I have NEVER seen any fall color on silver maples here maybe a scant yellow for a day and then brown...Maybe you have a differnt variety there. I had one at my old house loose a limb and take out the neighbors garage that cost me pleanty I had my neighbors take out my fence .. we had one down the road take out the power for about 1000 folks. I have another neibor who lost half of his last wiointer the rest doied and it's 80 feet tall it will cost a fortune to take down now and have it cut up or hauled away you can't use it for fire wood it's to soft and crummy!! As Ia kid my father had several planted for quick shade and I spent most of every summmer taking care of falling branches ...As I said If you like 'em go for it .As far as seeds there were NO SM's withjin 800 yards of me 5 years ago and now except for the thousands that are popping up in any unmowed place in my yard ...they do FLY!!..But in the final result It's all a persoanal choice based on personal experiences ... Mine are obviously differnt from yours and from the posts here I have much more company than you as far as opinions on the silver maple but there is nothing wrong with having a minority opinion ...again good luck ..David

Oh when it rains it pours! After having a good hot day and only a 30% chance of rain forecasted, I though we would get a dry day under our belt. No such luck. This evening we got another storm, putting down another 8/10 tenths of rain. Dave, your advice is spot on, but when it rains this much and just about every single day, I canÂt even do what you suggest. I can do what Anney suggested. I have lots of 5 quart ice cream pails that I can cut the bottom out of and fill with planting mix. At this time it seems that may be my only viable option. Do you guys think I should forego putting my black plastic down? The positive thing about not putting the plastic down is; less walking around in the garden, therefore less compaction. The negatives are; soil not as warm, having to deal with weeds and isnÂt this next one ironic. Having the plastic down would keep the soil moist should the summer turn to be very dry. I guess after typing this out it seems that it would be best to put the black plastic down. I am including a picture of one of the ice cream buckets with the bottom cut out, to get some thoughts as to whether or not if they would do the job. Thanks for the input guys, I really appreciate it. David

Klem; I think you mean millions and millions and millions of miles. Is this the road, or the driveway? And if so, the number one question; what do other houses around it have?

Unfortunately you are not the first to find this problem when growing in containers. I am somewhat amazed that the cannas could receive enough water and nutrients to produce this growth in your container. You must be doing something right. Do you happen to know which canna cultivar you are growing and how many plants/rhizomes did you plant in each container? In your lengthy growing area, cannas typically need to be divided, thinned and replanted each/every spring. A 22” container needs to start with only one or two small healthy plants in the spring. The container may look bare to start but good plant or root stock will easily fill this container and reach its full potential each year. The choice of cultivar and container size will often be a determining factor in successful results. Because many of these containers can be expensive I would recommend removing the rhizomes however you find suitable. Do not be concerned about cutting or damaging the rhizomes. You will likely find that most will survive the surgery and you will likely have more pieces than you need to replant. In fact, your biggest problem is the removal and what to do with the excess rhizomes. Good luck and let us know how things work out. Kent