I'll suggest a real favorite of mine, Angelonia. This heat and sun loving plant will bloom non stop, without any primping or prodding, up until the first serious frost. The purple one provides a color that really stands out in most gardens. Plant Angelonia (an jel O nia) at least twelve inches apart; they grow quickly to fill that space and more, and up to two feet tall. It's much loved by bees and butterflies, and even hummingbirds. No pest or disease problems that I've ever seen, but I don't have an irrigation system which can end up causing problems. Speaking of which, Angelonia is very drought tolerant once established.

My Suggestions ... What can I build my grids out of? (an idea) I used weed fabric on top of my bed and spray painted the grid lines with white paint, then used scissors to cut slits where each plant was planted (not the black plastic which is impermeable, but the fabric/cloth) What is Square Foot Gardening? (adding part about trellis/3 feet) 1. Layout: Arrange your garden in squares, not rows (2 feet wide if you can only reach in from one side; up to four feet wide if you can reach in from both sides; 3 feet wide works better if your bed is 5 feet or longer and has a trellis along the long side i.e. 10x3 - also, leave room to walk behind the trellis side) How do I trellis veggies? (an idea) Other intensive-method gardeners have used other methods as well: Nylon Trellis Netting - is soft like yarn, not hard like plastic or fishing line. It is made of high-quality nylon and will maintain 60% of its original strength after 20 years in the sun. This heavy-duty nylon netting has a 60 lb. breaking strength that will support extremely heavy crop loads. What do I use to fill my garden beds? (a little additional info and slight re-wording) "Mel's Mix" is the most common fill substance and consists of a mixture of approximately equal parts of compost materials, durable "brown" organics for bulk & drainage, and a water retention substance. Mel's Mix, now being recommended by Mel Bartholomew via his website, is equal parts by volume of compost, peat moss, and coarse vermiculite. Mel recommends using compost from 5 different sources to ensure getting a wide variety of nutrients for the plants. (I bought the wrong vermiculite originally, so adding 'coarse' to that sentence would have helped me. Also, starting the first sentence in bold Mel's Mix makes it more obvious that this paragraph is further described by the following 3 paragraphs) Perlite (perlized mica) is a a mined product that is "popped" to make a water-retaining matrix. It retains the least water and has a tendancy to rise to the top of the bed. Expanded shale is also ... How do I build the sides of a raised bed? (more ideas) In untreated wood section: Check the damaged wood section at lumber yards for big discounts. Fiber cement house siding boards (like Hardi-plank) or exterior fascia trim boards Rubber lumber made from old tires - instructions at Noble.org http://www.noble.org/ag/horticulture/raisedbedgardening/RecycledTireBeds.html Plastic Mesh - instructions at Noble.org http://www.noble.org/ag/horticulture/raisedbedgardening/mesh%5Fbeds.html Corrugated tin - see Southern Living http://www.southernliving.com/home-garden/gardens/easy-affordable-raised-bed-00400000009521/ and also see Noble.org http://www.noble.org/ag/horticulture/raisedbedgardening/corrugated_beds.html) What are recommended plant spacings? (add some and explain more on a few) Beans: pole (Runner) - on trellis Brussel Sprouts - 1/sqft ? Cucumber - on trellis Peas - some varieties on trellis, some varieties are bush Squash - note: yellow summer squash and zucchini typically do NOT vine and should be staked (see related FAQ) Asparagus ? Strawberries ? (about the summer squash thing - I have seen a lot of posts of people not realizing to stake these squash and try to grow on trellis - I made the same mistake myself and gave up valuable trellis real estate, lol)

What's on the floor now? I think if you have any kind of flooring up there I would just shellac it if you are worried about toxins. Another possibility is to buy some used carpet. I have never had new carpet where the house didn't have a chamical smell for weeks after it was installed. Whatever it is, it eventually goes away...but if you could buy some clean used carpet, and then rent a steam cleaner and clean the carpet using just water....it would guree it would be pretty well non toxic. Another possibility would be vinyl flooring...but that is not really budget friendly. Linda C

Well I'm a bit late to the party, but after reading that last comment I feel compelled to add my two sense Ryan to answer your question POLITELY, I plant my peppers one per square foot and stake them for support. I also plant my tomatoes one per sqaure foot but I keep them heavily pruned to no more than two stems per plant, removing all suckers and attached to a trellis. I had more tomatoes than I knew what to do with using that method. I keep my spinach at 9 per square regardless of the variety. And I plant then close to plants that grow quite large for shade. As for the melons and tzimbalo, I grow my melons up a trellis and support the fruit with nylon netting slings. Around one plant per 4 square feet. Last but not least, the cucumbers also need a place to climb and I put two plants per sqaure. I hope this helped!