I was going to give you the instructions I've been collecting, but see you got a teriific link that tells you nearly everything. Did it say to get 6 and a half bags of half marbles to do a regular sized bowling ball? Also I thought this person I'm quoting below had good information on preparation: "I paint mine with Fusion paint for plastics, or I use a plastic primer first and then a spray paint of my choice. I let the ball cure for 2 weeks per the can instructions, then I spray 3-4 layers of an outdoor clear poly on it and let that cure for another day or two, then it can go outside. I also spray it with clear poly every spring and bring them inside for the winter as they could crack depending on what the ball was made of. Make sure you get the waxy coating off the ball first by washing it with a 50/50 vinegar/water solution or rubbing alcohol." Hope some of this helps! We're anxious to see what you do! I want to do my first one too!

On second thought, since the bowling balls didn't have the sticky paint problem, I'm thinking it might be the material that the garden critters are made from that is chemically reacting with the paint. I had this problem too, with the handles to a pair of garden clippers that I spray painted with fluorescent paint. The paint didn't dry and the handles were a sticky mess. Unfortunately I can't remember how I solved the problem. I think that removing the existing paint from the critters and going with a brush-on acrylic paint might be your best option. I'd try any new paint on a small test area, maybe on the under side of one of the critters, before repainting them.

Great score! I'm not sure what to tell you since I haven't made one yet. (I have 3 candlepin balls in the garage tho) I thought people just geii'd the stuff to them. You could go to the bottom of the threads page (just above the new thread form) and search for past posta about it. I know soomeone used to put heavy duty aluminium foil on first. If you were thinking of using mortor and grout there can be a problem as some bb's expand and contract with the temperature. Not sure how to tell which ones. Good luck and post pics! Kathy

Clearly the tight balls on the Lake County web site are the result of close shearing and not how the plant grows on its own. Those I have seen here were fluffy pyramidal juvenile foliage forms; I am not surprised to hear about this falling over or splaying open, in the manner of similar forms of other species. That's too bad as it is rather appealing looking otherwise - in garden center sizes anyway. It isn't a matter of 'Bobazam' being a "correct" name and Mr. Bowling Ball then being therefore incorrect. The two names are instead two different things, Mr. Bowling Ball being a registered trademark used to sell the 'Bobazam' cultivar. During these days of large production nurseries in particular using trademarks and patents to assure profits being made on their plant introductions this combination of a memorable selling name (as these are called in Britain) and a jawbreaker cultivar name is common. Often the cultivar names in these instances are combinations of syllables that actually convey information, in this case the cultivar name surely stands for 'Bowling ball zam'pini - the last being the name of the principal of Lake County nursery. Here is a link that might be useful: [Mr. Bowling Ball] = 'Bobazam' Fact Sheet from Lake County nursery This post was edited by bboy on Fri, Aug 1, 14 at 22:34