Born and raised in northern IL, currently residing in central IL... we did pick up one gardening zone moving south a bit. I'd give anything to live in central coastal Cali, but I'd never get my husband to agree to moving. He claims to like the winters, and does have a good reason... the cold kills off a lot of bad things, and keeps nature genetically strong. I'll buy that, but I still don't enjoy the bone-chilling cold! I get chilled in fall and don't thaw until spring! And the older I get, the more the cold bothers me physically... I'm old enough to dislike winter! The only way we'd ever move to warmer climes would be if our children moved their families there first... only then would my husband agree to a move. So, it looks like I'm stuck gardening in IL... where I must emulate a warm climate to grow orchids and other tropicals, dragging them out for summer and back in for winter... but I do get to enjoy lilacs, peonies, tulips and other bulbs and plants that are deciduous or require a chill in order to bloom. I guess it's not so bad... we have white Christmases, germ killing cold, and can enjoy plants that need the lower temps... and summer brings all the warmth and humidity that makes the garden bloom so beautifully... It may make orchid growing a challenge... but real gardeners aren't afraid of a challenge, and in fact, we welcome the chance to prove our prowess! What the hey, my Epi is still alive... I must be doing something right! :-)

My friend near there said it was quite something and a bookcase fell over on her husband but they are okay I had to giggle one east coast friend was checking in on everyone to make sure they were okay. Even family in Phoenix...... And no asking for locust seems the grass hoppers have arrived. Along with the big surf

Hey Guys, Howdy Mike! I've been dealing with health issues the last couple months.. really bad. But I've also been a stay-at-home dad for the last two years (what a change, but I love every minute of it). So those two have been difficult for me to keep up with forums, except when my pain is severe and I'm up all night. My trees even suffered as I lost quite a few blueberries and a couple apples during the past two months. All my citrus have survived, many are doing excellent. But as I said in another thread my attempt at "acclimating" the container citrus to full sun, on the southern side of my house where it gets 130F, getting all day sunlight with extremely bright light, has not been successful -- but not a complete failure. All the container roots were protected by various means (otherwise they were definitely toast). Those under shade cloth still had growth spurts, just not as strong. All the mature in-ground trees on that side thrive just fine -- notwithstanding leaf and fruit burn around the canopy edges of course. Recently planted in-ground struggled and needed shade cloth as well as lots of mulch. The big test: my largest 18g container trees NOT under shade cloth (tho container itself shaded) in such extreme heat and light were clearly stressed. They were in a cyclical growth/death pattern: the excessive light was stimulating growth like CRAZY, everywhere. But the heat was clearly burning off so many leaves and branches, combined with visible branch die back, it became very difficult to nail down nutrients and even watering. The Dynamite 9 month CRF were used up fast -- tons of empty spherical capsules all over the surface after 3.5 months (June-Aug). Sigh.... I think you're right, it's impossible to do TRUE FULL sun (incl. all afternoon) in our hot dry summers for ANY container plant without shade cloth completely protecting foliage when it's 100+. That's in addition to my normal root protection (cache pot or full shade on container itself). My specific conditions on the south side exacerbate the problem. Humidity and shade should improve once more of my in-ground citrus and nectarines establish. You should see my "container media degradation" test case citrus tree. It's a Valencia I've had for 4 years in a half-barrel, hanging on to life in the original horrid media mix of MG soil + compost and fine sand. Every spring it flushes, but then loses leaves in the heat and drops it's fruit. It took a serious beating on the south side when not under shade cloth. It's all spindly now, very little interior foliage, and die-back everywhere. It's time to put it in the gritty mix and see how it grows. Supposedly we've had our last 100s now for the summer. This is the 2nd best time to plant trees in the ground or re-pot, but only if I do it quickly and pray winter doesn't come too quick. I'll try get some pics up soon... including my failures.

Thanks! Linda :) We are fine, had blankets & pillows ready in the hall - we live in a brick ranch w/no basement. 99% of the time we celebrate no basement! - what w/all the flooding we seem to be getting:( But last night was one of the 1% when we wish we had one! Our city tornado sirens failed to go off - apparently a power surge blew them out - but fortunately we heard the warning on TV. DS had his house hit twice w/lightning - lost a lot of electronics even tho they have the super-duper-colossal surge protectors. Guess a direct hit isn't guaranteed!:) A lot of bad hail damage at the north end of the city - we are in the south Praise God! Some houses literally have holes in their siding as big as basketballs! Lots of windows out - a friend lost his windshield while driving home from work! Scary thought, that. Today we are supposed to get more rain (what else is new??!) possibly a lot. Neighbors have a new lake in their back yard - where's that kayak I was hearing about?? I'm going to keep working on graduation & baby quilts until I either float or blow away. Can't stop mother nature - I might as well be productive:) How did everyone else fair yesterday/last night?? ~Cindy