mooserider, the soil test kit you have will give you a pH number but it will not tell you whether that number is where its at because of the Calcium or Magnesium in your soil. How will you know what those numbers are and if they are in balance? If the infromation you provide the soil test lab includes that you want a soil pH of X.X they can supply the information you need to know about how to get it there without guessing. Nitrogen levels are dependant on your soils temperature which determines how active the Soil Food Web is. So that value in March may have little to do with what is there in June. Few soil testing labs test for N anymore for that reason. A good reliable soil test, not a test kit from a garden center, will also be able to tell you whether your P, K, Ca, and Mg are in balance, not just that you are deficient or have too much, as well as what you might need to do to correct any problems so you need not guess. Why some people think knowledge, ie. knowing what your soils nutrients and pH are, is bad or unnecessary is beyond me.

Xuan I love your space!!!! It looks well-protected but also breezy and open. Well done! Josh I grow mine in full sun too and at 6500' thats a lot of sun-- but the plants thrive in it. I don't know what others do or what the books say (Read's book?) but my plants-- especially the pap- get over 12 hours of direct sun at the height of the Summer. The trick is keeping them well watered and fed-- given that they won't hold back. Of course, I have to ease my plants into outdoor growing. The change in sun intensity from inside to outside is exceptional for these plants and then add in the fact that I live in a high-wind area, it takes me a while to slowly move my plants into the full sun areas. Once there, they usually shed many of their winter leaves and replace them with very thick summer ones that with-stand the Spring winds. Of course, if we get a hail storm, they lose all of their leaves, but on advice from mental health professionals, I don't think about that possibility any longer. LOL

OK, After several postings (which I can't delete and replace with this), Here is my final posting of wants and haves - which supercedes prior postings: Specific Wants: Yucca pallida (pale leaf yucca) Mexican Mint Marigold - Charloote to provide Damianita Agave colorata or paryii, or victoria-reginae Fall Aster Hardy sedums - Omar to provide Have: (and plan to bring) Variegated Turks Cap Senecio himilaya glauca Kalanchoe - variegated (bluish with cream margin) Cuphea igneus (David Varity) - the dwarf one Hamelia patens dwarf form (dwarf hummingbird bush) Trichytis formosiana 'Guilt Edge' - yellow variegated margin Prerskia bleo Tricolor Hypericum Pandanus veitchii variegata - Tropical aka Screw Pine Pandanus baptisti aureo variegata - Tropical Colocasia 'black magic' Xanthosoma 'Golden Delicious' - pale yellow tropical foliage Cuttings of Thailand hybrid crown of thorns, var. colors Eleagnus pungens maculata - yellow leaf centered variegation Other last minute plants I might grab. Prearranged trades are welcomed before or after the swap - see my entire plant list at www.houstongardening.info/plantlist.htm I will wear a bright red shirt, be wearing glasses and a Master Gardener name tag on at the swap. Looking forward to meeting everyone. Bob Beyer, NW Austin

emg84010, What will you and your family eat? What do you know how to grow? Do you have much sun in your yard or mostly shade? I would recommend taking a Square Foot Gardening class (available locally from me and other instructors). Whether or not you choose to use the Square Foot Gardening method you will learn a lot about what, how, and when to grow vegetables and other edibles. Here is a link that might be useful: Square Foot Gardening Foundation