Thanx Rick and Dellare, it's the one that flopped, 32" or so, vinyl patching cement over chicken wire for "scratch coat", then more of the same over strategically placed wire lath. I seriously considered y'all's intriguing recipes, but felt better using a familiar product for now, being short of time for material hunting/experiments. My dog pukes in a car, he'd be very uncomfortable suspended in a wind-spinner, if that's what it turns out to be, 5' above ground. He's a bit of an Eyore with 3" legs. Something else, now that you mention it, may decide to move in. I'll keep you posted, though it may take a while, my company is going into its season.

I don't really know what is causing your problems with the delosperma and sea thrift, but I have a couple of ideas for you based on my limited experience with these plants. I was really waiting for someone to chime in with some growing tips on the delosperma. Delosperma is not truly winter hardy for me here, but I have been able to grow some nice clumps in one of my regular beds in the high part of my yard as an annual. My soil is very heavy clay and I am sure that they die due to winter wet, not so much the cold. What I don't understand is why you should have trouble in the summer with them. Mine grew and spread really well and stayed in bloom most of the summer, despite the heavy soil. They just couldn't make it through the winter. Maybe it is too much watering, overhead sprinklers? or maybe road dust or exhaust fumes from their streetside location. As for the Sea Thrift, that will overwinter for me in a raised bed with poorish soil thinned with gravel. The problem I had (removed it last year) is that I have limited space of this kind, and what little space I do have, I want to use for lots of different "drought tolerant" plants. The Sea Thrift grew too well and the clump just got bigger and bigger. As for the other plants in the bed my experience has been different. Firewitch Dianthus is the only dianthus that does really well for me, so it is quite tolerant (for a dianthus) of heavy soils. Many, but not all coreopsis also grow well for me. I also can grow spireas (shrubs) and Stokesia with no problems and I know peonies do well here. IMO the Sea Thrift and Delosperma may need a different spot with slightly different conditions than the rest of your plantings. If you don't have another location with different conditions for them, you could try lifting them, raising them slightly, adding some gravel or perhaps some perlite or vermiculite to their soil for extra drainage, then add a nice small rock or two for extra heat for them to grow around. This usually works for me, at least for the summer, and sometimes unexpected things can even overwinter with this treatment. Good Luck.

Of course, Jackie's 70% is 70%, or 7 inches, more than our "nearly normal" of 10 inches, to date. It all depends on what you are used to :-). I rolled the dice and did a bunch of native, restoration-type plantings in the wilder parts of the garden this late fall, to replace Mediterranean-but-not-native shrubs felled by the drought (CA summers are dryer than European summers by enough to make a difference when there is a drought). They are going "like gangbusters" (archaic, I know) so far and settling in well -- fingers crossed that at least normal rains continue through the spring...

A few years ago my son Michael went to the local ER for pain in his lung area, he has no known pulmonary issues. They rushed him in for an emergency Thoracentesis, they removed more than a liter of fluid. Several days later he was released after we were told this probably won't happen again and they found no cause. He was 40 yo but I brought him home to watch him awhile. 6 days later after a night that he ccouldn't sleep he finially fell asleep on the recliner in the early morning so I covered him and let him be. Early after noon I could see his eyes open following me...I KNEW something was wrong, I ask him Michael what's wrong, he whispered mom I'm going to die taking deep breaths between each word. I called an ambulance. He was taken to the local ER where again they did a Thoracentesis and again more than a liter of fluid. He was transported to Presby hospital in Pittsburgh where he was rushed again for emergency procedure. This time a chest tube. For days we watched it pump fluids from his lung. Test after test and no known cause. They also found 7 blood clots in his lungs so he was started on blood thinners. The doctor told us at one point 24 hours and if the fluid is still building up we have to open his chest. Suddenly it stopped. 3&1/2 weeks later he was released to come home. He is 6foot 7 200 pounds normally, he lost 57 pounds that month. They found no known cause for the fluid and no cause for the clots. He was sent home with a Picc line to start 30 days of antibotic infusion. I did all the infusions but a nurse had to come to care for the line. I think each infusion took roughly an hour every 8 hours....so I'm thinking Anglophillia..all the travel time back and forth another hour at least for infusion + beginning and end flush....geesh should we all pack sleeping bags and camp out with you in the hospital parking lot.