Ooooh, lucky you, Gardenweed! That 'Hot Papaya' looks beautiful, and is on my wishlist too. Thank you for the seed offer, I will send you an email to get your mailing address for the SASE. The only cool colors in my garden are in the herb bed, because it seems that most herbs have lavender, white, or pale pink flowers, and I absolutely love having fresh herbs all summer, and drying my own to use all winter! I just finished harvesting thyme, and there's oregano in the dehydrator right now. My perennial beds are pretty much entirely red, orange, and yellow. A couple of peachy pinks have snuck in, and a few things that were supposed to be red, but turned out dark pink (like my Dianthus, LOL), and some really dark purple/burgundy/black things. I'm just drawn to bright, cheerful colors though, and haven't intentionally planted any pink, purple, or blue. When we first moved into this house, and it had nothing but a dirt yard, I carefully selected and purchased plants that were red, yellow or orange, but the red Bee Balm bloomed lavender, the Hibiscus syriacus 'Freedom' that was supposed to be red, turned out to be purple, the Sedum 'Autumn Joy' was actually 'Neon', which is bright pink, LOL. I gradually gave those things away and replaced them with things more suited to the color palette I have selected, but some things, like the Verbascum 'Southern Charm' blended well enough that I let them stay : ) You could say I follow a "gardening for dummies' plan. If I keep the color palette small and simple, than I don't have to worry as much about where it gets planted, because it should work just about anywhere in the garden.

Yes, Bonnie. The amount of time the fruit stays on the vine increases the sweetness, it also becomes softer to the touch and deeper in color. The tomato is a fruit that has seeds inside. The plant knows that the ripening seeds are close to maturity, during this time the tomato starts to color. The color intensifies as the fruit ripens. The fruit is ready to pick when you clasp it and it comes freely off of the plant. Tomatoes continue to ripen after being picked. Let a few get more strongly colored before you pick them and see if you notice a flavor difference. I think the taste will be much more palatable. I'm growing several cukes this season but the ones I've already harvested are "Green Fingers" which are picked small--about four inches long. They are AWESOME!!! Here is a link that might be useful: Green Fingers

Hello Everyone, I just wanted to say tht we all will be seeing the yellowing of leves and the continuation of leaf loss.. Yes, mother nature knows when she that time is near... Lynn, If i may? Please be careful when watering your leaves mornning and night.. You dont want to encourage rust. IMO, it may cause more problems... Your trees look fine.. The leaf burn was caused by the sun and the heat from the brick.. You know what you did and you have learned, so to with the leaf loss.. We have all learned from what we have done when we try our best.. : ) Dont worry... it will be fine!! Wait unitl u see what some of us do when we prepare our trees for winter storage.. You will not believe it. You will not have to go to the extremes that some of us do, but some of my trees have to be stripped of leaves to put them in a back room for the winter.. I call it giving them a "haircut" It is always best to let the leaves fall off naturally, i do this with half of my trees. I agree with Al about the Pro TeKt, it is not going to hurt your leaves that fast. Think of it as a vitamin and it helps keep the roots healthy and then that helps the overall health of the tree. It wouldnt cause the problems you are having. Just use it as a treatment to give a good overall lift to your trees. They will thank you for continuing to give them the needed essential treatment for good healthy trees and roots. The overall starting point of a healthy tree.. "roots" : ) My nights have been cooler, and im sure that has caused the yellowing of my trees.... Again..Mother nature at her best!!! Take care, Laura

I didn't install the irrigation myself, but it's definitely not spaghetti tube. More like the 1/2" tube (might even be 1"), with holes in it (is that what built in emitters are?). All of what I'm learning here is why I'm really glad I'm taking this into my own hands now, instead of relying on others who may not have had the best approach... There are three lines about 1/2 foot apart that runs through the area where all the plants are in. The more I'm learning, the more I realize I must have been drowning the poor things. :( Are you recommending I cut it back now, in order to preserve the plant? Despite all three of them being quite infected looking at their bases, they are still flowering, and their upper portions don't look so bad. I'd be sad to cut them off now and miss more blooms, but if it's what's best for the plant then I will. As far as cutting back to the ground, is that literally exactly what I would do? Or leave a few inches of the plant left? The details are really helpful for me. Thanks for the tip about watering the pomegranate! I'm very new to gardening and really appreciate all the helpful advice everyone!