Great update, Ray! I didn't get my peppers and tomatoes into the garden until May 1st. Last year it was an even milder Spring - though we had a little less rain. This is my third year growing peppers. I have a 3 year-old Hungarian Hot Wax pepper that has become more and more prolific with age. Not only does the woody trunk support more pods, but it seems that the pods are also hotter/more flavorful. Since all peppers are perennial, pruning them back - foliage and roots - is the best way to keep them vital and producing. My goal is to keep my peppers alive over the winter for as many years as possible. Josh

Zoysia in Maryland? Although it will grow a few months in a year in MD, it is not a great choice for the area? Z-52 aka Meyers is the most cold tolerant of Zoysia, it is still a warm climate grass best suited south of I-40 corridor like from North Carolina and south on the east coast.

Oh my, Marie! You have so much still in bloom, and lots of other beauties, including Phoebe, the water, and the barn. I like this windy pics too. The row of silver maples almost give me a feel of the wind. :-) As I have said before, you have many plants that I have never tried, and that probably would not do well here. Does the Crocosmia survive in the ground? I tried some, and they never returned. What are the purple leaves in front of the Tigereye Sumac? It looks familiar. Our native sumac are the winged and the smooth. Thank you for the day at your farm. Marian

Hi jkom51, Thanks so much for posting pictures of your tree trunks - again, lovely looking trees! Now I have some idea of what to expect when my in-ground Meyers (hopefully) get to be the same age. Hard to tell, but relative to leaf size, the trunks look to be about 3-4 inches in diameter, is that approx. right? I'm a bit surprised actually since I thought they'd be much thicker at this age. It's also intersting to me that the diameter of your newer/store-bought Meyers (presumably on dwarfing rootstock) look to be about the same thickness as the germinated-from-seed/older one out back. A couple other observations: Both (newer) Meyers are on raised beds, so any disadvantage you may have otherwise encountered in planting your trees too deeply (like Phytophthora) are negated by their excellent drainage in being planted higher than your general soil level (I would contend). Also, as I'd thought, your oldest/sprouted Meyer may have had it's root crown exposed higher up initially before erosion had covered it. As you say it is in a site that is quite sloped, excessive moisture around the trunk (and therefore crown rot) is not too much of a concern given no standing water. I do have a question about your oldest Meyer surviving our dry summers on purely run-off. Do you mean to say that it derives water from a natural underground spring, or that you water the surrounding area by hand/drip and this eventually works its way to that tree? I ask since my Meyers are also on an extremely steep (about 20 degrees) slope, and I'm wondering if they'll survive on no summer water eventually once they're more established. Best, Tim