Bean shelf life depends upon several factors... and if you obtained the beans in trade, chances are that none of those factors is known. They must have been disease free & properly dried to begin with, then stored under cool, dry, dark conditions. It's not a bad idea to freeze any beans received in trade as a habit... not only because you don't know how old they are, but because the seeds should always be assumed to have weevils. better safe than sorry. Freezing at 0 degrees F. for at least several days will kill the weevils. It may be necessary to dry the beans for a few days first, to ensure that the moisture content is low enough to freeze safely. So far, I've had good luck storing the majority of my beans in ziplocks, in a dark room with air conditioning. I'm still recording data on the shelf life of my own beans, and their germination has been acceptable for at least 4-5 years, some longer than that. Refrigerated beans will last up to 10 years or more. Sealed containers are important for refrigerated or frozen beans, and the container should be allowed to warm for a day or so before it is opened. I wouldn't attempt to resurrect near-dead seed unless it was irreplaceable. If that is the case, contact me off-line. And now, back to our regularly scheduled topic. ;-) I agree with the recommendations offered so far. Scarlet runner & hyacinth beans would be very attractive. The scarlet runners would bloom earlier, starting about a month or so after planting. There are varieties other than red, such as "Sunset" (pink flowers) or "Painted Lady" (bicolor red & white). The hyacinth beans would begin much later (late summer), would climb much higher, and have a sweet fragrance. If your seed is dead, you will find several varieties currently being offered by Baker Creek and Kitazawa. Nicking the seed helps; soak it over-night, and plant any which swell. The vines might be able to reach the top of the pole before frost. If only your zone (and mine!) were a little warmer, sword beans would be great as a pole cover. Their flowers are large, attractive, and fragrant, and the huge pods really eye catching. The vines would probably climb the entire 15 feet, too. Beans would have trouble twining around a smooth steel pole, so As Anney mentioned, so you might want to run some strings, or attach a long strip of fencing or lattice to the pole.

Glenda, I do think the folks on the Ozark forum are nice too. Sometimes I pop over there to read and see what's going on, but as you noted there are a lot more ornamental gardeners there and more edible gardeners here so I mostly post here. (And I grow tons of ornamentals too, but there's not as much to talk about with them since they're all well-established and I'm not constantly adding new ones.) The whole edible gardening trend is on a huge upswing and I believe one reason is because folks are beginning to understand that there is a true difference in fresh, homegrown produce and produce that's traveled hundreds or thousands of miles to reach the grocery stores. I are SO GLAD you and other Ozarkers come and join the conversation here as you all enrich our forum so much with your knowledge, experience and photos. Y'all, I don't think I've ever seen a rude remark here either, and even if I did see one, I'd try to assume that the poster was just having a bad day or a bad week because I'd know that's not the usual behavior of that person. I've also noticed everyone here avoids 'hot topics' like global warming or politics or whatever which is just fine with me. (Anyone who wants to discuss those can go to the 'Hot Topics' forum and debate with the folks there all they want.) I know that we often stray off the subject of purely gardening topics and discus other issues like weather, wildlife, birds, farm animals (well, gotta get that manure from someplace), putting up the harvest, sewing, fire danger, etc. but anything like that is still a part of our lives as gardeners here in this region of the country. Another thing I'm really proud of is the way that so many gardeners here share seeds with one another year-round via the U.S. mail and at the 'Spring Fling' seed and plant swap, and for folks who live close enough, even in face-to-fact visits at one another's homes. In the perfect gardening world I envision in my mind, we'd all live in the same town in the same semi-rural neighborhood with plenty of room for our horses and cows, goats and sheep, chickens and guineas, etc., and with tons of space to grow anything/everything we want. We'd run back and forth from one yard to another to "look at this" or "check out that". We'd meet in the summer on someone's patio for a cookout or just a tall glass of iced tea. We'd only have good weather, beautiful ornamentals and edible plants that always produce an abundant crop. However, since we all can't live in that one perfect neighborhood together, we've built our own gardener's virtual neighborhood here and it's almost as good as being together in the same town. Dawn

Marcelo, Yes, there are at least 3 varieties of Tabebuia that do quite well here in the San Francisco Bay Area. T. chrysotricha is in full bloom right now, I have several planted out here in the Berkeley hills in full bloom right now, and also one right on the bay in Alameda, which is not as far along, but also budded up with flowers. T. impetiginosa, lavender flowered is also grown here, and is known to repeat bloom after the first spring flush. This is less commonly planted out, but both these species grow and bloom here, and will easily handle our normal temperature range, and can also be grown in the inland valley areas such as Walnut Creek, (there are very floriferous mature trees of both at the Ruth Bancroft Garden). There is also a hybrid of these two species, more commonly seen in SoCal. I would have to admit that they flower even more profusely where spring is warmer and there is more accumulated heat, so that I generally try to plant these in protected courtyards or against south/west facing buildings for best bloom. They are unusual enough here in the SF Bay Area that most people don't know them, I love the taste of the tropics they bring to a spring garden here in Berkeley. We also have Hymenosporum flavum in full bloom here, and a Delostoma roseum tree in a client's garden is so fully budded up that the next couple of weeks should be spectacular,(this one blooms nearly all year round for me). Of course, the Brugmansia 'Charles Grimaldi' are so loaded with flowers right now that it seems more like summer than spring, and the trees can be 15 feet tall here. Charles Grimaldi never is out of bloom in my own garden, even in January.

This shows the countertops. The brown area is going to be butcherblock and will be a few inches lower than the rest of the cabinets. The pink and purple is the perimeter countertop I'm concerned about. I made the pink/purple areas to show where I think seam would have to be if I cant get it on the diagonal. I'm already doing a second surface, and not sure I want a third, or if I did where I would change it up. Paperstone is solid surface, and I am not aware of any problems with it chipping or flaking. Either side can be up, I'm just not sure if both surfaces will look the same. If I can cut the diagonal, and then flip one side, then there is no problem getting the entire countertop from one slab.. it's actually a perfect fit. While both sides might be nice, they might not match. I'd need an additional 2 linear ft in order to keep both "right" sides up, and have a diagonal seam. I'd have to get two smaller slabs. I'd end up with a little bit leftover I suppose there is the chance of it being not quite the same that way too.