I've had good luck with PC. But, the best to grow, are the old ones, not the new varieties. I have good luck with magnus, and I have some pink ones that I'm not sure what the variety is. Mine die back in the fall and come back in the spring. They also come up everywhere in the flower bed. So, I transplant them where ever I want some. I just deadheaded them, and threw away a lot of seed. But, I can keep seed and share them. If you are interested in some hardy, no name coneflowers, that even attract red spotted purples, I'll share my seed this fall. How I grow them: I stick them in the ground, and water them until they are established. Then I just forget about them. My soil is sandy loam, but has lots of silty clay in it also. It can get pretty hard when it gets really dry. Silvery crescentspot cats sometimes defoliate the plants, but that's ok with me. When everything starts to droop in the garden, I water. I don't feed them, and I don't mulch them. I also have the new named varieties. The blooms are pretty when they first appear, but they don't stay true as they age. They actually look worse than the old no-name variety. But they are spreading and thriving. Sandy

It's normal - resin will ooze out of cut petioles, and it is clear, thick and gooey. After it sets it does look like ice. It seems to happen after an extended period of moisture. It's as if excess water is released as the sap flows up. x

I see similar leaves every year and do not know what causes them. My plants seem to get affected after a sharp drop in temperature after some very hot days. They always continue to grow and produce. The weird leaves may only last for 1 or 2 branches then return to normal. As the deformed leaves grow in size they often get more and more normal looking. Acid rain? Air polution? Herbicide drift? I don't know but I think you will still get tomatoes, at least I did for the last 3 years with plants that developed leaves like the ones you posted.

A cool front has passed through southern WI and is headed to the east coast. Relief is on the way. Behind the front, day temps are 70s to low 80 with drier air: Dew point 60 F. No wind to speak of so can not tarry outside because of misquitos - have to keep moving or get eaten. We've had our share of rain the past 3 days. The problem was the rain clouds were strung over 200 miles and were aligned with the direction of travel. The rain front was not exceptionaly wide. The result was 200 miles of rain clouds passed over the same spot. Menomonee Falls and Milwaukee, WI got flooded. Nicolet High School in Glendale, WI got flooded: 6 to 8 ft or water in the basement and 1.5 ft of water running down the halls on hte first floor. The gym floor went under. They had just gotten in new sports gear for the fall term and it was stored in the basement. Official's preliminary estimate is $1 million to clean and repair. They think that if crews start now and work 7 days a week, the school may be in shape in time to open for the fall term. And of course by now, you have heard about the Cadillac Escalade swallowed by a sink hole. The vehicle pulled up to a stop light, the street caved in dropping the vehicle into a 15 ft deep hole and to add insult, the stop light also fell and leaned on the car. Its going ot be interesting to see how the insurance companies react to this one. I can hear it now: This was flood damage and your policy does not cover flood. The real sob story goes to a the owners of 5 to 7 homes on the north side of Milwaukee. Their basements caved in; the city condemed the properties as uninhabitible and has ordered immediate demolition. One woman lamented: "I bought this house not long ago for $120,000 and have 20 more years of mortage left. I'm loosing my house this week, but the mortage lives on." She'll get nothing from her home owner's insurance because it is flood damage, and most homes in that area do not carry flood damage because they were not in a flood plain and up to now, it was not needed. A number of cars parked in underground garages were flooded. If the water level got up to the relay box under the hood or the fuse panel under the dash, these will be totaled by the insurance firms. Yes sireee, the is the second time in 15 years that we got a 100 years rain.