Hey Pitcom, never heard of that. That's pretty cool! What if both plots this year are brand new? Should I just select one as this year's harvest and the other as next? Does that also mean that I have to remove all the fruit and flowers from plot 2 (next year's harvest) now? That's so sad... What happens in the 3rd year? Do you keep rotating until one plot completely dies? I have read and seen videos on over-wintering (correct term?) strawberries but never sure how much of it really applies to Southern California since our weather seems pretty constant all year round. I've never kept a strawberry plant for more than one season. This is gonna be interesting!

Based on the Roses in Review reports from hundreds of growers around the country, it appears Double Knock Out does not get as large as the original Knock Out and is not quite as vigorous, but still is a nice rose. Rainbow Knock Out is clearly less vigorous than the original, not getting as big and not blooming nearly as much. Pink Knock Out is just about as vigorous as the original and might be a nice complement to it. Another rose to consider is Home Run. Lots of bright red blooms with yellow stamens on a disease-resistant plant. The blooms don't last as long as those of Knock Out, but it almost always has some blooms.

When in zone 10b I used to flank for the look, say, a tropical black framed with Asian lemons or a sunburst franked by two lakos. Now in zone 9a, I'm planting similarly not just for the look but also because the blacks don't take well to winters here. So, as you note, for freeze years it should still look pretty good and for years with no freeze it should look excellent. Unless space is a concern, no real reason to plant the clumps directly next to each other. I'd maintain some space for room to grow and to take future divisions.

"Can I plant a different variety of corn in those missing areas, or will that screw up the pollinating, or anything else. " Yeah not a good idea. You'll get cross-pollinating unless they just happen to be varieties with totally different DTM. And even in that case they will be so irregularly spaced that they will pollinate themselves poorly. Since it is the resulting seeds you eat on corn all the characteristics of both varieties will be altered negatively, Corn is unique in vegetables as it is the only crop that is affected the first year by cross-pollination. So saving seed from corn isn't usually done. That seed was a hybrid to begin with and has now been "hybridized" yet again by cross pollination. If possible just buy another packet of the same variety you used to plant, assuming you know what it was, and use that to fill in the blanks. Otherwise just take what you get to eat from the first planting but do not save any for re-planting. Hope this makes sense. Dave