I think I jumped on Dave's last note about the heat as well but I shadow his comments. Call it just bad timing or whatever but when I began this extensive yard remodel and landscaping job 4 years ago I never anticipated what climatic pressures I would face in trying to re-establish the new gardens. Three years ago when I finished the first re-planting and lost quite a few conifers to summer heat I chalked that up to inexperience in working with exotic conifers in this area. I knew I was bringing in some varietals that were risky for my climate zone but thought I had a micro-climate plan to get around mother nature. And I made the typical mistake of doing a lot of my conifer planting in the more traditional springtime. All mistakes. Then I re-grouped last year and brought everything in the fall of 2010 so it could better acclimate by spring 2011. But then I battled 62+ days of 100+ temps - the hottest in Oklahoma history - and it was a disaster. Again everyone told me I just wasn't watering enough to carry them through the heat peaks so this time I laid in a complete drip system for every individual tree and spray systems for the general flower beds. Once again I laid in all new plant materials to replace the ones that had died, picking a lot more conservative varietals this time. I also made the move to younger 3-5 year old stock on many of the larger specimens hoping they would acclimate quicker than older stock. You really can't go much younger than that outdoors here because 2-3 year old grafts just can't hardly survive the extreme heat. So now we come to spring 2012. First, it was a very mild winter here which was great for me because all my stock was settling in nicely and spreading out their root systems. Then we had the first real spring in Oklahoma we've had in years. Most of the last 5-10 years we've gone from cold harsh winters right into summer heat, but this year we had very mild temps and everything came in very lush. So I was excited for the first time in years hoping if I could just get one year of mild temsps in the summer as well, then my newer stock could finally get established with some deeper roots. Well that was not to be. While we didn't get as hot as early, the harsh heat did finally arrive. As of today we just crossed our 24th day above 100 with no end in sight. There is a little break coming in the forecast where we only are expected to be over 100 four of the next seven days, but the real damage is now beginning to be seen. In the first month we went hot and began to see consistant 100 days with 80 nights, I lost 3-4 smaller newer plants pretty quickly. But you usually expect some of the smaller newer guys to fall. Then I went 30-40 days with almost no real damage. A little needle burn here and there but as would see the damage begin I tried to put up protective shade cloth to give them a break. But let me tell you guys something. If there is one thing I have learned very well this last three years it is I have a very good understanding now of the incremental difference between a few high 90 days with 70 degree nights to recover, and dealing with consistant blast furnace heat during the days and 80+ night temperatures. There is a tremendous difference in how a conifer's needles can handle the temperatures at 95 day after day versus 100, versus 105, and versus 110+. While our total 100+ day count will not beat last year's records, our peak temperature records did. We had 3 consecutive days over 110 and another one two days later. I saw a bi-color spruce that had a 3' cedar wall a few feet away from it, drop all of it's needles in 48 hours above that wall height. It was the most bizzare thing I ever saw. The tree was doing fine, water drip soaked every 2-3 days. Then the three day 110 degree breezes went through and the next day during watering all of the needles above the 3' wall just fell off exposing the white dead buds.....they were literally cooked off the tree. It was the strangest looking thing I ever saw. But that three days of 112-113 started a landslide of damage now that cannot be stopped. I'm seeing lots of needle burn now in trees that have been in the ground for quite a while...mostly finer needled trees or golden colored varietals. Most of my Picea abies are now browning. My Pinus strobus and Pinus parviflorsa are all burning now as well. And this is regardless of shade cloth or how much water you give them. There are just temperatures they cannot survive when exposed for several days in a row. So like Dave, what I am realizing is what used to be the exception on extreme heat and drought summers, is for now the norm. I kept thinking the next year would be when it breaks but that hasn't happened now for 3 years and no-one knows when this current cycle of heat domes over the midwest plains is going to end. So I too have begun replacing all my conifer losses now with other hopefully still interesting tree stock, but tree varietals that are much more accustomed to desert type conditions. It's sad but what can you do. mark

