Joe: I wanted to post some pictures just for you to understand what I mean and to show you my experience in using the mix you mix for plants I think you are concerned about. If in any way it helps you , I am happy. As a gritty mix user, I don't think I would ever come here and tell you that you have to use it or anyone else for that matter. What I can do is share my experience without the science, which is always valuable in my eyes, this time, and just have fun showing you the great benefits I receive from growing in the mixes you addressed and the issues I had growing in ways I once only knew of. My goal is to see you succeed to the best that you can.:-) Here is some jade pics for you in shallow containers planted in the 1.1.1 gritty mix. I also posted a couple of plants in the 'Farfard' mix and some in the 5.1.1 mix for comparisons... Notice too that there are many leaves that are rooting on top. If the gritty mix dried out as fast as a minute few seem to keep saying, this would not be possible. These ones, the Jades in particular, I only have to water once a week if that, even in hot sun. But here is the other benefit to it! If is should rain everyday, they don't mind it at all! Notice this one in a very shallow pot. Cuttings that are well hydrated only watered once a week lately even in full sunny windows. Some other Jades in bigger pots, although the pots can be small for their size in the gritty mix and doing great with watering only once a week now that the sun is hot, and once every couple of weeks if that in winter. I suppose I could use another more water retentive mix, but they seem to thrive much better for me in the gritty mix. Now here are a couple plants that are still in bagged mixes and amended bagged mixes. Here is a GREAT point Joe. I have noticed that many say the gritty mix dries out or drains to fast, which is just not true in my case if used and or made correctly, but I have noticed that the plants I have not yet changed out of the bagged mixes do dry out VERY rapidly, like everyday, and if I don't catch it, the peat moss mix hardens, pulls away from the pot, and repels watering just like that! In fact, it is worst than the mixes I use. At least the gritty mix and the 5..1.1 mix moistens right away and stays in the pot. For me, it is very forgiving. Here are some examples of plants yet to be re-potted in smaller pots I have to water EVERYDAY..lol Also, notice decreased vitality on my plants in these mixes due to drying again and again in inability for the roots to get watered properly. Once the roots are damaged, they do not take up water, even leaving the mix in pots as small as that damp for days, until the roots recover and by then, it is usually too late. And mind you, they are in almost tight pots as recommended by many bagged mixed growers and never over watered. My geraniums Here is one that will not take to watering well that is still in a bagged mix because the water just runs out from the sides. Here is a geranium I planted into the 5.1.1 mix weeks ago when it stared to decline, and it has responded very well. This is what I plan on doing for my others as soon as the weather cooperates. This one was bought at the same time as the others and grew at a much faster rate once I opened the soil using the 5.1.1 mix. Now here is a 'pothos' and a 'rubber plant' I think, that to me are just ordinary and I could care less what they grow in. They are in the 'Farfard' mix and doing quite well thus far. They have only been in it for 6 months and now due for another transplant before their demise. I will do this though, since I really don't like loosing any plant using 'Farfard' mix once again, saving my gritty mix and the 5.1.1 mixes for my most special plants. I hope I was able to help you stayed focused on your question and enlightened you a bit. There are many various reasons why a mix will dry out so fast, and as I have learned, even a very heavy peat based mix is not immune either. Neither are bagged mixes exempt from water running fast out of the bottom, especially if one lets them dry out to much. The gritty mix is much more forgiving as is the 5.1.1. Why anyone would would steer one away from using these mixes if they are interested in beyond me:-( Thank goodness for forums like these where many are not deterred to share science, facts, experiences , and success behind their plants and are certainly appreciated for all they do. I will always be indebted to the ones that helped me understand the science behinds container growing and you know who you are, just as much as I am to those here who understand trees and pests. Joe, there is a great bunch of people here willing to support you in your endeavors to grow in the mixes that you are particularly concerned about and I am honored to be of help to you too. Got to run:-) Mike

work with me here.. [and in review.. the post makes me sound really irritable ... but its not meant that way.. so please cut me some slack as i do not have time to rewrite it .. MIL is coming over ... maybe that is the irritation????] the neighbor does not blister your house with snow.. correct ... so he must be an artist with the blower... yes??? i would discuss with him.. whether he would be amiable to 'missing' some plants in winter ... in the alternative.. you would pound in two stakes.. and protect with burlap .. the de groots.. should be 5 bucks for a couple small ones ... try it.. see what works.. i am not talking about $200 bucks a piece ... but beyond simply stating you want to fill the area ... you really havent set a goal for us to work with.. other than covering ground ... frankly.. in my world.. plant about 20 different things... and FIND OUT .. what will work ... it might be an interesting place.. to have a small nursery bed.. where you try things.. and then move them out if it doesnt work out ... i mean really.. how much time to you spend looking at this area.. arent you doing this for the neighbor???? presuming that is your backyard in the first pic.. i dont even understand why you have that much grass... that much room for a garden.. and you are worrying about this little area ... i would be investing in planting the area i can see.. from my lawn chair out the back door ... see pics ... lol follow me???? you have a great day pondering why this area is important ... and let me/us know .... ken one of my chairs facing NW same patio looking east i have a bunch of little areas like yours.. who cares ... i prioritized ...

And now, perhaps, we should start a discussion on drinking. At what age, how much, when, what drinks....I'm with Colette on this one. She wrote that as a young girl, she (like other French children), regularly drank wine. Of course, it was highly watered down, to the point of being completely innocuous. The point, however, was that drinking alcohol was an integral part of family meals. No mystique to it, and no special status as the thing you finally got to have when you became an adult. Or, as is so often the case here in the U.S., the thing you sneak and binge on as a teen. This has nothing to do with anyone's guilt or responsibility in the case. It's a completely separate topic, so I don't expect to see anyone twisting my words on it or attempting to infer meaning that isn't there. OK? :) I simply think Americans' attitudes toward drinking might make for an interesting discussion.

I'm only tuning it when our governor and director of health have a scheduled update. This morning the governor of Ohio planted the seed among Ohioans that schools may be shuttered for the remainder of the school year. “We’ve informed the superintendents while we close schools for three weeks, that the odds are that this is going to go on a lot longer and it would not surprise me at all if schools did not open again this year,” the governor said. Most recent update. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine says he has asked Ohio Department of Health Director Amy Acton to sign an order closing all bars and restaurants in the state by 9 p.m. Sunday. Businesses are still allowed to be open for carry-out and delivery. “It will be in effect until as long as it needs to,” DeWine said of the order. To assist workers impacted by the closures, DeWine says he will issue an executive order creating several changes to Ohio’s unemployment law and state agency policy, including waiving wait times for unemployment benefits and work requirements for those quarantined.