Ha,ha,ha,ha Blendguy, the "wild abandon" look is because DH did't get them trimed before it was too late without messing up the first flush. They uaually get an annual haircut to keep them tidy. Since they pretty much stay in bloom we will have to decide whether to give them a late cut or let them go all summer.

Boo, I grew Cherokee Trail of Tears a couple years ago. They did stay pretty short through most of July, and then they took off like Rockets! I got a nice crop out of them. I've been getting rain, but thankfully not too much. I'm lucky with the weather most of the time. Sometimes the patterns go haywire though, and I get bizarre/bad weather. I live in the lane between the two lake patterns. Often times you can be at my house and see the line of clouds to the north and south, and have it clear here. So unless a storm or cloud cover is massive, I miss the brunt of it. Of course when it is a really dry summer, I'm talking to the cloud begging them to move over this way! Remy

Can I play too? "B" is for bunny. Bunny is in need of a name too. Anyone care to name our new bunny? Penny

Topsoil like the stuff you buy in bags at Home Depot? Or topsoil like stuff you dig out of the backyard? The stuff in bags appears to be mostly decomposed cow manure to me. Should work fine. Mostly they advise against using actual garden soil for containers. Your container is so large you might get away with it. Might. I like the Optisorb diatomaceous earth they sell at auto parts store for cheaper stuff to avoid compaction. Not to be confused with Fuller's clay they sell there. Requires breathing protection until it gets wet