The very best ones that I have in my yard are in the following order: Bream Tarocco blood orange (from UCR CCPP budwood program) Tarocco blood orange (regular one sold at retail) Joe's Tarocco (mutation that has a navel in them) Then these are followed by Salustiana Blood (potential sport mutation of Salustiana, but have to confirm this anomaly) Vainiglia Sanguigno (not a true blood, but acidless, lycopene pigmented) Moro Blood Orange Cara Cara Navel (this is a lycopene pigmented type) Sangunelli Blood orange (currently not the best tasting in my garden, but it is more than good enough). Most likely sold in the stores if the peel has distinctively red coloration. Tends to be dry, and the latest one to ripen. I still have this hanging on my tree. The unrated but will be tasting this year for the first time: Red Smith blood orange (should be really good or better than valencia oranges) Washington Sanguine Sanguina Doble Fina Ruby Blood Delfino And if you have guessed it right, they are all grafted together into my Pigmented Oranges Tree. There are others that I have tasted but not publicly available: PIGNU 3" oval diameter and 2.5" pole diameter. Shape is slightly oval. Skin is dark orange like tangerine with some microscopic red dots. Skin as some irregularities like wide allergy bumps. Doesn't peel very well, some flesh attached to the rind when peeling off. No trace of blood color in the flesh. Sweet taste like navel, but with some pleasant aroma. 5 seeds. SANGUINE GROSSE RONDE Round, 2.5" by 2.5" slightly flattened at poles. Skin is dark orange like tangerine with some microscopic red dots. Skin as some irregularities like wide allergy bumps. slighly fewer microscopic red dots but more bumpier skin than Pignu. Doesn't peel very well, worse than PIGNU, flesh attached to the rind when peeling off. No trace of blood color in the flesh. Sweet taste like navel, but very small amount of acid, almost insipid. has 16 seeds. Vaccaro Smooth skin with tiny red dots the effects of which are darker red orange peel color. Elongated, slightly longer at the poles than equatorial diameter. 3" pole diameter, 2.75" equatorial diameter. Some flesh adheres when peeled off by hand. pleasantly very sweet with hints of ripe pineapples, doesn't peel well. flesh is orange, no pigmentation at all. Only one seed. Entre Fina Smoother skin than Grosse Ronde and Pignu, but not as smooth as Vaccaro. Has very few roughness on the peel. Also have tiny red dots. Slightly oval with poles longer. 2.75" at the poles and 2.5" equatorial. As sweet as Sanguine Grosse but not as sweet as vaccaro. Flesh does not adhere to skin when peeled off carefully. Pulps are firm, like Pummelo. The segment skin are thinner than the others. It has very few red splotches scattered in the flesh all through out, but very very few, the red colored markings on the pulps are like the size of a regular sharpie permanent marking pen, and are found near the outer edges of the segments but within the flesh. 2 seeds. Burris Smoother skin than Entre Fina but not as smooth as Vaccaro. Skin has tiny red dots the effects of which are darker red orange peel color. Elongated, slightly longer at the poles than equatorial diameter, 3" pole diameter, 2.75" equatorial diameter. Can be peeled by hand without flesh coming apart or along. Nice blend of acid and sweetness, with some hints of passion fruit and pineapple. Flesh is orange. There are a few pulps that are partially pigmented reddish to purplish per sector. 2 seeds.

Drew, here is the link for your Valentina, if you are still interested : ) http://hartmannsplantcompany.com/miva/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=RB-W-2300&Category_Code=FRU-GR&Store_Code=hpcw

Under ideal conditions, ground cherries drop when ripe, and those are the ones which are eaten. They should never be picked off the plant. If ground cherries fall from the plant prematurely (the green ones) they will not ripen further with time... green ones stay green. Premature drops can be caused by dry soil, rough handling, strong winds, or heavy rainfall. A couple days of strong thunderstorms knocked many of mine down this week. Green ground cherries should not be eaten. They won't kill you, but will likely cause upset stomach if you eat too many. I've eaten a few half-ripe ground cherries mixed with ripe ones, and had no ill effects. Its worth mentioning that while the green ones should not be eaten, the seed within is mature. If the green ones are thrown on the ground, many seeds will germinate the following Spring... maybe even hundreds. That's why I never have to plant them. ;-) ....(The same can be said of tomatillos.) Other than cutting off a branch that was in the way, I've never trimmed ground cherries; but I don't see why not, as long as it is less than 1/2 of the plant.

Hi Michiele, Landscaping around a pool that is in full sun, or at least in lots and lots of sun, can be very challenging. Often the heat that reflects from the pool and the pool deck are very hard on plants. When you are landscaping near a pool area, I think grass is always best because it can take the most abuse, from being walked on, having beach balls bounce through it, etc. To keep weeds to a minimum, put down a good quality woven landscape fabric, plant your grasses and add some mulch. When choosing a mulch, it is often better to use some sort of stone like river rock or lava rock because bark mulches tend to blow into the pool. Interplanting a taller ground cover like ornamental grass with a shorter ground cover can be difficult. Creeping ground covers like Asian Jasmine or Boston Ivy may tend to 'climb' up the clumps of grass. If you have a taller ornamental grass, then a shorter ground cover may get too shaded by the taller grasses and not fill in as well as you would like. You might try ice plant or creeping sedum. They also are creepers more than vining climbers so they would be easier to maintain. Both are very tough and can handle the reflected heat from the pool's concrete or stone surround. If you are going to have a taller form of ornamental grass, you could use ornamental blue fescue, fiber optic grass or blue-eyed grass as the shorter plant to fill in around the larger ones. It can be hard to combine ornamental grasses with shorter ground covers underneath them because the shorter plants can be overwhelmed by the larger grasses. A mixed planting of ornamental grasses, creeping groundcovers and dwarf shrubs can be used quite effectively if the plants are in scale with one another. You might go to the website for High Country Gardens (I think it is www.highcountrygardens.com) and look at their ground covers. They have a lot of uncommon plants that are suited to tough conditions. Good luck, Dawn