It would be safe to use sliced ones but I fear you wouldn't care for the texture as much. Sliced quite thickly they may hold their shape and some crispness but in general sliced will be more mushy than chunked ones - no skin to keep the innards contained. ;) If you are using strickly cherry varieties then you won't be able to core them anyway so I'd suggest just cutting them in half rather than slicing. Dave

If you haven't purchased your crape myrtles yet, you might want to wait until they bloom to buy them. Lots of mis-marked crapes in garden centers, so much better to tell when blooming and leafed out. Crapes are hardy, so even though it would be best to plant now, they will be fine if you wait, as long as you are mindful of watering while they are establishing. As far as your soil quality - it depends alot on what you are going to plant. If you are going native then less ammending is better - maybe just add a little compost. But if you are planting what I call "picky plants", the more the better. I'd decide on what you want, then look at their soil requirements at ammend accordingly. You can plant shrubs and perennials just about any time - be mindful of water if you wait until it gets really warm. Enjoy your new landscape. Expect to make some mistakes - plants that don't like the spot you picked, but keep at it. Trial and error.......

The jars in the pictures above contain a small amount of red bell pepper and/or ripe jalapeno pepper. You can also add in some carrot or veggies of other colors to increase the eye appeal of the contents. My relish is so popular in the neighborhood, that I have to make a lot of half pints for giveaways. Here at the house, we consume about 5 or 6 pints each winter, the other half of the dozen I referred to above are half pints that those neighbors get. Other things that can be added are onions (red/yellow/white), tomatillos, partially ripened tomatoes (all colors/sizes), and, of course, cucumbers. The key is to use things that are firm, like pickling cucumbers are firm. I've tried the veggie dogs and burgers and other such things as tofu. I was raised on mainly wild game, and can reaffirm that I am still a lifelong carnivore. I respect other folk's life styles, but my body is accustomed to animal protein. You can vary the pickling process to get the taste you prefer - sweet, dill, kosher, etc. You can also add this to fresh salsas and really blow away your guests with a taste they might never guess. Take care and good eating.

Usually when the yellowing begins at the oldest leaves first and works its way up progressively through the older leaves ... and the yellowing is uniform yellowing with no black spots or ringed blotches on the leaves ... that is a sure sign of the plant robbing nitrogen from the older leaves and transferring it to the new growth ... meaning your plants are asking for a nitrogen boost. However, I don't see the "yellowing" ... all I see in your pictures is some off-color, dull khaki colored leaves like in that third picture, then it seems the coloration goes to dry, dead, dark tan or light brown. Also, look at that first picture and the last picture where the discoloration seems to have skipped past some of the older leaves and is well progressed on a some of the foliage in mid-plant. That doesn't seem indicative of typical nitrogen deficiency which would seem to be the first deficiency that would appear if indeed you are flushing or leaching out nutrients by over-watering as N is more unstable and "leachable" than P or K ... and you say you're fertilizing regularly with Miracle Grow. So, I don't really suspect it's lack of application. I'm thinking possibly disease of some sort. I'm not familiar with Miracle Grow plant growing mixes, but I did have trouble this summer with a knock-off brand of the same type stuff from Scotts (which I think is the same company now) where it was just to moisture rententive for the tomato plants I happened to use it for. I thought I had lucked into a good deal when I got a couple of busted bags for half price ... but the plants in that mix withered up similarly to yours, but not exactly the same color or pattern of disorder. But the mix always seemed saturated. My other potted tomatoes never had a problem all summer even though I watered them nearly daily and at the risk of overwatering ... but they were in a very porous homemade mix and never showed the least sign of what we're talking about here. So, I'm really no help with regard to the possibility of over watering. Personally, since your plants are showing that funky off-color on the leaves AND some of the stem tissue ... and since there seems to be some leaf distortion going on there too ... like a little roll while there's still some greenish color left ... you may want to take some examples of leaves to your county extension horticulturalist. If you do, take some healthy leaves, some that are just starting to show the disorder, and other foliage AND some of those discolored stems in various stages of dying and death so she or he has enough evidence to make a determination whether you're dealing with a fungal or bacterialogical agent or some other thing we all may be missing here.