No need to freak out kim.....you can cut back just about anything.....it is a good practice once your plants have outgrown their planters and are drying out too fast.....my impatiens are becoming little trees and are drinking alot and may start to seperate in cooler months ahead...I will post a photo after I hack the hell out of them and the after they recover....I will be away for a week at the end of the month and everything would be dead when I come back if i didn't reduce them....regular petunias planted on the ground really benefit from heavy cutting back the last of july to avoid getting leggy......I think you should try the flowering kale at this late date for planting in your zone.......and a trailer like creeping jenny or vinca.....if you can find something small in flower like begonias or lobelia at this time of year and you can stuff it in there, do it...........this time of year you can get away with cramming in some plants because they will not have enough season left to be overplanted.......your kale and trailer planted so close to your house should get you to christmas.......another option would be geraniums or marigolds(or both) if you think you need a flowering plant......you could buy some kale put it in the ground, plant geraniums or marigolds for now with a trailer.....and swap them in november.....Kale will look nice to minus 20.......as long as snow does not lay on it you could have it well into january that close to the house, when choosing Kale, try to find some that the stems are not too tall, if they are a little leggy, plant them deep..........I don't believe you posted your supertunia photo kim......lets see what your other containers are doing

Caroline, your mums are really pretty. I have to tell you, I was so irritated at my "on a whim" purchase for these mums after reading everyone's posts...I had visions of really large, overflowing mums all the way through Halloween. Ha! Wishful thinking, right? I spent half the day today running around from nursery to nursery looking for some plants for a hanging basket. Yes, there's a lot of stuff on clearance/sale, but most of it just doesn't look appealing, unfortunately, and all the good stuff is gone. I tried the mums in my hanging baskets - you were right Ida - I didn't like them. My neighbor puts plants in hanging baskets that stand tall but don't hang over the side, and I don't care for the look of it. Hanging baskets should have hanging plants, right? I don't know what I was thinking. After searching all over town, I finally did find pre-arranged flower baskets, got them on clearance..but I'm sure they're almost finished blooming as well. I just can't win! :) I planted the mums around my Weigela - at about 10:00 this evening, after I transplanted my flower basket to my hanging baskets. Husband opened the door periodically, "oh my goodness, who gardens at this time of night?" ...then rolls his eyes and heads back into the house. LOL I had to laugh too, but I was determined to wake up tomorrow to nice hanging baskets and ferns once again. The mums look great, for now anyway. I threw the ferns away and purchased new ones. I tried overdosing them with water, but they just looked worse every hour, so I gave up. I also fried some Monarda I was growing in a pot, but I've been watering and watering and watering, and today they looked a little better. Hopefully, I'll get a bloom out of them yet, but I won't hold my breath. I fed my tomato plants tonight too, with a dose of Miracle Gro....in the dark...hopefully I won't wake up to "fried" tomatoes tomorrow (although, that actually sounds rather good right now). LOL Ok, that wasn't very funny.

Hi there, I figured you guys would be the experts to ask. I bought a "coconut geranium" from Richters Herbs. Nice foliage scent. I was wondering about the blossoms though. I researched pictures on google images and the blooms look pretty but tiny. Despite being tiny, do they appear in any great number or does the plant just throw out a few small blossoms at a time? I am thinking of putting this plant in a hanging basket but debating if I should include at least one other annual in the pot so at least there's always something blooming. I guess it's just a new way of thinking, I'm used to annuals that bloom their heads off (but have gone to more attractive foliage annuals as well). Thanks for your input, Glen

Image by: Taylor_TX Cockadoodle Cute Hanging Egg Basket by GJ Member Taylor_TX: The basket was a flea market find and the hanger was less than fifty cents from the local nursery. After lining with moss and adding soil, it was planted with sedum that will bloom with little yellow flowers - very appropriate for "chicken feathers" Member babblingbetty says that this would make a cute addition to her chickenfeed planters, but instead of hanging them, she'll probably use a 4' ladder picked up at an estate sale ....