Unfortunately I haven't really received an answer to my question. I plan to space them how far apart each plant should be spaced. OK. I would prefer to use a window box, so however many gallons the thing has to be to plant 4 green bean plants without overcrowding them, please specify the dimensions of the window box and what size it has to be in gallons. 6" deep, 6" long and 6" wide. I assume since I'll be planting 4 bush green bean plants and this is how many I want in a container without overcrowding them after I thin them, that I should plant double the amount of seeds with the number of plants I plan to grow since I'll be thinning them out to the strongest plants later? First, the idea of thinning to leave just the strongest plants is silly. What criteria determines which plant is strongest? Sometimes the little weaklings go on to do impressive things once they reach their stride, and the rapid growers peter out and become weak, but I digress. If you will only be planting 4 bush bean plants it isn't really worth your time. You will, at best, get 1-2 light side meals from that amount. Bush beans are usually planted with 3-6" spacing. Root system crowding/competition is pretty much never a limiting factor for them, instead sunlight exposure is. If you plant them too densely the ones in the middle shaded by the sunny side ones become the primary limiting factor. In a container you have the luxury of rotating it for sun exposure so you can plant a little more densely than in the ground. In a trough style container you can go even more dense since the mass of leaves is only as wide and the narrow container. If it were me and I was using a container 30" long by 6" wide by 6" deep I would place 20 bush bean plants into that space. That's 3" per plant. I would also fertilize with a 3:1:2 ratio fertilizer such as Miracle Grow 24-8-16. Don't count on the myth of beans/legumes using atmospheric nitrogen when growing in containers. Heck, half the time you can't even count on it when growing in the ground. With a trough shaped container this amounts to 2 rows of beans and I would rotate the container every day or every other day to get both sides adequate light.

Hello, neighbor? Much of the literature recommends that hybrid teas be planted in groups of 3 for the best effect and I agree. I find my Olympiads to be very tall and narrow plants. As to the lopsided appearance, I think that most of the grafted roses I have purchased since 2009 have paled in comparison to the purchases made in the years previous. The plants are smaller and the grafts are weaker. Others may disagree. I blame the Great Recession. The growers just are'nt doing a good job until they think they will have a brighter future. Kim is right not to dig it up and turn it, and Steve is correct that it should be pruned to 'open up' the middle with the canes to the outside of the bush. Don't be afraid to prune it hard. This encourages basal breaks which are the future of any grafted rose. And remove any small, twiggy growth along the canes. Then start your spray program for the year. Also, if you live near Durham, NC, consider in the future taking any of the free classes at Witherspoon Rose Culture. They've already covered the spring pruning last month, so you'll have to wait until next year, and their website is a good source of information.

I started to look this up when I realized that I cut my Spicebush back all the time and during any time that I am raising SBST. So go ahead and trim. But, be careful not to trim berries. If you can pick those when they are red, you can grow more trees from seed. Small 4" pots, put in the seed at least an inch deep. Place pots in one of those open weave trays. Cover the top with another open weave tray. Duck tape to keep the critters out. By next spring you will have new little trees. Thanks to Carol Ivory a master gardener in Reston for this neat tip.

I only grow Insuk's Wang Kong as an ornamental, which essentially means I've admitted defeat and know I'll never get enough seed here to use it as an edible. It is such a pretty plant and so vigorous. It was the first bean variety this year to climb to the top of the 8' tall garden fence. This year the other long-lived pole bean from the spring planting has been TenderStar. It also is a runner bean (Phaseolus coccineus) instead of a standard bean (Phaseolus vulgaris). It is described by retailers as a cross between a runner bean and a French bean. It is the only runner bean I've ever grown that produced a harvest in May from seeds sown in March. Often the true runner beans (P. coccineus) do not produce a harvest until fall----if they survive the summer heat. It also is the only runner bean I've grown that has produced a harvest in May and June and still is producing in July. I stuck the runner beans back in the far NE corner of the garden so that I wouldn't have to look at them much (the garden gate is at the SW corner of the garden) if they didn't do well. So, naturally, they're doing great and I enjoy looking at them this year. The blossoms are beautiful and so far the plants themselves have been pretty resilient, fighting off bean rust in May and early June, and tolerating a sustained attack by several pests including spider mites and grasshoppers. The first couple of years I tried TenderStar, it did not produce impressive yields, but that was more an issue caused by drought and extreme heat. Here, in the wettest year ever for us, it has been a very happy camper. We have a freezer full of beans that will carry us through the next year and I really don't need to plant any for fall. I might plant some anyway just for the sheer pleasure of having fresh ones all autumn.