I never thought I'd be learning so much about Edelweiss... I forgot it's the floret of leaves that are tinged white, and those are not the actual part of the flowers. I've had my alpine edelweiss for about 2 years (The photo's were taken in their second year of bloom. I believe the second photo is that of fresh blooms, the first being later on in the summer as the plant begins to grey and turn brownish/yellow). Nothing special was done for them when I had planted them. I didn't really have space in my rock garden and didn't care where I put them or if they lived or died.... (I bought them from Reno Depot for a dollar or two) So PaulNS, I did exactly what you had mentioned earlier - I planted them between two slabs of rock or concrete! If you look at the second picture, at the very bottom, you can see the linear concrete border which I tried to edit out. It seems they are doing quite well there (in compacted, ammended with gravel, clayish soil/full sun). I'm surprised to hear that some may have more of a greenish tinge to the head of leaves. I imagine that would look really interesting. I did a search for edelweiss on google and found a picture where they looked somewhat greener and yellow. I wonder if there are different hybrid varieties out there... Here is a link that might be useful:

Excellent! Glad to hear that Crassula arborescens is a more thirsty variety. I am slowly planning landscaping part of my yard with succulents. Before I relandscape, I am in the process of trying out individual specimens to see what fares best in my climate. Sounds like Crassula arborescens might be a good landscape candidate. jonaskragebaer - I have to say, I know very little about Denmark. During your wet summers, how hot is it there? My (admittedly limited) trials with succulents show that it isn't the wet alone, but the wet+heat that does them in. Seems like succulents most hate the combination of high humidity combined with nighttime temps not dropping below 80 degrees F.

Thank you for your input, Imich! I was aware of the possibility of Adverse Possession, since I had been maintaining that piece of land for 17 years, and both prior owners of the property assumed it was my land, too. And I put a lot of plants over there, and she ended up with all the mature ones :( But I don't want to be a pain in the rear. And what done is done. In hindsight, I guess I would have asked her to allow me some of the land at the rear of the property and in return I would allow her the same amount at the front of the property----just to avoid the diagonal effect!!! My main concern now is using my property from the fence line over to the fullest, and I am certain she is going to tell me that I can't place certain things near her fence. So I want to remain within legal limits, BUT place things where I wish upon my own property.......but I will give her that foot that is technically mine. A concern I have right now.....I have a very large scrub pine that regularly loses large branches during storm. I am liable for fence damage from this tree, yes? Even though it existed for many years before the fence existed? In other news, not all my potted plants that were to go in front of the fence survived the winter.....I lost several ninebarks and an ornamental grass, and a few perennials; so I have less to work with. I did install three small rhodies from my pot ghetto in the shady area in front of the fence, and we planted our serbian spruce Christmas tree in a sunnier area in front of the fence. I gave the serbian spruce plenty of clearance from the fence. Teresa

