We are getting off the topic, but I remember the lush yard of my childhood w/ all the clover and watching the honeybees, and the exciting days when we would take the honey out of the hives... I planted clover and I wish all the weedy grass would go away! (No neighbors are going to care here as our lots are set in the middle of woods, and we are out in the country.) My clover has had a tough time (doesn't like sand?), but there is one low-growing weed that I am encouraging as it does not need to be mowed. No mowing is my goal. As for my clems (many of which you all enabled!), they are doing fairly well. I was most impressed w/ Arabella- the best bloomer! I have mostly watered from my rain barrels this summer and it is not very satisfactory because the sand soaks up the moisture so fast (great for watering pots and small areas though). I too have to figure out where to plant the ones I stuck in pots in the spring. Most are going into the rose garden (if the roses don't make it maybe the clems will). I have planted several to climb up my deck railings. I know there is a lot of controversy about adding soil amendments, but I am with the other readers who see the fence as a prime planting ground. Maybe someone who knows more about amendments could help out? I wish you the best of luck in finding them a good place, and would appreciate it if you will wish me luck as well. Thanks, Brandy

Are you growing these indoors or out? To be honest, they look perfectly fine to me - I don't see any obvious sign of disease and a few insect holes in leaves are insignificant. The peppers look like they are starting to develop fruit....are the tomatoes and others flowering as well?. Might still be a bit early for zukes. You may have whitefly, especially if these are growing indoors. The plant extracts like your current spray are decent enough repellents but they don't often control pests otherwise (little kill potential). You may want to try sticky traps for the whiteflies or graduate to a contact insecticide like insecticidal soap. btw, it may be helpful to go back into your member profile and adjust your location to reflect Australia. WA is the abbreviation for Washington State here in the US and it could be confusing :-) I was trying to figure out how you had tomatoes looking that good coming up on November!!

Ok this has went from Lincoln to Firefighter to now I'm guessing a china. I'm not familiar with chinas so I don't know. It was red and now it is a dark pink and the petals have also changed. I would love to know the name of this. It has a nice scent. It has changed quite a bit I don't know if it is from the heat or maybe it is a different type of rose. Image link:

outsideplaying, I really like the bench idea. I was contemplating something like that. Thanks so much for the advice on the planters with height. I never would have thought of that. What about the stairs - Should there be anything at the top of the stairs (on either side) and/or the bottom? Tibbrix - Thanks for the ideas! I too like the grass idea. Out landscaper is coming back up hopefully this fall to help us figure out the rest of the plants around our home and he had mentioned something like that, or a bush. Our original rock plan for in front of those steps was supposed to look like this. We had to hire a local landscaper to do the rockwork and he didnt follow the plan so we are stuck with that big mass of rock in front. I just put a bunch of plants in because they were going to die. I did put a bush that should get some decent height to the right of the steps (under the window) to kind of hide that hole there. I'm seriously contemplating just redoing it all and having my husband do the rock the way it was meant to be done. Ugh! I just need one of you guys to come here for a couple months and help me figure all of this out. I am so overwhelmed!