Hazel, how exciting to hear about your plants! It's a fun and rewarding time of year, isn't it? I have decided not to worry so much about doing every little thing just so, Dawn is right, plants know what to do. SO. . . when did you plant your beans? You planted them from seed? What kind of beans did you plant? I have not planted mine yet but I'm thinking I need to get on the ball and do it. My habit has been to plant later rather than earlier and I think this year I want to go ahead and get my seeds in the ground. It's been a warm and extremely dry season so far. I'm sure the colder temps are behind us. I just want RAIN!! My carrots and beets are still very small but at least they have a start. Everything I started indoors, under the grow light I made, I have been very disappointed with. (I'll do my homework for next year) I started my squash and cukes too early and I'm just going to plant seeds next week. My tomatoes are just pitiful. I think I'll keep trying and transplant next month and have a back up plan with plants from a nursery. Here in Enid, my selection is a joke, BUT actually last year I bought a cherry tomato plant, variety unknown, that just did marvelous and produced till the frost did it's number on it. My peas that I planted from seeds look great, about 3" tall now. Oh how I hope I get a good crop, I do love my peas! My asparagus is doing superb, almost all of the 18 or so plants have sprouted and are now covered with soil and hay. Dawn, you have so much experience and give great advice, so here is a question for you. What kind of Espoma do you use? I had no idea there were so many to choose from! I also have been adding organic material to my soil for the past couple of years and it's looking good, I would like to simplify things and get a basic fertilizer, if that is what can be done. I have had the OSU extension center do soil sample tests on different parts of my garden for a couple of years and my pH is good, just needs a bit of potassium and phosphorus, which I have added. Thanks all!

Does this seem a little extreme here in my zone 5/6 Ohio? My first floor has R19. It's over Code. But Building Science Corp.'s Dr. Lstiburek's rule of thumb is that for any home north of the Mason Dixon Line, follow the 10, 20, 40, 60 rule. That's R Value for, respectively, basement slab, basement walls, above grade walls and attic. If you're planning to stay for awhile and the labour is yours, there may be an economic payback. The space will definitely be more comfortable. My biggest fear is trapping water with too much insulation. At Roxul sales displays, they like to run a water fountain through a chunk of their product. The water runs right through and is not absorbed. will my basement still be the coolest part of my house in the summer? Well, mine have been. But that's probably because of the leakage of HVAC-cooled air into the basement, where the cooling equipment is also located. Is it ok to just add fiberglass insulation without a vapor barrier, and close up with sheetrock? Unless you're in an extreme cold climate such as northern Alaska, leave the poly vapour barrier out. All you need is painted drywall as a vapour retarder. in the rim joist, I have 1" of closed cell foam covering the entire rim joist. Should I add XPS boards and seal, or just add unfaced fiberglass there as well? Either one works. See illustration below from Building Science Corp. Info. Sheet 511, p. 2.

Thank John for additional data point on BlueStar. 3min 40sec seems to be consistent with Trevor's test on Capital 3min 36sec with 25k BTU burner. For my AEG induction wok hob @ 3.2kW, it takes just 2min 52sec to evaporate 80ml of water. It is best however to see in pictures how this behaves. This is a 14" wok that fits the curvature rather well. It sits with bottom half or third touching the recess area. This is somewhere around where the water edge is. It is also around the area where induction coil locates. You can see the darker seasoned area. That's where the main heating zone and my main cooking zone is. At a few seconds in after the induction unit starts on P, we can see bubbles forming. That makes sense as it is the area where induction coil is. At 11sec, steam starts to form. Bubbles now form a solid ring around the edge. At 16sec, steam starts to fill up my cooking area. At 41sec, this is smoking hot wok. Water is boiling vigorously though out. It is a bit difficult to see with this amount of steam, but you know what it is. This show the amount of steam from a different angle. At around 2min mark, the huge heat from induction is dying down. This is mainly because the water level drops below the area of the induction coil. So it is entering the much cooler spot. The heat that keeps evaporating the water now is from conduction, which is not the best thing for thin carbon steel. You can see that it takes quite a long time to evaporate this very small amount of remaining water. The slight red glow clearly shows where the induction coil is. At last, we get there by 2min 52sec. Cheers to induction wok hob. You're the best.