Along with the sedums and sempervivums (hens and chicks) you could try mother of thousands. When I Googled it, the name of the first one I saw was Kalanchoe daigremontiana, Crassulaceae. I have a couple kinds, one with narrow leaves, and the other with wide leaves. The only thing with them is they make new plants from the leaves and drop them, and they all seem to thrive. They are not perennials in our zone, though. I take some inside for the winter. While I don't grow them in sand, last year, we put several pots of cacti and one of these in sand in a planter, and they dropped plants into the sand, and they grew. Sue

It will be awhile. I have vegetable plants and flowers setting in my garage now waiting to plant. Local weather is saying we will have rain most of the week. If you already have the plants just keep them in a dry area and where they can get as much light as they can. The rain water will be great to water the plants when needed. If you plant in wet soil, the ground will harden around the plants and they may die. I will wait until a shovel in the ground brings drier soil.

According to Dave's Garden, most of them will take PH up to 7.5, so it's hard to tell if it will work or not since I am at the edge. I did try to lower the PH a bit using some peat moss, but it's hard to tell if it will work. Sulfur may work better, but I am more concern that I will apply it incorrectly. As for the retention pond, it's big enough for fish, but it does dry up in the summer. The woodland poppy has open its flower, I immediately spray it with some repellant. I notice that my tulips have all managed to spend one day in bloom before being destroyed, and I can't tell who's doing it. I am thinking it's either the rabbit or the squirrel. Paul

This topic sounds familiar. No plant prefers (grows better/healthier under) the stress inherent in root congestion. Some growers prefer to use the stress associated with tight roots as a tool to force the plant to react in predictable ways the grower finds desirable (more blooms, smaller leaves, shorter internodes ...... ). The advice that some plants do like root-bound conditions is born of assumption and a lack of understanding. First, you must assume the grower is using a soil that makes over-potting a serious concern to suggest growers accept the limitations of root congestion rather than the more severe consequences of the limitations that accompany over-potting. Then, any grower who understands the reason for concern about over-potting is pivotal on how much water the soil contains would automatically offer qualification or clarification re the advice given. As a blanket statement, the advice that any plant performs better when root bound cannot be supported. The first thing a person giving the advice does after being challenged is start qualifying what he/she said, which rightly should have been done when the advice was offered, and not as a justifying afterthought. Al