Oldies are often selected. In the late afternoon and evening hours whem shoppers are tired, the music selection changes to more lively tunes such as "76 trombones" and marches. This helps to put a bit of spring in tired clinetel's steps and keeps the masses moving.

Yes even here it's still an evolving situation. For example, I would now rank the damage on Ilex 'Scepter' as being more severe than that on 'Sand Pond'. Once again proving how a 100% American X American hybrid is more resistant to our capricious weather than an Asian X European one...as you'd expect. Because the leaves of 'Sand Pond' are obviously reviving themselves, but those of 'Scepter' continue to dessicate and turn papery brown. I wish I had a male I. integra, it would be cool to make a 'Sand Pond' X integra cross. (I should clarify versus what I said on Feb 23rd: some 'Scepter' leaves were still undamaged at that point. All 'Sand Pond' leaves had minor damage. Now, ALL 'Scepter' leaves are basically dead and some are already falling off. Most 'Sand Pond' leaves still have damage but the green bits are getting greener, it seems. The March 5 freeze was by far the most damaging of the winter) There's some rather odd damage now becoming apparent even on Abies ernestii...sometimes rated as hardy as 5b and I've seen a huge, beautiful one near Rochester, NY. (part of the reason I bought one) The leaves have little yellowish spots...I might post to the conifer forum to see if someone has seen anything like it. They are so subtle they might be impossible to photograph. It's like a very subtle variegation. Certainly not serious, but fascinating. All in all as they say, it still could have been worse. It also makes me feel good about my choice years ago not to invest in trying a big, expensive Trachycarpus palm. Because I thought north of about St. Michael's, MD or maybe Cape May, NJ - and even those locations are really really pushing it- they have no chance of being truly long term plants w/o protection. I knew another winter like 1994 would happen, and it did. What I did not know is we would have 2 in a row! I reiterate that 'Soquel' is my best looking Sequoia...granted it is my oldest but the bigger 'Swarthmore Hardy'/'Chapel Hill' has been in the ground a while, too, and arguably in a better spot. (better soil) Not that it is an appropriate rating, but I'm reminded of Dr. Dirr's former SEO website that rated 'Soquel' as zn 6 hardy. Not true but he apparently had some information about it surviving cold temperatures well, which it does. If you need to try one in the DC area, I'd now recommend that over any of the others. I want to try to see the huge tree in Silver Spring MD this spring, to see how it weathered things, and the 2 that are almost as big in NoVA. BTW - given that exposed Leylands were damaged even last winter in the outer suburbs of Baltimore, I definitely think most of New England would be stretching it for them.