Here's hoping that we can keep it. There are a lot of Canadian gardeners who are doing winter sowing. That is how I got most of my perennial plants when we moved here.

OMG. Doris, this is awesome news. We'll actually have a place where we can all relate to the same times that things sprout and how big they're getting. We won't have to look enviously anymore at our southern neighbours planting out already and we haven't even got our first sprout. Thank you, thank you, thank you, GardenWeb. Doris, as a celebration of being the first on our forum to find it, go and be the first to post on it. We'll all join you later. : ) Shauna

We've had very few mosquitoes this year, which is perfectly fine by me. I never have very many ladybugs, and really wish there were more. The only time i ever see them is in the fall. Our cabbage butterflies have just started too (also fine by me), and i haven't noticed a lot of moths or butterflies either, but that's not unusual here either. We have a lot of birds and bats around. I've noticed a lot of bees lately too. We always have a fair number, but the population seems to have increased in the past week or so. I have had sawfly larvae on my roses too, and aphids on the apple tree, and there are ants like you wouldn't believe. Or maybe you would! :> Marg, what kind of bird is that? The ones we have around here now are young ones too. This morning, the female hummingbird baby kept displaying in front of me - i think the message was "Fill the bird feeder, woman!" LOL

Austin has some pockets of really truly cr@ppy soil, and some good stuff. Soil tests are our friends. Learning about the different solutions for amendment. I have heard that some people with red death clay have brought in some composted HARDWOOD native mulch and tilled 6" in and then not done anything with it for a year and let it rot. Others have loaded on 6 inches of compost and let the bugs cary it into the dirt. Sounds almost to good to be true. I used to live on clay. Not red death but a river cut bank with round river rock in it. Everytime I was out their with a shovel, I had compost from the Natural gardener to work into it. It got to be glorious dirt. I could grow everything. I thought I was a good gardener till I moved to 30 miles west of Austin on a high limestone hill with caliche and marl with mostly not much topsoil in the area around the house.. Many natives need to have the clay worked into loam by the bunch grass roots. that have broken it down. Find native grasses that want to break down the clay. Find a way to create structure in the clay. Gypsum, expanded shale, compost . Be aware the adding sand or decomposed granite has to be done in conjunction with more than equal amounts of mulch. One has to add at least 50% sand to have the clay not go back to cement. Research research research. I live on caliche now and I created raised beds in some areas where I grow vegetables because it was easier and immediate. I recommend compost tea. Geo Growers and the Natural Gardener for soil products. If you have a recurring bug or decease problem, step back and let the soil heal itself. I had to step back from squash because of the squash bug. I am giving my whole garden a rest this year and growing green manure. The arugala, leeks, kale and chard have not heard that I am not growing anything this winter.. When it is hot, I start vegetables in pots in the shade.