Sorry to hear things went poorly for you denninmi. I've found your suggestions in the past very helpful especially since you garden not all that far away. Things have been slow over on the SW side of the state because of the cooler weather, also, but critters have been less than last year....that was a huge problem then. Trapping and a neighbor who is a good shot helped alot with that. Unfortuantely, a new critter(s?) is causing some trouble....13 lined ground squirrels aka gophers. Guess it is time to trap some more which I don't enjoy. We had only six corn plants grow in 8 rows planted by 50 students....and I know they planted more seed than recommended. The gophers or something else tunneled through the area and ate/took most every one. A replant germinated successfully but the plants are still small. The cool July did not help at all. Not sure if there will be a corn harvest or not. I garden at two sites about 15 miles apart. The rain certainly has been splotchy over this way, too. I'll work at one garden in the sun and dry sand and come home to find that a major storm hit at my home...with clay loam...just the reverse of what I'd order. My gardens are much smaller than yours and can be easily watered if need be. And the past few weeks they definitely needed it. Hard to imagine how dry they would have been if the weather had been warmer. I'm looking to put in some fall crops this week. It doesn't seem like it is time for that since the hot days of summer did not come yet. But I'm ready to try another round of peas, cabbage, and broccoli to go with the beets, carrots and onions put in today. If it finally warms up I may have to rig up shade cloths. On a positive note, one garden has awesome zinnias and marigolds. Today I saw three hummingbirds darting around from one zinnia patch to another. Very fun....much better than looking at the scrawny corn and green tomatoes on plants with dead lower leaves.

How much rainfall do you get every year? Hens and chicks? Mesquite? Tumbleweed? What is that spiky plant you see by roads that throws up a tall spike with purple flowers once a year? Aloe? Joshua Trees? Mimosa? Things that grow on beaches like sand and salt...with a little watering you might get Virginia Rose, Bayberry, or Beach Plum to grow. Also, Purple Prairie Clover might grow with watering...it's a legume, so it would make the soil a little more fertile for other plants. All of these plants would have to be watered at least a little. Gingko thrives on pollution, but does need water. This post was edited by edlincoln on Sat, Sep 21, 13 at 13:06

I'm having the exact same problem, I know hibiscus hate being moved around, which is what i did because I potted it into another pot and put it somewhere else. Hibiscua also like a lot of sun, but need relief during the very hottest part of the day. When they're young they need lots of water (like every 2 days) but can get root rot very easily if the pot they're in doesn't have the proper drainage. It's been a around a month now that my hibiscus has dropped all it's leaves. If I don't see some sign of life soon, I think I'm just going to yank mine out of it's pot and look for a new one. The thing is I have not seen the same variety at any of the nursuries near me so I'm hesitant to do so, plas I have a hard time letting go of plants, it's like some sick obsession to see if I can nurse them back to health...Good luck with yours.

We use a disclosure form here, and it is often offered right at open houses for the casual looker. A lot of the questions get answered with: " [x] Don't know." Sometimes I think people are being evasive, and sometimes I think people really don't know. I am sure a lot of people ask the remodeler if they need permits and/or if s/he got permits as needed, and they take the word of the remodeler. On top of this the permitting process in my area is unclear. I put in a brand new from scratch bathroom in my basement and while I needed a plumbing permit and an electrical permit for this brand new work (both which need to be pulled by the licensed contractor, not the homeowner), it was not clear that I needed a permit to actually build the physical bathroom itself, because I was not moving or altering any load bearing walls, I was just putting up partitions. Also, the carpentry work in a 1-2 family, owner-occupied residence does not need to be completed by a contractor. The owner can do it.