My garden is in high raised beds. I border a couple of them with Italian parsley,started inside and transplanted out at about 4-6" apart. I try to harvest it and train it so it flops over the side (instead of into the bed). Its more than decorative though. We make and eat a lot of Tabouli. I have never had parsley flower the first year (in WI). And have actually only had it return once - then it went to flower mid-summer. To answer the original question - yes if you want a full cup of chopped parsley, it could take the whole plant (but it will grow back) Same with Basil a cup of basil leaves could defoliate a mid-sized plant. (depending on the type of basil). I am a "you can't have to much basil" kind of gardener. I grow it from seed and have 20-30 plants around the garden - I eat it in salads, on tomato sandwiches, chopped and tossed into garlic olive oil pasta, and I make lots of Pesto in the fall. Love it!!

I grow blueberries in a container for past 6-7 years and for the past few years, noticed that the problems are growing. Initially, only applying an acidic fertilizer did the trick; then I started applying an acidifier to the plants and last couple of years none restored them. Finally I have figured that I needed to also apply iron supplement to my plants. They did not really look like they'd have chlorosis. Secondly, I have baby blueberries growing in a container in addition to mature plants. When I forgot to water them during heat of summer, they came down with burnt leaf appearance overnight. I did water them but this seemed to have caused a trauma and till I applied iron supplement and fertilizer I did not see any active growth. Only time will tell if it is correct strategy; but for now, about 2 months after taking the steps described above, my plants look healthier than they have looked in a long long time. Overall, my experience with ALL my containerized plants, that were being consistently fertilized, has been that somehow they become iron deficient. Not all show obvious signs of chlorosis, but you will notice stunted growth. One word of caution : I have been using iron at half the recommended strength, and only a small amount to begin with until I see the plant respond favorably, and then I will go second round and apply the proper dosage. Hope this helps!

Update: Think I lost a few more due to hard freeze...waiting to see if there are any procrastinating seeds. But, the weather has warmed back up and it seems as though I will be getting a few more sprouts... 4/12: Aquilegia (Pink NOID) Aquilegia vulgaris (Clear Pink) 4/15: Allium cernuum Amorpha fruticosa Aquilegia NOID Iris tectorum 4/18: Syringa vulgaris (White) 4/21: Hibiscus moscheutos NOID from LVG Iris ensata ÂPicotee Wonder Iris sibirica ÂButter & Sugar Abelmoschus esculentus ÂEmeraldÂ

Yes, I have trouble with my lawn guys, too. They whacked off the top of my new sasafrass tree, right after I had pointed it out to them and ask them not to whack it down! So, now I'm waiting to see if it will still put out two stems, one of which will have to be air layered, so I can make a new leader out the other. Ah, well. I'm not going to let them mow the back yard at all. I like to keep the weeds agrowin' there, cause the butts love the wildness of it. They have all but crowded out any grass now. I have some really nice patches of white clover, which is the host plant for sulphurs and other butterflies, and I cut a wide swath around them when I am touring the yard so I won't step on any butterflies in the making. I also have lots of coniclinum coelistinum (Gregg's mistflower) growing there, and some other wildflowers I've yet to ID. Tons of dandelions, which are some of the first nectar plants to appear in spring. Tons of Queen Anne's Lace, and something that looks like a plaintain, but doesn't have the ribbed leaves like plaintain, so don't know what it is yet. Sprouts of Virginia Creeper, and a little heart-shaped plant that is growing either like a vine or a tree, but can't tell yet. Then another plant on which the new foliage is kind of a reddish-gold. There are these pretty little wild daisies in late summer that the butterflies LOVE! Something in the asteraceae family anyway. I wish I could get rid of the liriope back there. I just hate that stuff. My little pinellias are up - they are so cute, and I let them seed, so hopefully I'll get a huge patch of them. My Ariseaema triphyllum is up about 6" tall now; I guess the other one didn't make it. My arum italicum is looking so good. I love this plant because it is green all through winter (with the white mottling). I hope the acanthus mollis blooms this year. It sometimes doesn't, but is an architectural plant in and of itself. Blue Angel and Sum & Substance hostas are HUMONGOUS already. I really need to divide them. My 3rd year 'Titanic' is looking really, really beautiful! Has anyone noticed how bad slugs are this year? I have two little hostas that have been eaten to the ground already. My petasites is just looking awful in just the last week! Slugs! I have some DE but I just hate to use it right now because you have to put more down after every time it rains. After 5 years in an apparently "bad" location, I moved my cardiocrinum giganteum to a new spot in much more friable soil. It is up and the foliage looks so much better in the new space. I am hoping it will bloom in the next year or so now. I am getting flowers on my Aristolochia clematitus for the first time. This is their 3rd year in the ground. They are so tiny, and no noticeable odor at all. So cute! This is a great little plant - groundcover! Mediterranean, so it will take our hot summers. A. serpentaria is doing well, too, but I won't be getting more of it. It is said that it takes 25 plants of this to sustain one pipevine swallowtail. Oh, my Hops are up. I have one that is a golden variety, and it is gorgeous. It is growing by leaps and bounds, too. The first day, it was up about 2", the next 4", the next 6". I have to check today to see if it has eaten the shed it is planted next to. I have a clemmie (violaceae) in a 3" pot, and it is 3' tall. Think I should pot it up? LOL! Dawn, thank you for your encouragement in regard to my GD, Kenna. I hope she will have precious memories. I remember my grandmother who loved iris, and my great grandfather who loved 'tunies, or petunias. But, they never let me garden with them. That was back then, you know. Kenna loves to garden and she really loves to help collect the butterfly caterpillars and watch them grow. Susan