yeah, I knew all about them before I brought this guy home..so I knew what I was in for. I was outvoted..I'm a sucker..As long as he doesnt eat my fish.I dont care what everyone else around here says, he eats a fish, he's gone! It is my pond after all, lol. I have a bunch of little fish, I dont know what kind, maybe about an inch to an inch and a half long, that my daughter netted in the lake we got Frodo from, and we put them in there, and some kinda baby fish that appeared out of nowhere. He can eat them, I dont care, thats why I agreed to put them in the pond. Of course I treated them first. He can eat all the birds, mice, moles, tiny fish, little critters he wants..but if any of my goldies go missing..The Koi is def way too big for him, lol..thank god. I have to admit..I do like hearing him making noise at night. And its fun to watch him eat bugs out of the air. Mondotomhead, he isn't ginormous, but he is good sized. He keeps eating like he does and he will be ginormous, lol.

Well, chaz; there is not just one! Actually, there is no secret at all. They need a nice, deep trench to grow in with moist, friable soil. They like their heads in the sun and their feet in shade (easily accomplished). You must start with good seed; something I am sure you understand with your quality Hippeastrum. Sweet peas are a cool weather annual. They like to be given enough time to develop a good root system. Many times when they are sown early, people do not reailze that they are actually growing right on schedule; but it is the root that is developing, not the plumule. In your area of the country which has harsh winters, you would want to start them in the house early enough to get a good couple inches of growth, but not so long that they are hopelessly pot bound. This means starting them about six to eight weeks before you wish to plant them. Probably around February to Mid-April would work well for you. Start them in the house, with no heat unless you have very cold rooms; they germinate at about 70 F but like cool rooms and weather; so once they are up, keep them cool and put them outside as soon as you can. They can even take a frost if they have been started cold enough. Keep them moist but do not overwater. They will start coming up between 7-10 days. I start mine in indiviual pots of about 4 inches. You can get the sweet pea bed ready the autumn before, if you wish. They will not be living there until the weather turns nicer. This means putting them in a full sun area and digging a trench about 12-18 inches deep. Avoid planting close to an established hedge or where there will be competition from tree roots. Amend the soil with good compost and manure well rotted; of course. Let this overwinter on its own after being dug out, and the frost and snow and rain will condition it for you; making it friable and weather ready. You can also plant in barrels or deep containers if you wish. Just make sure they are deep enough; they like the cool soil around their roots. About 18 inches or more is right for quality peas. If your sweet peas are blossoming, but you only get one or two, consdider where they are, first: are they in enough sun? Do you water them about two inches per week once established? If in the ground, do you keep the roots cool with mulch? Do you start them early enough and when and where are you getting your seed? They can grow weakly if overfertilized. I do not fertilize until after the first flowering, and even then only at half strength. Do not use a fertilizer rich in nitrogen as they are nitrogen-fixed; as are most legumes. Believe it or not, but a good brand of a balanced tomato food is ideal. For young plants, slugs and snails can be a real problem, so bait for them must be put out THE SAME DAY you plant your young seedlings in the garden. There is nothing worse than seeing your peas bitten down to the ground by these voracious molluscs. It is an idea to have your supports in place before you plant as well. Much easier. I am sure if you work on these things your fantasy of fully-flowering trellises of peas can be accomplished. If there is anything particular I can help you with, please do let me know. I am never tired of talking peas!

Thanks, everybody! Texasgal47, I hired a landscape architect to design paths, patio, and plantings. I'm good at colors and interiors, but I have *no* gardening sense and, as a design matter, have no ability to think in the 4th dimension: TIME! I can't picture what plants will look like in combination with each other through the seasons and in years to come. I originally hired a landscape architect, as opposed to just a landscaper, because even though the yard is small and looks pretty much flat, we needed to do some complicated things with drainage and levels and I wanted to be sure none of the needed excavating was going to make the 1922 garage fall down. The whole thing is now a miracle of perfect drainage, with water from uphill going through new drains and sheeting across the walks and patio and all going to a new rain garden hidden among the dogwoods. I am, indeed, a very happy camper - and a broke one - but I'm feeling much better than before about the integrity of the envelope of the house, between proper preparation and extensive caulking by the painters and the clever drainage solutions by Ryan the landscape architect.

I want to preface what I am about to say with that it is coming from a place of heartfelt concern. I know sometimes messages can read rudely so know that that is not my intent. I feel like if as a child someone made negative remarks about your appearance in any capacity and you are still carrying that, you should consider getting counseling. It would allow you to release that and move on. I was in counseling at age 19 (not for remarks about my appearance) and it was a major turning point in my life. I would highly recommend it. I got jokes about being short my whole life and it hasn't affected me in any capacity. It is what it is. I'm short, so what? It doesn't change my life, I am responsible for how I feel not anyone else. Life has serious moments, but life as a whole isn't serious. Love, laugh and realize that nobody is perfect, everyone has something. I have an unsymmetrical nose, it's far from perfect, but I'm not self conscious about it. I wouldn't dare "fix" it. While you all are entitled to an opinion on how people raise their children, just know that so am I. I don't believe we should shield our children in bubbles. If my son had real anxiety about his height that's one thing, but he doesn't. He's annoyed because he's the oldest and he's a very driven kid. He doesn't think he's going to stay 5'6" forever. He also knows that his paternal grandfather grew 12" just a few years before adulthood. He's the oldest, he just want to feel like the oldest. Perhaps it's that we aren't people who get hurt by little things. We've had big issues to deal with in our family. My children aren't shielded from those big issues, like having an uncle who has schizophrenia and is un-medicated. They get to actually learn about the illness and develop empathy for people who are in the same position as their uncle. Learning to have a sense of humor about things we can not change is a huge positive life skill. If you dwell on the negative you're only harming yourself. Editing to add that I'd like to make it clear that we don't go out of our way to say comments to him and all we've said is when he comments on his brother's height is about the protein. I've never said anything in a disparaging way to my children and want to make that clear.