a. the tall skinnny evergreen might be sky pencil holly b. salvia greggii & knockouts (already mentioned) are perfect, i think, for those areas - both are relatively zero-maintenance - you'd only have to "climb up there" once a year c. i agree with the comment that the stonework/concrete will increase the ambient heat - native & drought-tolerant is the way to go if you want low-maintenance d. i've got some purple heart, if you want some - they do spread, but not in an invasive way - they're native to mexico & can handle the heat e. there's someone on our forum who describes their style as "native texas cottage" or something similar - who is that? not exactly an english garden counterpart, but similar - is it the orderly, geometric, trimmed "english garden" that you like, or the overflowing, miss marple "english garden" that you prefer? - that would help us make texas-friendly suggestions f. your structure would look wonderful with a local native flowering vine - have you already told us what part of texas? - that would also go a long way in lowering the ambient temp

I got 5 cards today. Wasn't expecting them! Smokymist Cheryl sent a snowman card with Honeydew Melons from an Amish Farm, Ambrosia Melons, Tangerine Pimento Pepper, Tennessee Old Time Melon, and Banana Cantaloupe. That Banana Cantaloupe sounds so interesting. Thank you! FarmerGirl2009 Ellie sent Nasturtiums, Sage, Cosmos Double Click and Larkspur Gentian Blue. These are all great and I don't have them yet. Thanks so much! DetroitGir77 Michelle sent Dark Green Italian Parsley (plain leaf) and 7 Pot Red Brain Strain Peppers. I have been wanting those peppers for a long time and we can always use parsley. Thank you and Happy New Year! lexiegurl Dawn sent a very glittery Christmas card loaded with seeds. I love love love peppers and tomatoes and I have a bunch of new ones now from her! Gardener's Delight tomato, Orange King Tomato, Carolina Hybrid Cucumber, Straight 8 Cucumber, Hungarian Yellow Wax Pepper, Thai Bird Pepper, De Arbol Pepper, Palo Alto Tomato and Marglobe Tomato. These are all new for me and I can't wait to grow them. Orange King sounds big, I love big tomatoes, I will have to look it up! Thank you very much. Keiki sent some interesting seeds. Randia Blackberry Jam fruit and Carambola - Kari. I have never heard of these but that blackberry jam fruit sounds delicious. I can't wait until spring. Thank you all for the cards and all of the seeds. I will have a very busy springtime. Happy New year!

Sweet corn here is from Florida and it was not bad at 20 cents an ear. I put an ear in the microwave. It was 95f here yesterday, 91F the day before and we had a three day yard sale thursday, Friday and Saturday, so no cooking then either. I didn't cook one darned thing this weekend except pancakes for Bud and Makayla, who spent the weekend. Other than that we ate ice cream and cold sandwiches and the kids ran through the sprinkler while I planted artichokes and tomatoes and took a break every five minutes to stand in the sprinkler! I have two flats of tomatoes at the farm, that's 96 plants, a mix of Rutgers and Bonny Best. Here in my raised beds at the house I've limited myself to two of each variety I planted except the white tomatoes. I planted two Cherokee Purple, although they never do particularly well. Also two Pineapple, two Big Rainbow, two Golden Jubilee, two SunGold, two Mortgage lifter and a dozen of the as yet unidentified "white" tomato. Mother saved seeds from last year, I bought a container of tomato plants from the 4H kids last year that were simply labelled "white". They were one of the best tomatoes I've ever eaten, so this year I have a dozen plants, LOL. I think they may be White Queen or something similar, a beefsteak type tomato. I started two dozen artichokes inside about March, no one I know in Michigan has ever grown artichokes successfully so of course I have to try. I don't have air conditioning and the pool isn't quite clean yet, so it was way too hot to cook, even outside. Too hot to eat too. Annie

Best I've had was at Bleu Squid in Mystic Village in Mystic, CT. YUM!!!! My favorite is the The Original Grown-up Grilled Cheese (a mix of Havarti, Fontina, extra sharp Cheddar & Muenster cheeses) you can add tomato, and it's wonderful, but I usually don't. They are also known for their lobster grilled cheese, with chunks of fresh lobster... oohhhhh! I think i need to go there for lunch tomorrow!! I do have to say, I will not turn down Rita's menu. It's my husband's favorite, too... kraft singles, squishy wheat bread, and campbell's tomato soup. I think it's childhood comfort food. Personally, I think sourdough is the best foundation for a good grilled cheese :-) Here is a link that might be useful: Bleu Squid... check the menu tab and drool