Thanks! Yes - @Dawson, definitely have critters in the neighborhood, the neighbors non-fenced gardens were hit pretty bad last year. Squirrels, chipmunks, voles, and occasionally deer. Strangely enough, haven't ever seen a rabbit, but it seems likely they'd be around. I think we'll build a raised bed in the back, but i'll try the melon and maybe the squash in both places and see how it goes. Have seen a couple articles on trellising melons & squash, maybe that would be a more attractive way to incorporate them into the front. Not sure that will deter the critters, but at least they'll have to climb for it! :)

Dave, These are the ones that ripen the earliest for me: 1. Little Ruby - What a delicious fig it is! Ping pong ball size, but watermelon sized flavor! If you like Fig Newtons, Little Ruby's flavor is identical to them. It started ripening on July 28th., this year. This is its third year for me, acquired as a tiny 3" tissue cultured slip of a thing in 2016. It is precocious. Last year, 2017, it produced 12 figs that promptly dropped just before ripening. I thought this was a bad omen of disappointment ahead. Boy, was I wrong!This year it produced 70 figs, dropping none, about 10 of which are still ripening. It is a miniature fig tree....small tree, small foliage, small figs, currently 16"H x 24"W. She's getting some drastic pruning for next year to make her more upright growing. I do not envision her ever getting more than 3-4 feet tall, even with very light pruning. Any pot bigger than 10 gal. would be too large, IMHO. 2. Petite Nigra 3. Violette de Bordeaux 4. Little Miss Figgy (supposed to be a cross between Chicago Hardy and Violette de Bordeaux, aka.Negrone) 5. Black Spanish Mission 6. Beers Black 7. Green Ischia 8. Conadria All the above fig trees ripen the majority, 80-90%, of their main crops between the first week of August until September 15, for me. That's ripening over a 6 week period. They are all delicious figs. Little Ruby has been described above. It's color is caramel brown. The next five figs are black and richly figgy/raspberry/sweet molasses flavored. Green Ischia and Conadria are super sweet and mild flavored, not nearly as strongly flavored as the first 6 figs, still very nice in their own right. Moses

It may be a toss-up as to whether you see any flowers this season. It takes 70-90 days after planting in full sun for flowers.......so that's around the beginning of September. Lack of sufficient sun could extend that a few weeks longer. I would be disinclined to move now in the midst of their growth cycle because of risk of damage as well as disrupting or aborting the bloom cycle. You can certainly try to move them but I would be very careful!

Popmoma, A quick correction pls if I might. Holiday cacti (Xmas & Thanksgiving) actually ARE cacti, REAL cacti tho' you appear to think otherwise. It's just that they are jungle cacti, rather than arid land cacti. And that makes them want humidity, unlike what most folks think. I wouldn't recommend them for beginning plant folks, who will not understand their soil or water requirements. Yes, Snake plants (Sansevierias) could be a good choice too, provided you not water them more than once every 2 wks or so. They do well w/ lower light conditions too. I notice Travis (the OP) hasn't responded yet, but Rhizo asks an excellent question abt why Travis wants a plant.