Jazz is correct If you really want the whole ball to glisten replacing sand with sandblasting glass works rather nicely. BUT: You will be disapointed unless you clean off the haze left by the cement after the ball fully cures. You don't want anything too strong or it will eat the surface. I use vinegar with either a toothbrush or a brass brush to remove the haze without removing the glass crystals. Removing a bit of the cement around the crystals helps as well as the crystals stick out from the surface. I have a dark blue ball planter with black copper slag crystals and it is beautiful in the sun. I wish there was a way to photograph this. I make topping cement with black slag and black pigment as well and it looks like metalic paint. The clear glass sand blasting glass makes any color glitter. Snow white cement (adding white pigment to white portland)has a rainbow glitter to it. Very cool, but you must remove the haze! Can anyone suggest a better product than vinegar? I'm tired of smelling like a pickle all day.:)

maingrower, I haven't seen any references about it not working, just about its limitations. Here is a report from the University of Florida of an experiment testing it for transplanting. Sixty-four 4-inch caliper live oaks (Quercus vir- giniana Mill.) were transplanted in Aug. 1984 from 1 area of a tree nursery in Oak Hill, Fla. to an adjacent area using a 44-inch tree spade. Trees were either sprayed with water, Wilt-Pruf (1:10 dilution), or Cloud Cover (1:2 dilution) the day before transplanting, or 6 oz of Terra-Sorb (water-absorbing, starch polymer) was added to the sides of the planting hole. Thirty-two trees were irrigated with 18 gal of water daily and 32 trees were irrigated 7 days after a 1-inch rain or the last irrigation (weekly). There was no interaction of irrigation rate with other treatments on survival of the live oaks. Fifty-five % of trees watered weekly and 65% of trees watered daily survived. Visual ratings after 21 and 37 days were greater if trees were watered daily than those watered weekly. 67% of trees survived when sprayed with water 80% of trees survived when sprayed with Wilt-Pruf 38% of trees survived when sprayed with Cloud Cover 54% of trees survived when sprayed with Terra-Sorb Sixty years ago Wilt Pruf was discovered and became the first anti-transpirant on the market. It enabled nurserymen to transplant shrubs and trees any time of year without fear of excessive transpiration which could cause plant failure. Over the years additional uses have been discovered: 1) protection against drying out when evergreen roots were frozen in wintertime, as well as during periods of drought. 2) effective on cut Christmas trees, wreaths, and greens to retard needle drop by keeping existing moisture in the foliage. 3) indoor plants could survive longer periods without watering by treatment with an anti-transpirant. 4) ornamentals exposed to excessive warm or cold winds were protected from drying out by spraying with an anti-transpirant. 5) storage of tubers, bulbs, and bare root stock was more successful when they were first dipped in an anti-transpirant solution. One thing I found interesting, Wilt-Pruf is a natural substance obtained from Pine trees. Here is a link that might be useful: University of Florida 1984 study of Wilt Pruf

...I had stopped to get a can of a carnuba cleaner wax spray on for my car...they were doing a demo on it and of course my mom said oh i dont believe that stuff works... well one guy sprays it on the head lights... cleans really good... to get the bug guts off... well before i could say anything the other guy sprays it on my window.... while saying it does those too.... what in the world can anyone suggest to get that stuff off with??? winshield is not a big smeared mess i have tried everything and havent found anything to cut thru that crap...any suggestions... already folloed most of the postings on here...nothing.... water just beads up

I agree....wind chill does not effect plants. When I garden with certain plants that may not be winter hardy to my zone, I plant in what I refer to as a "micro-climate". Meaning the plant has protection on 3 sides. Example....the house, a large fountain grass, and the garage blocks the harshest of winter cold. The large fountain grass and buildings act as a barrier. If interested, do a search on micro-climates. I'm sure they'll explain it better.