It really depends on what you grow ..... I grow some in full sun It usually takes a few years for them to acclimate to the heat , So I start them in the shade at least in the afternoon. If they do well in the shade they stay there as many brugs dont like the intense florida summer heat. Then when I can take cuttings I put them in full sun to find the ones who like it, No matter what you will get very few blooms when it gets above 90f on a consistant basis.... If you do put them in full sun make sure they get plenty of water

Lisa, When I was reading the "White Water" thread, I was wondering if your gorgeous peonies were floating downstream, petal by petal, so I am glad to see you cut them before the rain arrived. Your flowers are so gorgeous, as always! I love seeing your photos. The boys won't care about the flowers being pink--they're graduating! We might be the state gardening forum with the most weather threads---but is it any wonder? Surely we are the state with the most volatile weather? It is hard to be a gardener in every region---we know every region has various weather and climate challenges. Honestly, though, does anyone else live in a state that has baseball-sized hail and tornadoes in their forecast 5 out of 7 days all spring long? If you listen to the daily weather forecasts in Oklahoma during severe weather season, you'd be tempted to give up on the ideal of even trying to garden here. Luckily, a lot of us are hard-headed and go ahead and try to garden any way. You can't let a few little things like huge hail; high winds; tornadoes; severe thunderstorms; destroyed plants, buildings, trees and power lines; recurring flooding (day after day after day); washed-out bridges and roads; etc. stop you from having a beautiful yard and garden. LOL Of course, we all know what follows rain in our gardens.....mosquitoes and other pests, fungal and bacterial diseases, and mounds of fire ants popping up all over. And, sadly, once summer arrives, the weather will be a lot more boring.....sunshine and heat, sunshine and heat, sunshine and heat for days and weeks and months on end. That's why my favorite months in Oklahoma usually are April and October because they are fairly mild (and warm--not hot and not cold). Of course, the rain started in earnest here on April 29th, but we won't hold that against April. Finally, it isn't just the gardeners who are being driven crazy by the weather. Down here in southern OK, the poor marina owners and other business people located on the shores of Lake Texoma must be pulling out their hair. After the epic flood damage that occurred in 2007 when the lake reached 640' and water began flowing over the top of the Denison Dam, they have spent so much money to rebuild and remodel businesses destroyed in 2007. The new Highpoint Marina Cafe is a case in point, and the name "cafe" might be misleading because it is a large restaurant. Anyway, they just opened in a brand new building built to withstand flooding (to a certain extent) a couple of months ago. This week, though, they began moving out all their furnishings and equipment, hoping to save it from the impending flood. One of the managers said "yes", they did build it to withstand flooding, but they didn't expect to be flooded the first year.....they figured the eventual flooding was way out there down the road some year. Instead, here it is. And, of course, while they are closed down, they're not making any money. And it isn't just the business owners. The parks and campgrounds are flooding and damaged and we taxpayers pay to repair those, year after year after year. Well, all those Texans who spend their summers at Texoma (on our side of the lake too!) help pay for the campground repairs with their entrance fees and tax money too. At least at both our area lakes (Lake Murray in Carter County and Lake Texoma), the Texans outnumber the Okies 10 to 1, but that's all right--we'll take their tourism dollars ! Dawn

Maybe some day I will get to grow the 'real' Seminole. I have tried two different years now and still haven't succeeded in getting what I think I should get. I would be happy with a smaller squash since Al doesn't really like winter squash and I can't eat a big one alone. One year I planted twice and didn't get one plant, then a couple of years ago I got that size and shape that no one had seen before. I bought new seeds but didn't get them planted this year. This year I have several huge Zucchetta that hardened on the vine. If I use them I will need to cook one and freeze many bags for later since there is no way I could eat one of these. I usually only use this as summer squash, but I have always known that you could leave it on the vine to mature. I saw a mature one at Baker Creek several years ago, but it wasn't nearly as large as a couple of these that I have. I will probably search through the vine tomorrow and see if it has more squash worth saving before the freeze comes. It is a huge vine so I may have missed some.

Aunnie thanks for the kind words. i will admit i hate snow at the best of times and we don't need it in may. however, it went up to a balmy 46 today! - lol. yes, i will also admit we have great kids, no problems with the law, no drugs or drinking, infact ds dropped his long time girlfriend of 2 years because she started running with the wrong crowd. right now he is going out with a delightful young lady also of 2 years and is catholic as well and comes from a great family, so we are blessed. i hope you didn't think i was rude about you caring for your mom, but we are kindof the same age, -- i 49 and am home ALL the time, 24/7 with Al, and i have no help except for the kids (oh, everyone, his mother and sister came by for 15 minutes yesterday, to whine about something stupid, but they didn't get the answer they wanted so they left!) i keep busy by quilting and knitting, and mostly donate things i make for worthwhile charities, if i don't have crafts i don't know what i'd do, they are a God send to me. i wanted to tell you that i was worrying so much that i lost alot of weight, - i am 5 ft 10 and weighed 119 lbs, no good, with the paxil (or if you go and see your doctor he will put you on what he thinks is best for you), these pills have made me eat and very healthy i must admit (we never did eat fast food stuff) but now i weigh about 130 so alot better, i would also be up all night, believe me when i say there is nothing on tv at that time - lol , but i now can sleep almost all night. aren't prescriptions draining, we have a plan where you have to put out 100 percent and wait and wait for get 85 per cent back, and with bills of about 600.00 a month - oh don't get me going - lol, but atleast Al still has benefits from the college where he works (he has academic upgrading, math, english and a computer lab to help adults get their high school, so they can get into a college programme, it is very sad to see a man of 58 come in with a grade 7 or 8 education, but worthwhile when they finish the 3 year programme). anyways, aren't everyone just great here, as i said before, we will probably never meet, - except linda (glitter) and i, and i hope we still are linda! - lol, but see you are writing back, so that's really, really good because you can divert your mind on something else and you get to just chat with super nice folks! anyways i've rambled on and on to much, and my furry friend wants me to take him outie (too afraid to go out alone, he needs his momma!) so try and have a restful sleep! Gabby, i'm going to try that cyanne pepper, next time i have a being of amigrane, i did try the feverfew and it didn't work, al said it only gave me really bad breath! he tried grape seed extract, for pantom pains, i read a couple of articles, but they didn't work for him, but then again, everyone is different, but right now, i'm game for anything! thanks for the tip! debbie