Thanks! I've put the purchased one under my trellis, so it gets "slices" of intense sun, yet relief from the bars of shade. Hopefully that will satisfy both the impatiens and the lantana! LindaC, I know the kind of lantana you mean, this is not that perennial kind. The nursery had both kinds, so it's fresh in my mind. This kind of lantana has larger flower heads with fewer florets: strictly an annual. I just have not grown it succesfully before. I usually put things in my baskets that I know can take occasional drying out: so I just put the lantana in with petunias. So all mine can go in the sun. I love the petunias with osteospermum, but since those flowers always face up, I often can't see them in a basket overhead!? If the lantana works out that is a good alternative. I hope it grows to sprawl over the sides. The combo IS very pretty. Funny I just came back from a different store and they too had lots of impatiens/lantana combos. Thanks, dees, for telling me about the deadheading. I'll be doing the petunias as it is, so no problem.

Grooming ought to be an ongoing thing. I find that I do a small amount of cutting/heading back on a regular basis. Thinning is important, too, as plants mature and begin to crowd each other for space. I don't what you fertilize with but I'd suggest something with lower Nitrogen than Phosphorus in the analysis and that you use it more frequently than once per month, if it is a soluble product. I fertilize the heck out of annual planters, though am stingy with that practice for any other kind of planting.

My red impatiens (purchased in May) has been a hit so far this year with the female. I have it buried in my forsynthia, along with an overwintered fuschia, and my feeder. The fuschia is just starting to bloom. I've never seen them go for the Million Bells (this year I bought red), which is my favorite hanging basket for the sun. I had alot of extra petunias that needed to be out of Mr. Woodchucks reach, so I have a bunch of them hanging, but no action either. I did do one basket with Salvia coccinea "Forest Fire", an annual my zone. I figured it would do well in a basket, and it just started blooming. It's supposed to be 1'-2', but one year mine was 1' (part sun) and the next year it was 3' (full sun).

10 weeks??? Where in the world are you, Mylu? I just realized we don't even hardly have much more than that for our entire growing season! haha And thanks for answering my questions (although I did have to keep flipping back up the page to see what I had asked) :) Cady, that is why I want a greenhouse business...to introduce new looks to this area...like clay bulb pans (must be a supplier for those somewhere) and hanging driftwood planters, etc. :) It is the small retailer who can afford to introduce new fads. We can equalize the coasts! Then...then...we could even start setting the trends! oh whew...sorry...getting carried away...designer overload ;) Besides I should have started a new thread instead of taking over willy's like this. Sorry, willy.