I just moved to the Mojave Desert in California (Southwest forum is sloooowww) and I brought my beautiful fucshia with me. I came in mid June. It was in a wooden pot with a couple blooms, a few buds and stems about 15" long. I put it on a west covered patio with medium shade and out of the wind. The blooms fell off within a week and then the buds, etc. I moved it to another porch recieving only North sun but it declined there too. I kept it misted several times a day in both spots. I also increased watering times. Nothing helped my poor fucshia. I have now repoted it in a plastic pot with new soil and moved it indoors with a room that is cooled by swamp cooler (more humidity then AC I am told) and it is in front of a window that gets bright light. I also cut it back to about 4" to it's healthiest leaves. I got my fingers crossed that at least I can have it as a houseplant here or indoor/outdoor???

Hi Kat, I missed your message above Caps. Thanks, you're no slouch either, I'm hoping to incorporate some of your ideas into the garden this year to give it some color and not look so sterile...I'm going to cover some of the tomato arbors with vining flowers, got that idea from your beautiful arbors :-) Tom

I wish I could be of some help, but I've never grown pumpkins. I will give it a try next year. Corn and tomatoes are great... but there's nothing more yummy than all the great things you can make with pumpkins. I think 43 pumpkins from 2 plants is a success whether it's normal or not! Congratulations.. and for future reference... all vining veggies (well, fruit, actually) will take over your garden if you're not careful. Plant them on the edge so you can train the vines outwards. I had cucumbers this year and it took them a long time to get established (from seed), but around mid-July they took off and grew like crazy and I had about 50 cucumbers from 4 plants before frost hit.

Made a CL purchase yesterday for my daughter. She has been wanting one of those jewelry boxes on a stand. Personally, I don't care for them, but she does. I could not see paying the $100 - $300 that I have seen them listed for in stores. So, when I saw one listed for $35 I jumped on it. This is what I did to make sure the exchange would be safe for me, and then I will post what the seller did that I think was dangerous. #1 - Emailed the seller. When she emailed back, her name was listed on the email address, so I looked up the street address. I was not familiar with the area and knew it was in the country (well, so am I to an extent.) When I did a MapQuest, I realized that seller lived not too far from my back door (about a 15 minute leisurely and beautiful drive through the countryside.) #2 - Called my daughter and asked her to go with me. She didn't know what I was going after, and begrudgedly said she would go because it was mothers day. ;-) She was quite surprised when she found out I was buying something for her which I told her on the way. #3 - Called buyer (she had previously given me her number to call when I was on my way. Had cash in hand. #4 - When we arrived, I found a nice well manicure lawn and home. My daughter stayed in the car, while I went to the door. from there, it was kind of crazy on the sellers part. OK, what the seller did wrong. #1 - When we arrived, the garage door was opened, and also the front door was ajar. I chose the front door, since I didn't want to be rummaging around someones garage looking for a door to knock on. #2 - The seller answered the door quickly, and when I identified myself, she said this way, and turned her back. I followed her into the kitchen, and then she suddenly turned around and headed into me, before going back out into a hallway. Turns out she had only gone in the kitchen to throw something away. lol I was right on her heels, and I think scared her! #3 - Seller has me follow her down to a finished basement where her kids are playing. I speak, and continue to follow the seller through a room, and then back out into the garage. WHAT? #4 - Seller then heads into a storage room, with me staying behind the door. She pulls out the jewelry armoire for me to inspect in a dark garage. it looks fine, and I hand her the money and carry it out to my daughter. I thought the seller, knowing that we were on our way, would have had the item ready and waiting. There was no need for me to have to go through her house. Also, when we got home, we inspected the piece better and found the drawers to be a little dirty (lint, etc.) and the outside dusty. It would have taken the seller all of two minutes to dust the outside and vacuum out the drawers. Overall though, it was a good CL experience and never once was I scared. Had it been a man taking me through the house, it would have been a different story. Had I been a male buyer, I hope that the seller would have been more careful.;)