As Rosey said, my rain gauge overflowed Sat. and Sat. night so we got over 5 inches then. Yesterday 1 1/2 inches with tornados popping all around us. Today more tornados showing up and lots of rain. Haven't looked at my gauge in a while but over an inch early this morning. I think Faye needs to move on along to some of our northern AL areas and other drought ridden areas along the east. We had lots of small limbs and debri all over but no major damage or trees down, thank goodness. Ya'll watch for those pesky storms and tornados today, and stay dry. Jan

Hi Desi. I moved here from Atlanta almost 2 years ago. I spent the first year in denial that it is any different than Georgia. Its definitely very different. The main things that bug me are: The slugs The summer droughts (1st year here, no real rain in my yard for 42 days!) The lack of heat in summer to get Tomatoes and tropicals (that I miss) like Brugs, Cannas and Elephant Ears growing really good. Its recommended to grow them South-facing, against a warm wall and it does work OK but the results are a little disappointing after growing them in the South. I see Brugs all the time here but they are usually smaller. The warmer weather is shorter here too. The flipside is that you get to grow all those things that it was just too hot for in Ga., like Lilacs, Rhubarb, Sweetpeas and Gunnera! You don't have to water in the winter. No hideous soggy 90 degree and 90% humidity days. We have an air conditioner and I think we used it about 10 days since we got here. Oh Yeah, I actually miss the thunderstorms. Here the rain is usually just a steady drizzle. Atlanta got more rain per year but it usually fell all at once. The things I wish I knew when I got here: How DRY the summers are. That many plants considered shade plants in Georgia are actually sun plants here. I been experimenting with hundreds of plants so let me know if I can be of any help. Laura

Sorry, I just saw this topic, I didn't know it had been resurrected again. Natal, Paula lost weight eons ago. Old news. Do you work for Google? :) Lukk, Paula is the one who made her health public. She's had the disease for a few years now and she is going to make money from advertising a new medication for diabetes. Since she kept it a secret for so long while cooking high carb and DELICIOUS food, lol, speculation is she only "came out" because of the money. Which rubbed a LOT of people the wrong way, even others on the Food Network. Tina, I did see the interview, she's in denial when she said there's only a "few" people who were mean. Once more she hedged and said how much her family loves her. But I guess I'd do the same. It's not going to die down unless she stops those interviews with Al. I'll still watch her show unless she starts cooking "light." Everybody with a brain knows it's all about moderation. It's like telling an Italian cook with Diabetes to can the pasta. lol I have to wonder though, will the drug company still use her now that she's had such bad publicity, so bad that her own, long-time publicist quit on her because of how Paula handled it? Stay tuned! I still like her though, she just made a questionable choice.

I've been trying to get my yard in shape for a couple of months. It's starting to get hot down here so I want to get things in shape before then. I've been putting down some fresh mulch but ran out and will be doing that again this weekend. I love love love working in the yard. Here are a few new plants I started this year: Brunfelsia (Yesterday Today and Tomorrow): Persian Shield: Popcorn Cassia: This is my butterfly garden: Passiflora alata careulea: Have a great day everyone! ~Betsy