Hi Chris, First off, I'm not a turfgrass professional, just a serious amateur turfie, so any recommendations I make should play second fiddle to your state's experts at Rutgers. If I'm reading your sun/shade descriptions properly, I would think you could go with 100 percent KBG in the front and backyards. The south side of the house might be a little iffy. If you want to go with the KBG, I suggest any of three time-tested cultivars that have been shown to be pretty decent shade performers: Brilliant, Apollo, and Unique. If you absolutely have to have really dark green, blend in some Moonlight. As to the fine fescues, I'll stand behind my previous recommendations to the Yooper, but would strongly urge you to mix in some hard fescue too, since it can stand some pretty tough duty, and that might be helpful in your muggy NJ summers. My pick of that litter would be Spartan II and Berkshire. Regardless of what you might read into the NTEP data, both of them have really good color and turf quality. I've observed them closely in person at Michigan State University's plots, and I was impressed. Now on a slightly different note, and one that ties-in with another current thread, I've never been a fan of mixes-combinations of two or more different grass species. This is not only because I like uniformity in turf, but also because the different species have different cultural requirements. KBG and fine fescue are good examples of this. Remember I said I'm just a serious amateur? Well, Dr. Trey Rogers, in his recent book "Lawn Geek", says he usually recommends the standard three-way mix for northern lawns: KBG, perennial ryegrass, and fine fescue. Who am I to disagree with the "Sultan of Sod"? Regarding your south side and its shade, last August I renovated a 1000 square foot portion of my backyard that gets maybe 2 hours of morning sun, followed by nearly total shade. I sowed a blend of Apollo and Princeton 105 KBG and, after a really slow start, it is looking pretty good now, in spite of the fact it apparently doesn't rain here anymore. Sorry for the long post. If you'd like to discuss this further I'd be happy to oblige. A.J.

Oh Boy.. You finally got MITES????! Congrats...lol Seriously. There was sone good suggestions here.. Thsi is what I do and I have yet to have a spider mite issue in my greenhouse, although that is not to say I don't have at least one mite in there.. In fact, when containing any kind of plant in any confined area, that is the chance we take and in fact quite common. Personally I thing every one of us folks that grows indoors has at least one pest or two. The key is to accept it, not to panic, never be disappointed if you think you rid them all and see on again, keep on top of them, never letting them take control, and prevention. I always keep a fan circulating the air in mine. I use a spray bottle, you know, the kind you spray pesticde out of, the big pump ones and spray my plants early in the a.m as frequent as possible. It keeps the air humid in there all day, keep the plants clean and discourages any pests.. The fan prevent disease problems and allows me to use water this way. I would not use all that Neem..It will eventually suffocate your plants if you use too much too often, including buds and new growth. I would use a good horticultural oil in a spray end bottle or one that attaches to a hose. Why don't you drain your hose so it won't freeze up or keep it stored inside until you use it again? That is what I do. I always have access to a hose even when it's below 0 Too, keep the area clean of debris and dead leaves, especially on the floor and on the shelves..I would also spay your pots and all surrounding area.. You should be able to fight this with ease//to be honest, i would rather have mite than scale or mealy.. Hopefully you have gained some good ideas from us here... P.s..Find a way to consistently spray down your leaves with water and keep a fan going..This alone will help prevent many issues! Mike

Chills, Re: passionflowers, ever heard of the cultivar 'Maypop'? I just bought some seeds. It is supposed to native to east cost USA (most probably to the southern parts). Most hardy, winter killed to ground, POPS up around May, hence the name, grows up again to produce flowers and edible-fruit same summer!? Same as the HC fig!? Looking forward for some more exotic flowers/fruit... George(NJ).

Morning!! Margo, it's not as bad to take care of as people think. I think because its bigger, its pretty self sufficient. I do need to get in it every month or so and weed. My water plants reproduce so quickly they would cover the whole top if I didn't. What's nice is I put all the pulled ones in a wheelbarrow and bring them down to the veggie garden. Pile them up and let them dry. I about a week they are bone dry. So dry they crumble! I use them for fertilizer. I don't know if its the pond water, fish waste or what but those plants work almost like miracle grow ;) Shirley, we have a Master Gardener's plant swap usually every year here around Mother's Day. I say usually, cause this year we didn't have one? I was so busy at the time, never asked why, and till you just mentioned it forgot all about it :) My fair swap has been growing a little every year by 1 or 2 people. :) A lot of the same people come every year once they get hooked. The like the variety of different things I bring every year. What's awesome is that it all comes from the gw. :) The seed swaps in the fall produce nice little babies for my swap. This year I tried a bunch of Dianthus.... I have Ipswitch, Black Adder, Yellow something I can't remember, Black Magic, Fire Witch...as you can see I got most of these from the Halloween swap last year :) I also have some different Althea's that I can't remember right now, lol. The turtle is officially done. He's not a fancy turtle, but, he does look cute. ;) The kids are so excited I hope he wins. Taylor was looking through the entry list for ecology classes. She's entering photography, art (painting and sculpture), sewing, flower arranging (gee, wonder where she's gonna get those?), and house plant arrangement. I have 1 house plant in my house. Taylor's zebra plant. This thing has produced 8 babies! She took my tea cup planter and planted them around in it. She then used one of my old spoons and stuck it in. Made a tea bag tag to tie to the spoon, " Taylor's Tea" It came out so cute! Billy is entering art. He made the most beautiful pastel drawing of a fish this year in kindergarten. It won an honorable mention at the school art show. I framed it. He's also entering the house plant arrangement too. We didn't have any house plants for him, but, we did have some hen's and chicks. So yesterday we got a pair of his old sneakers, washed them, and filled them with hen's and chicks. They are so cute!! Little blue sketchers!! So adorable!! My neighbor saw them when she was walking her dog and asked if they were going to be at the plant swap...lol! I have to get a photo of them. Have a great day!! vina Here's a weird one...found this double gaillardia. It looks like a science experiment gone wrong, lol.