Are you asking about a pepper suitable for growing indoors under florescent lights it's entire life or just until outdoor growing time? As a rule bells are the most difficult peppers for many to grow well. Pretty much *any* other pepper does better for those who are 'bell pepper' challenged. There are a world of sweet (and hot), very tasty peppers out there that aren't bells, but you have to try them for yourself and see not just how they grow for you, but how you like their culinary properties. For example if you like stuffed peppers you likely aren't going to much care for sweet banana types (for that purpose anyway), but might love Giant Marconi. The moral is if Bell types aren't working for you, just go look at a seed catalog and select any non bell that looks appealing and give it a try.

Thanks for the nice comments everyone. I don't think I have any good closeup shots of the birdhouse but I wish I'd taken some when it was new. It has a copper roof which was bright and shiney back then, and was a stained wood. Weather hasn't been kind to it though and a year ago I gave it a sloppy multi-colored paint job to brighten it up. It was home to many broods of bluebirds and tree swallows over the years (until the English house sparrows invaded. :-( Now it is boarded up and decorative only.) This has really been the year for nasturtiums it seems! I see them everywhere. Conditions must be just right for them this year. I call the birdhouse garden my orange garden. I joke that it is a racist garden - orange only. Each year I plant various flowers of pink and red and purple and the orange marigolds take over and crowd out and suffocate the flowers of other colors. So I've given up and plant only orange flowers out there now, since that is all that flourishes. They have their gated little community. No point in giving these bigotted plants pink or purple pot mates to abuse! Anyways they coexist well with my orange daylilies and they welcomed the orange nasturtiums! While I do appreciate the concerns about fire, there is a vast difference between arid Texas and Australia and rain soaked New England. This has been the rainiest summer in recorded history! I don't think there has been a forest fire here in decades, and those I remember in the dim past were quickly contained. Fenceposts sprout here, and we have so much rain that even with short growing seasons we have two cuttings of lush green hay each year. The "fire spirit" is interior house lighting reflected in the window glass that I shot the photo through. The perspective doesn't show it well, but the pine trees are probably 50 yards up the hill from my gardens. They are so moisture laden that branches cut from them smother the fire in our barbeque pit. I didn't show a closeup, but the candle holders in the back gardens are constructed of metal with glass windows and metal roofs. They are roomy so that there is quite a bit of air space between candle and windows. The lanterns are suspended from sturdy cast iron hooks. There is virtually no way that fire can escape these lanterns. The mason jar has a metal jar lid that the candle sits on (which creates an air space that prevents the glass bottom of the jar from heating.) I wouldn't use any tealights during a drought (if we ever experience a drought again!) or during high winds (although high winds here usually bring drenching rains.) If our neighbors' (and I use the term "neighbors" loosely!)fireworks landing in our pasture and woods haven't set fire to anything, it is unlikely that fire is in our future. But that's another story! If I lived in California instead of Vermont, I would probably hesitate to strike a match even inside the house and most definitely would give up the pleasures of roasting hotdogs on an outdoor fire surrounded by lanterns with real candles within. I am always in awe of how quickly a fire can spread in dry geographical areas with high winds when I see news coverage of wild fires/bush fires in our western states and in Australia. Fire seems an ever present threat there.

Sandy - I disagree with your comments on a philosophical level and am contrasting my thoughts in the honest commentary you ask for. Flowers, with standards of color and arrangement and whatever, are not ponds. The original post here was mean-spirited in its sardonic and sarcastic presentation, but it sure was a no-holds- barred critique of someone's pond that stimulated responses. I don't agree with the poster's attitude, but in looking at the pond when the pictures were available, I can say that while I wouldn't build that, it is interesting as an expression of an individual, perhaps of class and culture. The owner probably takes as much pleasure as I do with mine or you with yours. Any pond is inherently interesting to me as a personal expression. Nowhere that I have seen has anyone said a pond must be artistic or a work of art-some turn out that way by design or accident. Not everyone has your aesthetic, background, creativity or ability and we just muddle along making ourselves happy (and obligated to change in the future of course). I have never seen a poor pond by a poor pond builder or pond keeper-only ponds that don't suit my location or desires. To critique a pond based on very subjective criteria isn't fair; helpful comments or a pat on the back just for the hard work and money is all anyone really asks, if they ask. To me the key is the concept of appreciation in the broadest sense--to look at and learn and understand there is always something to be seen and to learn from. To judge (poor pond) or apply a personal judgment that is not some universally accepted view (bad ponder - and we have no standards for that)is negative rather than constructive, constructive being hard to do, an art in itself. Anyway, that is my point of view, philosophy that diverges from yours in some ways. I really enjoy your posts, we have had some interesting back and forth on some topics, and hope that continues because it is instructive and especially, fun. This is an obscure post in a less well traveled part of the forum I suppose, but do hope you see it as well as others. Hopefully some will respond and there can be more discussion on the idea of looking at and commenting on what ponders submit. My two cents today; like you I have too much time on my hands and find myself getting old, err, maturing. Mike

I am NOT a pro, but have recently had to think about outdoor lighting. I have noticed that a neighbor's outdoor lighting (done by a fancy expert) ended up making the whole front yard and house glow--way too bright. Too much! I didn't want that. I chose low voltage lighting to light the walkway to the front door, alternating lights from this side to that side, maybe one every 12 feet where the pathway turned. I did not want a runway experience. I chose 2 trees on either side of the house to uplight. They are a type with not many leaves on the lower half, so perfect for uplighting, imho. I turned 2 lights upwards, from the base of the front pillars on my porch, to wash light upwards on the nice faux-stone pillars. There is a porch light (regular house-type voltage) on one wall of my small porch, so people can see the doorbell. A hanging light from the tall ceiling there would've been a nice alternative, too. There are 3 stairs on the way to the front door, along the pathway. Those have a tiny step-light. There are also nice fixtures on either side of the garage. Everything on timers. I used low voltage lights because some of the fixtures would be in shade (under trees) and I wasn't confident they would consistently have power, but I'm somewhat ignorant on this choice. So, maybe this helps you. When I see my house at night, I feel it looks cared for and nicely lit where it needs to be for safety, but not like Disney at night, which is exactly what I wanted. I hope this helps you.