ogrose, I plant my heirloom tomatoes where they have afternoon shade - give them fish emulsion and then stand back and watch the miracle tomatoes grow! They are absolutely the most delicious "maters", and most of them produce gigantic fruit. And let me tell you kid - you have never had spaghetti or lasagna until you've tasted it made with Brandywine tomatoes to make the sauces. OMG! :) In the photo below: Mortgage Lifter heirloom tomato in my hand and Red Brandywines and more M.L.s in the bowl. I have heard so many people state that the heirlooms take too long to make fruit and don't make a lot of fruit. My heirloom tomatoes put on fruit about the same time as all the other tomatoes and start to ripen around the middle of June...not really much later than the hybrids. The only tomato that produces earlier is Early Girl. But when the determinate hybrids kick the bucket, the indeterminate heirlooms will keep on making fruit, as long as the daytime temps don't exceed 98 degrees, that is. Then all tomatoes will all just sit there and sulk. Humph! As for quantity - well, consider that they make LARGE freaking tomatoes! Each plant may have four or five tomatoes ripening, vs. the hybrid which may have 6-10. But, they are two or three times bigger tomatoes! You are getting the same amount of fruit per pound. And the flavor...out of this world. I like to grow many varieties because it gives me a wider choice of tomato flavors, but it also extends my tomato production on into the Fall. Anyway... I can't wait! Fried Green Tomatoes, Tomatoes and okra, Tomatoes with Macaroni, Lasagna, Spaghetti, BLTs, Hamburgers, On pizza, and in eggy, cheesy Quiche (yummy), I love sliced Tomatoes Marinated with fresh Basil in a mixture of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, splash of water, salt & black pepper, and a touch of sugar. Serve with warm Italian bread and a good red wine. Heaven.....pure heaven!

If you are planning perrenials in between, you more or less have to leave the room as the daylilies will crowd out the other flowers. This only works in all daylily sections in my opinion. I didn't crowd them like this in my mixed beds but instead spaced them far apart and put in annuals in between. But you could do them in clusters and later when they fill in too much you could move the middle one. This is just my idea and the close spacing goes against conventional wisdom. I have been gardening for a very long time and beaking the rules most of that time. You should see my rose gardens. Planted really, really close and some I have had that way for 4 years already. Needs more plunning but works for me. My yard is also not big and I refuse to waste space.

Happy 2014 BO!! ROBERT!! EVERYONE !! Gosh. Things have gotten a bit busy for me.. but I'm hoping to catch up with all of YOUs soon. Okay Bo, yes, yes, yes, yes, and YESSS to all 5 of those plants. I haven't stalked Logee's website for a while but let me see... -My favorites for fragrance are the Jamaican Lady and the Chinese Perfume. But the other Lady of the Night (brunf. gigantea) is so easy to live with, has a nice scent and wafts incredibly far. -If you like the smell of Banana then Michelia figo is perfect. Grab a Rauwenhoffia siamensis too! (Similar scent. I like both.) -I love Jasmine Maid, but maybe you could sub it for a Jasmine Belle?? Belle's bloom lasts longer (2 days) comparing to Maid's. Belle has a stronger scent too. Bo, you need to stop by Portland Nursery and grab a pot of Daphne! Mine has started blooming a few days ago (since Christmas). This is its 3rd season, and its jasmine-ny & ginger-ry (lol) fragrance is so beautiful. You too Robert; yes, you need to have a pot of daphne as well! Lol. :)) I wonder how fenius's daphne is doing? Happy New Year, everyone! :))) This post was edited by kemistry on Wed, Jan 1, 14 at 21:09

You're in the same zone (8B) as we are here in central Texas though I suspect that you have cooler nights than we do, and your first freeze data (if there is such a thing in Santa Clarita) is probably later than ours. Right now, we could potentially plant winter squash and melons. I have planted some recently, and so far so good. It's a little late for sweet potatoes for us, but your season is probably longer. I actually plan on planting a few late sweet potatoes to see how they do - will probably have to protect with covers once it gets close to first frost date. You could also choose a relatively quick-growing sweet potato variety. Here we would not plant regular potatoes just yet - next month would be better. Right now with many days of temperatures over 100 F, the only things I am planting are okra, black-eyed peas, and hot-weather specialty greens such as molokhia, vegetable amaranth, and purslane. Will be planting other things in August-October; many other choices will be in planting season then for a fall crop.