Hi Y'all! Carla: I haven't planted any melons just yet, because we have a couple of nights in the 40s forecast for next week MELONS, ETC.: Our soil temps are only in the mid- to upper-60s, and I like to wait for soil temps to reach 70 degrees before I plant melons and other heat-lovers like pumpkins, squash, peppers, black-eyed peas, and okra. And I usually don't plant sweet potatoes until the soil is even warmer. You can plant melons when the soil temperature is consistently 60 degrees during the day, though, and I bet your soil temperature is already at that level. POTATOES: Even though your potatoes went in a little late for our area, you should still have a pretty good crop. Around here most people plant potatoes in mid- to late-February. You should be able to plant in your area through early to mid-March with no problem. And, I have planted potatoes in late March some years (waited because the ground was excessively wet) and have gotten good production. PLANTING GUIDE: The Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service has tons of good information in factsheets available online. I have linked their Garden Planning Guide below. Once you are in that data base, you will find many other factsheets that are very helpful. When you look at the planting dates listed in the guide, keep in the mind that the first date listed is for far southern Oklahoma, and the last date listed is for far northern Oklahoma. Your best planting dates would fall somewhere in between those two, most years. As a serious vegetable gardener, there is one book that I use as my 'bible' and have for over ten years. It is now out-of-print and sells for an outrageous price online because the demand outpaces the supply. I am on my second copy, having totally worn out the first one. This book is called THE VEGETABLE BOOK: A TEXAN'S GUIDE TO GARDENING and it was written by Dr. Sam Cotner Dr. Cotner was a vegetable specialist with the Texas Agriculture Extension Service at Texas A&M University for many years and also oversaw the Extension Service's home gardening program in Texas. This book has taught me so much, and I refer to it constantly. I have heard that they will not reprint the book because it too costly to produce, about 400 pages, and they don't believe they could sell enough to justify a reprinting. By the way, I think the publishing people are wrong on this one. If you ever run across an affordable copy of this book, it will be the best investment you ever made. Susan, I love your detailed report on what is going on in your landscape!!!! Without seeing your weed I have no idea what it is. When it blooms, tell me what the flowers look like and I might be able to figure it out at that point. I have wild chervil everywhere too. Who am I kidding? I have wild everything everywhere. The Indian Paintbrush and Bluebonnets are blooming now along with so many other spring wildflowers. I have only grown lemons in large pots so I can carry them inside in the winter. If yours truly is hardy to zone 7, it should survive underneath a VERY HEAVY thick mulch in the winter time, although you might have a little dieback on the ends of the smallest limbs. OK, Susan, I guess I am somewhat of a gambler and I proved it by planting all the tomatoes too early, BUT I still prefer to think of it as a well-educated guess based on watching the weather and nature signs. LOL We have had Monarchs passing through our area for eight or ten days now, but not in huge numbers. I don't know if the few we are seeing are 'early birds' or if the migration is going to be small this year. That, of course, would be a very bad sign, wouldn't it. We have had a few clearwing moths around the honeysuckle which is in bloom here, and also around the porch light at night. I am glad you are having success with your cats. When DH and I visited Tomato Worm and her DH in OKC a couple of years ago, she was raising cats all over the place and was just loving it. You know, people talk about 'saving the environment' all the time, but you are actually doing it! I just love that. The fact is that people like you who go out of their way to raise and release butterflies are helping to restore species that are threatened in some areas, and practically extinct in others. That is such a wonderful thing. I am glad your much-beloved water guzzlers survived last year's drought. I don't know how you managed that. Did you water them every day? Perhaps they are becoming a little more adapted every year, and may even surprise you with their staying power. Your jasmine stephanese does bloom on old wood, so you should have those lovely pink blooms soon. Maybe the plant last year was too young to bloom??? Verbena bonariensis. My all-time favorite butterfly flower. It usually comes back from the roots for me, and I have some that are five or six years old and I have never dug and divided them, although I guess I will do that if they ever get too crowded and cease to bloom well. Mine reseed VERY prolifically. In an unmulched area they will come up as thick as grass. I mean, look at how tiny those seeds are and at how many of them there are. Mine is naturalizing a little in some of my open pasture land. Not naturalizing enough to be considered invasive or out of control, though. I just love these. They are the toughest plants and the butterflies adore them. Speaking of butterflies, I have been having Eastern Black Swallowtails, Tiger Swallowtails, and Spicebush Swallowtails in greater numbers than I usually see in Spring. Maybe they are just early like everything else this year. Yippee!!! It is finally raining here. I needed a rainy day or two or three so I would be 'forced' to stay indoors and give the house a good cleaning, instead of the hit-and-miss effort I give it when the spring weather is lovely and I'm outside as much as possible. And I will clean house, just as soon as I pot up some herbs and peppers from their seed starting peat pellets into six flats and small paper cups. These seeds were planted March 9th and I should have potted them up already, but I've been too busy outside We've had over an inch of rain this week, and I understand we have several more days of it yet to come. I am so glad. Luckily, we have escaped the violent thunderstorms and tornadoes here. I hope the rest of y'all have been spared violent weather too. Dawn Here is a link that might be useful: Oklahoma Garden Planting Guide