Same with my plant - red flowers are 'leftovers' from being outside, light pink are new, since plant has been brought in. It is in best sun I can provide - unobstructed south-facing windows. Still not enough... But I still like them. This COT is getting too tall, there are 3 stems, tallest one is 48" from the soil to top of the flowers. I would like to shorten it up, but not sure about cutting it. And it flowers non stop. Rina

Aliska....my RE gets afternoon shade and if I remember correctly, I got mine at Ridaught's. Prettypetals....It's not hard at all to breed dl's. The AHS website has great instructions as does Tinkers and several other websites. It's really fun to me, not knowing what you'll get from a cross, and then getting something totally unexpected. My babies may not be the greatest but it sure is fun watching them grow and change. :) Boyd...how sweet, but I guess you're correct cause it's surely a lesson on genetics, isn't it? Glad you've all enjoyed this thread. There's a ninth seedling of this cross in my thread started yesterday. Jan Here is a link that might be useful: Ridaught's

A lot of different answers and good thoughts, with the exception of boiling water I would think. In your soil there is organic matter that is vital to your soils health and excessive heat and commercially made chemicals kill those microorganisms off depleting your soil of much needed inoculation against things like fungal infections and pest infestations. Even watering with most city waters affect soil health(chlorines and flourides kill off a lot of the beneficial organisms in your soil) So the answer to your question is yes you can, with the proper care. Insects do not generally attack healthy plants, they attack plants that are unhealthy. Plants become unhealthy as a result of unhealthy soils. Kind of God's way of telling you that you have a problem. But my plant produces beautiful tomatoes every year.So what if I have a few bugs and a little Verticillium Wilt? And I say yes with regular fertilization you are feeding your plants which is great, but most home gardeners do not realize that while they are getting the nutrients to produce fruit, the soil beneath isn't really all that healthy, it leaches a lot of the nutrients it needs but once it is used up then what? Yes you feed each plant the minimum however you aren't improving the soils health. For long term plantings and to avoid pests and fungal problems, try this in the same spot; After this years harvest pull up your plants, rake your bed,integrate,lime, diatomaceous earth,bone meal,kelp,and blood meal, plant some hairy vetch at 1lb per 1000 sq feet of garden. Let it winter over and in spring after it blooms, take a soil knife and cut the vetch at the soil line(leaving the roots in the soil) and roll up like a carpet until you get to the end of your bed. Once you have done so roll it open back over your bed and cover it(this will help keep weeds out,help retain moisture,solarize your soil, and add green manure into your bed.) When your transplants are ready in the spring, pull back the mulch and plant your tomatoes. Water in very well, then once a week make a good batch of compost tea with liquid kelp,compost(vermicompost is the best),and fish emulsion. Once a month side dress with a good organic compost(dry)In addition to your weekly spraying of compost tea. And water properly using aged city water,rain water or pond water(which works really well). If you do this, you will rebuild your soils health and create healthier plants for yourself and then it really won't matter where you plant. Bugs will attack stressed plants. Plants that are stressed convert their starches to sugars and sugar attracts pests. Get your soil healthy and you will do great!

Where do you live, Amy? Typically the seeding window opens when the end of summer temps start to fall in the evenings. That's usually a sign that the daytime temps will soon follow. You can't really look at the calendar to determine when it is. If you have several weeks left with temps in the 60s or higher, your window is still open. For example if you live near the coast where the temperatures are influenced by the ocean temperature and morning dew, you would have time. New grass seed does not need a wonderful bed of loose soil to germinate and take root. It needs sunlight and moisture. If you bury the seed under top dressing the seed-to-soil contact will be better but you've blocked out the sunlight. Hopefully the germinated grass seed will pop a blade of grass through the top dressing to get sunlight quickly. The way Mother Nature seeds new grass is to have grazing animals knock the seed onto the ground, and then they walk or run over it. It has been observed by farmers that seed sprouts most quickly in the footprints of hooved animals and less quickly just an inch away from where it was clearly stepped on. What that means is the heavy footprint of the animal pushes the seed into the surface to get better seed-to-soil contact. If you follow the Mother Nature logic, there is no need to aerate, dethatch, rake, top dress, or any of the other processes that have become normal in many places. The best thing you can do is scalp the existing grass down low, scatter the seed, and roll it down with a water fillable roller. If you just have a small area to seed, you can simply walk on it and get the same effect as when the animals walk on it. Believe it or not the pressure we put on the soil is about the same as what cattle put on the soil. Their weight is distributed over larger feet than ours, so it works out about the same.