I decided to take my lawnmower out of my shed and turned it (the shed) into a makeshift greenhouse... or at least a heated shelter for the next few nights. I don't have any space heaters, but I do have some 100w incandescents that have been sitting up in a cupboard collecting dust. It won't be enough to keep the shed toasty warm, but it should, hopefully, keep it warm enough. Tonight I am just going to run it this way, tomorrow night I will also cover them with a sheet so that the heat from the bulbs is retained in a tighter area and the shed itself will act as an extra buffer. I should put a thermometer out there so I can check in the morning to see what kind of heat difference I have.

I read through this thread last night, but was unable to post to it. Rather than read through it again, I'll touch base on a few things that stood out in being a native of Kansas City. Welcome to Kansas City AprilK and to the rest of you that have migrated here, or plan to soon. The Brookside area is a lovely area with lots of beautiful well established gardens and fully mature trees that are loaded with robust color and foliage. As for the Kansas vs. Missouri thing, grins, I grew up in Kansas and moved to the Missouri side in my early 20's. I moved back to Kansas only for a short while back in the 90's, 8 months to be precise, and I could not WAIT to buy a home again north of the river on the Missouri side. I've been in Clay County now for over half of my life and love it. Both states have their pros and cons, and much of it is more about the neighborhoods you select than it is what state you live in. There are "some" differences in politics and it shows in some of the ways laws are governed; especially Family Law. Also, a thing to keep in mind whenever seeking to move here, you should consult with your insurance agencies to get quotes on both homeowners insurance and auto rates; the amounts you pay might make the difference you spend in a mortgage or rent payment. Plus, the insurance companies are privy to high and low crime areas; it's a great way to weed out some of the less safe districts. The higher the crime rate, the higher the insurance premiums. One final note on location; if you are considering living on one side of the state line while working across the border, you will pay taxes to both states. Ok, all that said for the "transplants" (pun intended), now for some garden talk. I noticed multiple references to Peonies and wanted to mention a personal negative experience I had with them. I suggest that you do not plant them near the foundation of your home unless you enjoy ants. Peonies are a magnet for ants and if not tended to properly; they will invade your home. The previous home I purchased had a beautiful peony garden across the front of the home's foundation; very mature and robust. Once I got in the home, there was a constant issue in having to deal with sugar ants trying to invade my home. Finally, once I learned that the peonies were the root cause of the ants being along the foundation of the home; I moved them away from the home's base and planted them along the outside property lines where they drew the ants away from the home; doing so resolved the problem. While I love peonies; the flowers are short term on many species. Right now, with it being the end of summer and heading into autumn; we are beginning a new planting season here in Kansas City. The autumn is a great time for planting bulbs that require a hard freeze to bloom the following season. Irises, tulips, lilies, daffodils, hyacinths, crocus, etc... Again, many of these flowers have a short lived flowering life and provide the best show of colors when planted according to bloom span noted on planting guides; early spring, mid spring, late spring, early summer, mid.. etc.... You will want to layer bloom cycles to where you have a constant show of color. Just be careful not to over-crowd your garden and divide your plants, once well established, to keep them from choking each other out. Many of the above mentioned are full sun to part sun plants, and while they will still grow in the shade, they are less likely to bloom. Hyacinths do well in the shade, as well as Lily of the Valley. Beware though, the Lily of the Valley plant can be invasive given the right conditions and is also known to be deadly to children if ingested; not sure if it is the same for pets, but most likely would be so. For shade gardens, my favorites are ferns and hostas. When I plant my ferns, I loosen the clay soil by digging the hole double the size of the plant and filling in around the roots with cypress mulch or peat humus before adding dirt back in to fill. I've had the best luck with ferns I plant along the foundation of my home in a well shaded area; North side, and east side. I have not had as much luck in planting the ferns around trees; they seem to lose out in a battle against the tree roots. Hostas seem to do much better for me around the trees in lightly filtered sun locations; but primarily shady gardens. As I have 18 trees in my yard with this newer place I acquired a few years ago, I'm getting ready to try my hand with coral bells, columbine and some other shady hummingbird magnets. My full sun location in my yard is limited to about 10 feet wide by about 30 feet long. The area borders my driveway and my mailbox, which makes me think twice about filling the area with bee balms and other plants that will draw bees as well as butterflies and hummers. Lawrence, KS has pretty much the same planting specs as the Missouri side does. Sorry for the long winded post, but I love gardens, and hope you all find Kansas City a very welcoming community.

Thanks for all the good wishes. Popmama, I always post pictures, sometimes with credits and details and sometimes just randomly. I hope this time I keep notes. I get so distracted with all the beautiful gardens. Newhostaaddict - see you there.

