Thanks for getting the joke, gardengal. It was a pleasure to demonstrate that I can troll my own response better than anyone else can. Of course Sequoiadendron is much hardier. But the problem is it is also much more suspectible to disease caused by our muggy summer conditions. If you were to blend the Mason-Dixon line with the new USDA zn 6/zn 7 line, you would get an approximation of the east coast boundary between areas where Sequoia (coastal redwood) and Sequoiadendron could be grown on the east coast. Sequoia south of it, obviously, and Sequoiadendron north of it. Even north of the Mason-Dixon line, the several Sequoiadendron at zn 7 Planting Fields arboretum looked pretty bad. OTOH I'm pretty sure I saw one at a garden in Carlisle, PA, zn 6, that looked reasonably well. Nights there are probably a wee bit cooler, and I suspect you could grow them all the way down to Georgia on the highest mountain tops that stay in the 50s at night. Go too far north though, even zn 7 is still going to be too cold for Sequoias. One supposes that the Polly Hill arboretum, for example, has tried them and they aren't on the plant list for a reason. (still meaning to email them about strange tales of a monkey puzzle that dies back in some years yet persists)

Digitalflower, I'm glad I'm not the only one looking at that stuff. Some things work, some don't. The daylilies they planted on the Riverside Drive medians lasted about 2 weeks. But if I were the Meilland people I'd be putting signs in these rose beds - what an advertisement for them. It took about a week before I got up the nerve to jump out of the car and look - it's not a pedestrian friendly place, to say the least. But I've been trying to figure out what these are for a couple years now. WW

Driving into NYC can be very nerve wracking. If you can leave the car outside the city or plan it well and park where awm indicated you might do better. But parking can cost $50-$65 for a full day or perhaps a bit more. We don't have a car so I'm not current on prices but sometime garages fill up and you can drive around and around. You might do better parking in New Jersey in Hoboken and taking the ferry ride across the river. Especially with a young teen that's a thrill. Those run hourly. There are about 4-5 other towns along the river in Jersey to get the ferry and at the terminal a bus will take you to several midtown locations for free. The ride is about 9 minutes to cross. Here's a link to NY Waterway. That way you're free all day to go around unencumbered and you avoid driving hassles and super expensive parking. When you're done you go back across and you're outta there. I have friends who live in the buildings there who take the ferry to work every day. Times Square takes about 2 mins to see. You just stand there though you can see the ABC Studio and the jumbotron. You might want to eat lunch there at someplace like Carmine's on 44th St., which is family Italian style -- everyone sits together. There's an Olive Garden and many other places. Pizza is good in NY and there are street vendors for hot dogs and shisk kebab. I'm sure he'll want to see the jumbotron. I'd venture a 13 y.o, boy would much rather see the Museum of Natural History (take him to the Ben Stiller Night at the Museum movie first?) than the Met. Other cool stuff is the Sony IMAX theater (3-d) if you don't have that on Broadway and 68th St. Do you have a Virgin Megastore where you live? There's one in midtown (in the 50s I believe). CD heaven. If you don't do the ferry to get to town, definitely take a Circle Line Cruise. It's very cool -- West Side Highway and 39th St (may be 38th). Goes all around the island with tour guide. Also there are Big Apple bus tours from Times Square that go around. Rockefeller Center might be another place to eat lunch -- you see that on TV at Xmas when they light the tree. All types of restaurants and street food as well. If you go early in the morning the Today show studios are there as well. 49th St. bet Fifth and Ave of the Americas. Any of those should give you a great day. Here is a link that might be useful: NY Waterway

KLI_6B: Also brandywine plants were huge and I want a smaller productive type if possible. The average tomato plant is very large. It's quite normal for tomato plants to get to be 8-10 feet tall. Don't believe the puny "tomato cages" you see online and in big box stores--most experienced tomato growers use those for eggplants or peppers. Unless you are specifically growing compact varieties, you should be prepared to offer at least 6 feet of support structure for a tomato (when the plant gets taller than that, you can let it drape over back down toward the ground). Compact varieties exist, but many are determinate (this means all of your fruit will form and ripen all at once, and then your plant is done--no more tomatoes after that) or not as productive. And even plants that are supposed to be compact can surprise you over a long growing season. IMO it's better to just prepare adequate support. There are also "dwarf" varieties (2 feet to 4 or 5 feet tall) that are indeterminate (keep producing fruit gradually all season), but they will not be nearly as productive. I think you can fit 3 plants in that bed without ending up with overcrowding issues that lead to disease and general frustration. If you select some good hybrids, you should have plenty of tomatoes for fresh eating. You probably can't go wrong with Big Beef F1 - large, beefsteak-style slicers with very decent taste, good for sandwiches Juliet F1 - saladette (larger than a cherry tomato) size plum shaped tomatoes, meaty but still tasty for fresh eating, good taste, good for salads, snacking, cooking Mountain Magic F1 - saladette globes, excellent taste for a hybrid, good for salads, cooking, snacking, etc. Sungold F1 - orange cherry tomato, very sweet and fruity, excellent for salads and snacks (F1 = hybrid. Some people sell "open pollinated" versions of these, but they are usually inferior in taste and production) In your situation, I would personally plant a Big Beef, a Sungold, and choose between the MM and Juliet depending on which shape I prefer. The nice thing about these varieties is that you can usually find plants for them at big box garden stores, so if you're not really sure about starting plants from seed, you can purchase transplants. They also have some disease resistance bred in. It sounds like you're growing tomatoes year after year in the same bed, which means you need to select varieties with soil disease resistance. Sungold is the least disease resistant of these, but if you like cherry tomatoes, they are among the best tasting and routinely show up on lists of people's favorite tomatoes. KLI_6B: 1st have decent crop (at least for me). I was happy I harvested home grown tomato. But this year, there were blossoms, but only few tomatoes actually formed. May be it was weather and may be it was something else. 1) Did you grow from seed or transplants? 2) How often did you fertilize and what kind of fertilizer did you use? 3) What is your watering routine? 4) What is the date you planting out (planting transplants out in your bed)?