My wonderful package from Sue G. arrived today!!! S - Star jasmine (I rushed to plant it!) U - Unusual Ladybug (this is so darn cute!!!) M - Mighty cute Pooh and Grumpy Pot hangers M - Motion sensing chirping bird ornament (I'm hoping this will scare the deer from my peas! It's cute, too.) E - Everyone likes Juicy Fruit Gum R - Ringing of the chimes Indian wind chime, lady bug wind chime and a dragonfly wind chime T - Toadstool Rain Gage I LOVE this, but USPS managed to break it. I don't have a rain gage and this is super-cute. The USPS is so darn rough with packages. :( I - Illumination for a pot or? (solar light) My garden toads will love this. M - Mitt for the oven E - Everyone needs some plant food spikes. ALWAYS need these! :) What a wonderful, extremely thoughtful package, Sue. You are so kind. Thank you so much! Sheri This post was edited by Panhandle_Seed_Swap on Mon, Aug 18, 14 at 17:47

HI Again I spoke to the crew leader Thursday. I showed him the property line and he put a brick perpendicular to the curb. Said he wasn't asked to cut the hedge back. I told him that when he is asked, that I have agreed. We shook hands. I responded with MY certified letter detailing the situation in the sort of painful detail one needs if someone threatens you with an attorney. I need to send my letter along with a copy of hers to the city code office when I can talk to them and see where to send it. I hate to bug them, but it's what she said she did... . Yes, I agreed to talk to her attorney and on and on. I have no plans to put up a fence. This area is deep shade now. A solid fence will turn it into a no grow zone like my back yard along the fence we put up for her years ago. I hope she cuts back the hedge to her property line and maintains it. I should get some new growth on the youpons and hopefully we will both be happy. I'll honor my word and not plant any vines next to the hedge. Once it's on her property it should be easy enough. Honestly, I feel excited and suggested she get the cutting done in a timely manner... by the end of August was my suggestion. We shall see. y'all have been a great help. You anchored me when I wanted to fly off. But when she said my vine was infringeing on her hedge and she needs access to it for maintenance. That was a joy. She wants the hedge and I am happy to let her have it....smiles. c

Is this a valid concern? Enough to either switch to standard pots instead, or increase the ratio of calcined products even further? I'd say it's a valid concern, given the evaporative surface is probably in the neighborhood of trebled. I can't tell you what to do because it sort of depends on how much you're willing to water. I suppose it you're willing to water daily if that's necessary, a try at upping the water retention with the added water-retaining products is a good bet. Regardless of what you try- why not also try at least one variant container type with a regular mix (if you use 1 pot) or a super soaker mix if you use the fabric bags. - And just out of curiosity, if the unscreened Turface/DE doesn't affect aeration why do you (seemingly) prefer perlite? Cost- or weight-related? I use perlite because I don't want or need the additional water retention afforded by products like Turface or calcined DE. I don't particularly like to water, but my plants appreciate me making soils that require frequent watering. I have at least 200 containers, so I have to make the watering rounds daily (unless it rains) anyway, because I have so many bonsai pots that have 1/2 cup of soil or less. Some plants only need watering every 5 days or so (like pines & junipers), but the little guys demand close attention. That's not the soil's fault - it's related almost entirely to my choices that limit soil volume. Should I water based on the volume of the media with 5-1-1, or should I water based on the size of the plant? Both of those considerations are part of what you use to decide when to water. A well made 5:1:1 is quite forgiving when it comes to the potential for over-watering, so common sense usually carries the day. After a planting is established, you might wait for a weekend when you know you can watch a plant carefully. Water on Wednesday or Thursday, then watch carefully for the first sign of wilt to give you a better idea of where the limits are. It won't take long before you'll be factoring light levels, wind, humidity ..... as a matter of course into your determination of when to water - it'll become almost reflexive. I hardly even think about what I'm doing as I water - usually thinking about something else. If you're in doubt about whether or not the plant will be ok until your next opportunity to water ..... you can usually water w/o ill effects because of the nature of the soil you're using. - Would you recommend the seedlings in an intermediate pot before they go into their final 15gal homes? Personally, I wouldn't bother, but I WOULD be mindful of making sure I keep the soil moist where I think the roots are. IOW, if all the roots are in the top 3" of soil, you better water so the top 3" is moist enough to satisfy water demands. As noted, if you run into this issue at transplant time, you can set the fabric bags on the ground (to take advantage of the earth's wicking action, or set things up so an actual wick is keeping the lower part of the container from staying soggy - say if you have to water daily immediately after transplanting. Don't worry about asking questions. That's what drives the forums. If I can't answer, there are a lot of smart folk here who can help. Once I'm a part of as thread I usually follow it until it fades away, so if you're getting replies from others (say on this thread) and I seem to have gone missing, it's just that I agree with what's being said & there's no need for me to add anything to 'their' able advice. If I think you're not getting good info, I usually offer some sort of input that will make whoever's following the thread view what was said in a light that shows it might not hold up to more than casual scrutiny. With the number of messages I get from people who actually make a point of saying they are totally confused by conflicting information, it's probably as GOOD thing for everyone if we make it more of a point to hold each other's feet to the fire so people can rely on what's being presented as good advice. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it. Thanks for the kind words, BTW. Al

sheilaaus122 - While I was struggling with the first chapter of The Sound and the Fury I did look online to find out just what the hell I was reading. That definitely helped. It was still a challenge but once I understood who the characters were it all made much more sense. I suppose a "real reader" would just plow through and try to figure it out themselves. I didn't mind my cheat and I think it also explains, in part at least, why the book was not well received when published but praised later. Finish the book. You are so close. I have no plans to read anything else by Faulkner. ;-) BTW - When I showed DH what I was reading his reaction was: "The only good thing I can say about Faulkner is that it's not Dickens." haha He's right. Sort of. I'd certainly pick up another Faulkner before anything by Dickens.