What a year this has been! I imagine I can hear the garden breathing a sigh of relief at the cooler temperatures and the little bit of rain we had. I know the gardener is enjoying the difference. I hope you have a magnificent fall flush. I love the bigger blooms and brighter colors the roses have in fall. Carol

Congrats, Megan! It's good to "hear" from you again - you haven't posted in quite a while, have you? I know that all the rain you've had in Texas and Oklahoma has kept the plants growing and thriving, which is the basis for us having butterflies - I hope you keep having plenty of rain, if not the floods you've sometimes had this year! MissSherry

I remember Mother, Grannie, my grand aunts and Grammie (my great-grandmother) having to deal with the gophers in S.Ca. They had gopher traps that I helped them put down in the holes. I need to get some more traps for the voles here in my gardens. Blasted things do the same damage as the gophers did back there. Tunnels everywhere and chewing the roots off my roses and other flowers. It was gruesome to remove them from the tunnels, but war is war. The cats loved the trappings. Hollyhock tips - most people over water them and that is the main culprit in succefully growing them. They really don't need to be watered at all unless you are in a drought. Too much water and you will get mildew. OF course, if it is rainy and high temps it would be very difficult to control. Remove all the lower leaves and mulch with pine straw to keep the soil from splashing up on the leaves. That is how it all starts - Soil-born diseases, too much water and high temperatures. I plant mine where they get afternoon filtered shade. That helps too, I suppose. Hope this helps. Schoolhouse, I too hope Tasha's HH grow for you. I KNOW she would love your place as much as I do and be pleased to see her "be-lov-ed hollyhocks" growing in your garden. :) I can send you some seedlings of the cream if you want them. There are several little ones up in the garden now. I just let my plants come up and grow where they wish. If they get too thick here or too thin there, then I move them. Can't bear to throw them in the compost. Sometimes there is nothing for it - I have to remove plants that have taken over an area, but that is the exception. I just put on my wide brimmed straw hat and sunscreen on my face and I am off to the garden. This heat is horrific but the weeds aren't waiting for cooler days, so I mustn't either. Still have gobs more tomato plants to set out...after I finish chopping out all those blasted Garlic chive roots! Oh, and BTW, I planted out the Ground Cherries plants yesterday. I am optimistically happy about how they are doing so far. I planted them in soil like the wild ones like growing in, and them seem happy there. ((hugs)) ~Annie

What a beauty! And what is the name of your beautiful hollyhock?