I planted just a few seeds earlier this year. The one tomatillo plant got so big, it nearly took over the entire area. Then I transplanted a purple one from a friend. Huge numbers of greens, but only a few purples. One of the tomatillo stalks was sooo heavy, it was on the ground and rooted before I had a chance to pull it up. I planted approximately six seeds. But, ended up with HUGE plants, and prolific numbers. Battling a 3-striped beetle larvae problem right now. But, have many other fruits in the process which I'm dying to harvest. We found a fabulous salsa verde recipe just when the fruits started to take a break. :( I'm patient though. I can wait.

I think once you live that far south it isnt really about how cold you get, but how long you get below freezing. These plants will take a frost, but all the leaves will definately fall off, and you might get some tip damage which will delay flowering. You should protect it anytime temepratures are predicted below 34F. I dont think it will stand a chance below 25F, but if you only go below freezing 5 times a year, you can protect it (mulch it, cover it, and add some x-mas lights for heat) to keep it alive. It might be easier to drag it inside though. Good luck!

buehl: I also got really high prices locally. The best I found was $21/sq ft which included freight. That was contractor's pricing. I had two quotes at $28/sq ft!! So I gave up on buying it locally and used the sources that other GWers provided. And I don't have to pay sales tax, either. I would much prefer to buy it locally, but jeez, it's just way too expensive. When I do the 'store locator' thing on the Jeffrey Court website, I get the Florida Tile warehouse here in Denver. I called them, and they gave me a long list of local retailers. It seems in Denver, at least, the pricing is set by Florida Tile. My GC has an account with Florida Tile and he was given the $28 price (no discount) because it's a special order. He told me to buy it online.

What is "topsoil"? The definition I find says "topsoil" is the top 4 to 6 inches of soil from someplace, and may be something worth the money or not. Most all good soil I have seen is composed of 95 percent of the mineral (the sand, silt, clay) particles that make up soil and about 5 percent organic matter so since the soil you have is already largely made up of the mineral particles just add the needed organic material, build a Lasagna bed on that soil and do not be concerned about "leveling" it out. Pat Lanza developed the concept of Lasagna gardening and this link takes you to her web site about it. http://ourgardengang.tripod.com/lasagna_gardening.htm kimmq is kimmsr