Aztomn: Mike makes more very good points again. Speaking of greenhouses, location is everything partially based on light intensity. For example, carnations for cut flowers do extremely well in CO, a state with very intense winter light. If you went to an area like northern Ohio with far fewer days of intense sunlight, you'd find no carnation greenhouse ranges there due in large part to the light. A good example of your original question is growing a seedling in low light vs full sun, depending on the plant and difference between the 2 lighting levels, you may find the low light plant getting taller and spindly than the high light one. Different plant species are better suited to different lighting conditions, all respond according to what they are growing in. If you are interested in day length (actually night length) effects, look up the term photoperiodism.

Oh, Kippy! You are SO generous! Thank you (NOT)! LOL! You're very welcome to collect the ones which have grown since the last rain several months ago from just down from the house here. They should make marvelous holiday decorations with sufficient gold spray paint! I'm glad you're more relaxed, Ingrid. I know the feeling, except for watching for the little green shoots starting to creep from under the soil... If you have that nasty invader in the shadier areas of your garden, that means there is water there. It grows where there is water, from Mexico to Canada. It CAN be eradicated,but it does demand herbicides. If you dig the tubers and leave them in the direct sun, they shrivel and die (vampires!), and I have done that with literally several hundred over the years. I've unearthed quite a few the size of a V-8 American automobile engine and they shriveled and dried up once exposed to the elements. Others have been "dispatched" with buckets of "the devil's brew" herbicide we won't mention, with the tendrils wrapped around inside them so they sucked it up like wicks. It didn't take long and they NEVER reemerged! Kim

They said they were seeing a few 90's in Texas a few posts above.....well Oklahoma has now also seen their first 90's this last weekend as well. So the warming trend is moving north. I have some trees stuck up north waiting on a truck and I expressed my concewrns to the grower that I was getting past my comfort zone on planting time for conifers. Like most folks in the north he told me not to worry because the trees were still dormant due to the cold weather they were still in. What I try to get most northerners to realize is it's the shock factor that worries us.......not just the fact this tree will have to endure so much more heat that it has been used to throughout the summer, but nothing turns a tree into a crispy critter faster than for it to come from nice cool cloudy growing conditions and drop it right in the middle of a heat wave of 90 - 100 degree temps and full sun. mark

Check out the Polly White Peach. It was developed in Iowa and is hardy to -20F. We live 5 miles north of St Paul, MN, and last June I planted one. It was a second year container tree that almost doubled in size over the summer after planting. (from 4 to 7 feet) I watered it until Oct, and put a white plastic cover over the trunk. I also planted it near our driveway so I could easily shovel snow around the base for some extra insulation. (we never use salt on our drive) Our winter was so incredibly mild, and the temp never went below -9F in our area. This spring, the tree is looking fantastic! The trunk looks good, zero dieback, and it easily has 40 to 50 flower buds. I've decided to take full advantage of this...if fruit develops, I will let the tree fully fruit, and only thin to prevent branch breakage. Who knows when we'll get another mild winter like this last one. I'm hoping for some good peaches.