I hate using a weed eater along rock walls. It eats up the string and cuts into soft rock like sand stone. I also use Roundup. Here is a little idea that may help. When using Roundup (glyphosphate) I put a can, of appriate size, at the end of the nozzle. This is on a pump up sprayer. I take a coffee can and drill a hole in the end. I remove the nozzle tip, put the can over the threads and replace the nozzle. (measure the threaded part for drilling the right size hole.) When spraying this acts as a shield, keeping the spray from blowing onto plants you don,t want to kill. You can spray individual weeds this way within the flower bed, like nut grass. Strait lines can be had this way when edging with the sprayer. For a thinner line the can is squeezed down so it does not cover as much area.

I’m born and raised Canadian. I’ve lived in Alberta & BC and have visited many places across Canada, the US & Mexico. Im not sure I would say it’s a “Canadian Custom” but rather a “respect” thing. Growing up on an acreage, I was taught to remove my shoes at the door of anyone’s house out of respect for the homeowner & their house. I’d like to mention the size of someone’s house had nothing to do with this, nor did the flooring within the house. My parents had hardwood & laminate flooring in the whole house with the exception of our bedrooms which were carpeted. Even in the summer my dad wouldn’t allow flip-flops to be worn into the house. It wasn’t just about tracking dirt through the house... my parents had me do floors in the house as I got older and I came to understand the reasoning behind shoe removal. After sweeping, vacuuming and washing over 1800 sq. Ft of house I didn’t particularly want anyone walking on my hard work with dirty shoes. Now, as an adult with 2 teenagers, 3 dogs and 2 cats I live in the City. My house has NO Carpet, but my kids were taught to remove their shoes at the door of any house unless they’ve been told otherwise. In the summer, I’m not as strict with shoes but come fall, winter & spring I am. We vacuum our floors on a daily basis and they get mopped every 2nd day. This would be done regardless of having pets. I’ve taught my children about the cost of living, the cost of replacement and their responsibility to keep things intact. If my husband or I went into someone’s home and wore dress shoes that scratched their hardwood floor or damaged property in someone’s home I would be responsible for that damage. It wouldn’t be “Right” for me to say, “oh well, it’s just a floor.” Or “Oops, sorry I broke your vase.” The proper thing would be to help fix the damage I did or replace the item I broke. If someone came into my home and damaged my flooring I wouldn’t be very happy paying out of my pocket to fix damage done by someone else. I have family in B.C. who don’t mind if your shoes are on as long as they’re not dirty, they won’t scratch or destroy the flooring and it has to be dry outside. If it’s been raining, shoes aren’t allowed in and you are asked to leave your wet shoes at the door. However, at my Oma’s place shoes are off regardless and she wasn’t born and raised Canadian, nor was my close friend from Israel or my other who was raised in the US. Canadians are a huge mix of various ethnicities, cultural, religious, financial backgrounds from all over the world. Simply put, I think most Canadians show more respect to one-another, are more respectful of our neighbours and have more respect for their property.

Yes Florah I have an amarnth in there but I got it from a cutting and was not told it's name.It grows quite tall and I recently had to whack it but I propagated the pieces. BUTI found this write up Tapioca is one of the common names of Manihot esculenta 'Variegata' as is cassada, cassava, manioc, yuca, mandioca, shushu, muk shue, cassave, maniok, tapioka, imanoka, maniba, kasaba, katela boodin. The reason we chose the name tapioca is because it is the name of a favorite dessert of mine - tapioca pudding. Tapioca is sort of like Poke Salad made from Poke weed in the Southeastern U.S.-- if the cook doesn't know what he is doing, the meal will kill you! Cooking destroys the prussic acid. In South America, the green leafed Tapioca is grown for its enlarged starch-filled tuberous roots. There is a bitter, poisonous- and a sweet, - nonpoisonous variety of tapioca; however the skin stays poisonous and the sweet variety must be peeled. There are hydrocyanic glucosides (HCN) in all parts of the plant; these glucosides are removed by peeling and boiling in water. The peeled roots of the sweet variety is what the original tapioca pudding was made. I remember enjoying a version of this when I was a baby in Tennessee. I wonder if they were trying to poison me?!? The root of the bitter variety is very poisonous when raw but cooking destroys the hydrocyanic acid -- the cooking water must be discarded just as when cooking Poke Salad. The young leaves are used as vegetable and contain a high amount of vitamin A and C but older leaves are not often used. The bitter ones are grated, diluted in water and pressed in a cylindrical basket-work "press" to extract the juice. The paste of tapioca can be baked into pancake-like bread while the extracted juice is fermented into a strong liquor called kasiri. The juice can also be concentrated and sweetened until it becomes a dark viscous syrup called kasripo (casareep). This syrup has antiseptic properties and is used for flavoring. All of this is to warn folks that variegated tapioca is a clone of a tropical food plant, however, the milky sap of the foliage contains cyanide compounds and SHOULD NOT BE EATEN. Instead of eating this beautiful ornamental plant, go to the closest fast food place to satisfy your hunger. Also, don't worry about your pets eating enough to hurt themselves because all parts of the plants contain distasteful cyanide compounds and have a rough texture which is not very palatable. Deer will eat tapioca but it does not spoil the venison. Variegated tapioca is a heat lover being from South America and does not grow vigorously until night temperatures are warm in spring In fact the foliage will exhibit chilling injury when night temperatures dip much below 50 degrees F. As long as it is hot, variegated tapioca will thrive in most any well drained soil or container potting mix, tolerating a wide range of pH. It enjoys weekly irrigation in lieu of rainfall-- the soil should be constantly moist and mulch should be used. Plants will grow just as well in alkaline soil as they will in acidic soils. They are somewhat tolerant to foliar salt exposure in the Coastal Bend area. Full sun brings out the best foliage color, but plants will tolerate partial shade although the foliage will be less dense and not as vibrant in color. Avoidance of over-watering is critical to success-this is NOT a swamp plant. Variegated tapioca offers an exciting tropical addition to our summer palette of annuals used for foliage color.Try some this summer and enjoy the foliage of South America.

Glassed in porch, instead of deck; small sunroom on right corner, instead of small corner porch