Report June 10th, 2018. Mighty Midget Full height 12”. Full pods. Shell. Orange-Pods full height 15-18”. orange pods can be seen quite brightly. Red-Snaps height: 34-48”. NAP 36”. Pods not full yet. Canoe 22-24”. hyper tendril. Large Podded Mix 43-48”. Heavy Yellowing leaves. Full pods, VERY TASTY (even when large). #1 taste winner! Yellows Mix: 44-48”. Yellowing leaves. Purple Passion F2. 62” Jupiter 27-34” dark green foliage. Slight fibre. Delta Dusk. 32” dark green foliage. Slight fibre. Heather 48-56”. Yellowing foliage. Slight fibre. Joni’s Taxi, 56” Long Pods. Yellowing foliage. Pods medium soft. Slight fibre but less. Occasional bitter complex to pods. Midnight Snow Average 60”. 43-63”. Best flavor of the purples. Has inflated pods gene. Decently soft. But pods are no longer deep purple. More a half green-half purple. Yellowing foliage. Biskopens Hybrids? 36-50” Some have flowered, some have not. True Mummys? 40-58”. Some have flowered, some have not. Heavily-Branched. Not much branching. Most have flowered. Pink flowers mostly faded from heat. 39-50” [url=https://flic.kr/p/25jErFQ][img]https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1734/40905317210_96c4f215bf_z.jpg[/img][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/25jErFQ]Peas, june 10th, 2018.[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/57674169@N04/]Andrew Barney[/url], on Flickr Mighty Midget [url=https://flic.kr/p/25jEvyQ][img]https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1743/40905330260_251939545d_z.jpg[/img][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/25jEvyQ]Peas, june 10th, 2018.[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/57674169@N04/]Andrew Barney[/url], on Flickr Orange-Podded [url=https://flic.kr/p/25jEEnG][img]https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1744/40905359890_22701932ba_z.jpg[/img][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/25jEEnG]Peas, june 10th, 2018.[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/57674169@N04/]Andrew Barney[/url], on Flickr Red Snaps [url=https://flic.kr/p/26H7Jbg][img]https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1744/41815765275_fcac8b44a8_z.jpg[/img][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/26H7Jbg]Peas, june 10th, 2018.[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/57674169@N04/]Andrew Barney[/url], on Flickr Red Snaps [url=https://flic.kr/p/KWCRxq][img]https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1752/28841622498_846fb683c0_z.jpg[/img][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/KWCRxq]Peas, june 10th, 2018.[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/57674169@N04/]Andrew Barney[/url], on Flickr Red Snaps [url=https://flic.kr/p/KWDPQA][img]https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1725/28841811878_92795ed5e8_z.jpg[/img][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/KWDPQA]Peas, june 10th, 2018.[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/57674169@N04/]Andrew Barney[/url], on Flickr Large Podded [url=https://flic.kr/p/KWG2d1][img]https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1758/28842240348_c8829dc3f6_z.jpg[/img][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/KWG2d1]Peas, june 10th, 2018.[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/57674169@N04/]Andrew Barney[/url], on Flickr Large Podded [url=https://flic.kr/p/281jZX9][img]https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1737/42666896882_8653a63323_z.jpg[/img][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/281jZX9]Peas, june 10th, 2018.[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/57674169@N04/]Andrew Barney[/url], on Flickr Jupiter (I think) [url=https://flic.kr/p/26Zcib9][img]https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1757/41997720664_8418320f7a_z.jpg[/img][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/26Zcib9]Peas, june 10th, 2018.[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/57674169@N04/]Andrew Barney[/url], on Flickr Delta Dusk (I think) [url=https://flic.kr/p/285DZEx][img]https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1745/42715869031_c84869a742_z.jpg[/img][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/285DZEx]Peas, june 10th, 2018.[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/57674169@N04/]Andrew Barney[/url], on Flickr Heather [url=https://flic.kr/p/JqL2SB][img]https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1723/27847171387_60659a3fe1_z.jpg[/img][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/JqL2SB]Peas, june 10th, 2018.[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/57674169@N04/]Andrew Barney[/url], on Flickr Another Heather, i think from the other side. [url=https://flic.kr/p/25jHK3N][img]https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1750/40905960950_ce9dcf4d36_z.jpg[/img][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/25jHK3N]Peas, june 10th, 2018.[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/57674169@N04/]Andrew Barney[/url], on Flickr Joni's Taxi. [url=https://flic.kr/p/KWG7f5][img]https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1740/28842257288_c55d902d7f_z.jpg[/img][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/KWG7f5]Peas, june 10th, 2018.[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/57674169@N04/]Andrew Barney[/url], on Flickr Joni's Taxi. [url=https://flic.kr/p/285F87K][img]https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1722/42716089211_0bc251ea42_z.jpg[/img][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/285F87K]Peas, june 10th, 2018.[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/57674169@N04/]Andrew Barney[/url], on Flickr Joni's Taxi. [url=https://flic.kr/p/26HDvCZ][img]https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1735/41821771565_98861d3a5e_z.jpg[/img][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/26HDvCZ]20180610_101442[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/57674169@N04/]Andrew Barney[/url], on Flickr Midnight Snow (there may be a Sugar Magnolia mixed in) [url=https://flic.kr/p/JrgjnT][img]https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1731/27852885157_e274da4696_z.jpg[/img][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/JrgjnT]20180610_101513[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/57674169@N04/]Andrew Barney[/url], on Flickr Midnight Snow (there may be a Sugar Magnolia mixed in) [url=https://flic.kr/p/26ZHmFq][img]https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1754/42003585814_1b01513654_z.jpg[/img][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/26ZHmFq]20180610_101449[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/57674169@N04/]Andrew Barney[/url], on Flickr Midnight Snow (there may be a Sugar Magnolia mixed in) [url=https://flic.kr/p/JrgDzF][img]https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1724/27852949757_6ff6386b6b_z.jpg[/img][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/JrgDzF]20180610_101431[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/57674169@N04/]Andrew Barney[/url], on Flickr I think this is "Heavily-branched", if it is it is some sort of descendant from Salmon-Flowered. If it is not, it is Salmon-Flowered directly.