"Now I am off to read an old article I saved on Cottage Gardens...who knew I would ever need it LOL." ME!!! hahahaha!!! : ) I am so happy you'll be partaking in this style of gardening. And I'm really looking forward to seeing the results. So glad you're keeping the picket fence, too. Nothing says cottage like a picket fence. : ) A shade tolerant rose you might want to consider is Therese Bugnet. I'll link you to a pic of mine. She was young here and in the shade. Now she's in the sun and not liking it much so she's on the list to be moved. She is a rugosa with lovely pinkish-lilac blooms. Btw, did you get your shelves in the kitchen? I haven't been online much - vacation and lots of spring cleaning, inside and out. I've done so much painting that the fumes feel permanently imbedded in my nose. Still have the butler pantry/laundry room to go . . . sigh . . . I'm desperately seeking that light at the end of the tunnel. Hugs, Diana Here is a link that might be useful:

Treeskate, I use a microwave terra cotta press that I bought several years ago. Lee Valley microwave press Its trial and error to time the pressing right -- generally 30-60 seconds will do it. Its easy to overdo it. Sometimes I will do 15 seconds at a time and check. Then I store them in flat plastic storage containers with silica gel packs. (Start saving them when you see them with many products). I keep it all in a closet until ready to tackle the project. I'm so glad you asked about the pressing. I am excited to see that Lee Valley sells the replacement pads for the press. I need some and I couldn't find them anywhere. I didn't even know what they were made of til I just went to that link to find the press. I've been using felt (when I burnt my original pads this year) but it isn't quite as good. There is a plastic version of a microwave press too. I'm sure the old-fashioned book method is just as good, but I only used it for a few ferns that were too big for the microwave press. I also used some leftover 13" square tiles (with papertowels). Terrene, your bouquet sounds lovely but now you're getting into an area that requires skill and creativity!!! The solo foliage is soooo much easier. I think just foliage is also a more contemporary aesthetic. I would like the bouquet, but I don't think my recipients would so much. When I first got the press and started collecting flowers for it, I found them much harder to work with. Many flowers have to be "re-built" petal by petal if they have thick centers. Flowers also strained my limited creativity. Simple foliage is a no-brainer. Right up my alley! Also as far as UV protection, I checked the glue I use and it does say it is UV resistant. Unfortunately, I did not use it as a top coat over the foliage. I think I will try an experiment with coated and non-coated and put them in a sunny room and see what happens. There is also such a thing as UV resistant glass, but I didn't pursue that. ALso, when gluing the foliage on card stock, they don't always lay flat when glued, depending on the leaf substance. I put a piece of waxed paper over them and then put them in a really big book (American Hort Society Encyclopedia of Gardening) for at least a couple of hours. Then they are secure for further handling and framing.

Good luck but do you realize the Sun Gold is one, if not the, largest tomato plant there is? It averages 8-10' tall and 4-5' wide and easily tips over even the biggest tomato cages. :) Not that it will be able to grow to that size in such a small amount of soil but it can still easily topple the entire planter. These planters work well for small, compact varieties of plants, varieties intended for containers, providing you give them ample nutrients for all and plant plants with similar water and nutrient needs. But normal varieties of peppers, cukes and squash could easily dwarf the container as well as shade any and all plants below them. I admire your initiative but you can improve your odds of success drastically by choosing more realistic plants and varieties. Consider Tumbling Tom tomatoes or even Patio, some of the mini-pepper varieties like Redskin Patio and some of the dwarf cuke varieties now available. Good luck and enjoy your experiment. Dave

I would, but I've just too much to do. I started a challenge a couple weeks ago where I'm going through room by room and getting rid of what we no longer need. This week is the pantry, though Monday I got pulled to the drink station cabinet because I found tea in the pantry and when I opened that cupboard, I realized it could use a little moving around of things. It's like dominoes. LOL. If I don't keep up with these things they get out of control, I live with three males, so I do these challenges on a somewhat regular basis. I am planning on turning Wednesdays into "Crafting/Sewing" so maybe next week.