cactusmcharris: Thanks :) I bought them from Rarexoticseeds, mail order from Montreal (or at least somewhere in Quebec). I got some cactus and agave seeds from them too last year, but they didn't germinate quite as well as the Adeniums. averil: It's an awsome view of the lake Ontario shore here in Toronto, but it's also south-west facing so I tend to get blasted by the sun in the afternoon. Great for a lot of my plants, but tends to overpower my poor AC.

The shrubs growing on the slope look that they have been there quite a while and seem to be growing straight up. (Sometimes, if there is a bend like an old-fashioned walking stick handle in the stem near to the ground, that bend can indicate that the land is slumping.) About the tree roots showing: there's not a great deal of topsoil from what I could see so the roots have probably spread out to forage for food and water. A number of tree species have suface roots - some quite gnarled and obvious. Think swamp cypress for a start. Unless the trees are very tall and your local prevailing winds are fierce or unpredictable you aren't likely to get windthrow. On a slope such as yours I'd be looking for grooves cut by runoff from the top as the precursor to shallow gullying - and that didn't seem to be happening. Personally, I wouldn't spend on 'posh plants' for such a slope. I'd ask for 'pioneer-type' shrubs - preferably native to your area. If you have a native plants nursery near you - pick their brains. Grasses, creepers, low-nutrient environment shrubs and sub-shrubs. That soil is obviously not rich - it hasn't been colonised by much at all. If you need clues and there are cuttings at the sides of your roads check there for what will establish and thrive and stay seemly. (No one needs a slope covered in fire risk weeds!) When you visit with the plant place/s ask for SPECIFIC guidance on how to plant up a steep slope. If it has a high clay content - let them know because it will change what they will advise. If there is any better soil available on your lot, and you can spare some - mix it in with the slope soil when planting but don't bother putting in fine compost. All that happens is the plants grow out to the limits of the top grade environment and then either sulk or die. Think about buying your reveg plants in 'root trainer' tubes rather than big cans or baggies. They'll be younger and better equipped to strike out, rootwise. Hear you when you say you're budget-constrained. See if you can legally collect native seedlings of suitable plants, grow them on, then plant out. Sometimes a neighbour can be a good source. Under the bird feeder, in a garden, can be another - but expect a lot of berry-producing plants ;-) And, as the slope is a bit of a challenge - could you devise a ladder to get you upslope for planting? Or a scaffoldiong arrangement. Something with wide enough treads so you don't end up with anguished feet!

kclost: Not sure. But the general rule for ALL pesticides is -- don't spray when temps are above 80F OR when the sum of the temp and the humidity is >140. I know in the midwest that's tough to do with weeks on end being high temps AND humidity. What I do during those times of the year is try to find a break when it's going to be low 80's max for a few days and spray in the evening. My reasoning behind this is I know the pesticide gets degraded as the days go by and hopefully by the time the temps start to rise again, it's degraded enough to not cause foliage harm. Agree with Mark. As long as conditions improve, the plants do too. Kevin

Hi, fellow new-ish gardener! Just wanted to offer a little reassurance since we seem to have quite a bit in common. I am also relatively new to gardening, and many of these kind gardenweb folks can tell you they have offered me plenty of advice and answers over the past couple of years. I live just a tiny bit west of you, also 6b in Southeastern Pennsylvania. We had the same wretchedly cold and snowy winter, 108 degree heat indexes all this week, and are currently getting your same thunderstorm and flash flood watch. I have a bit of a plant collecting disease, so I have a huge range of plants, shrubs, and trees in my yard, even after just a few years of gardening. Many started life on the clearance rack because I don't have an unlimited budget. However, we do seem to have a different approach in terms of plant care. My plants get amended soil, mulch, deadheading and weeding. They get divided when I want more. And this week, I watered them, which was the first watering the ones not in hanging baskets got all year. They are absolutely thriving, even with my benign neglect. Plants mostly want to survive, and my thought process is that any plant that needs such specialized care that it doesn't thrive under my natural conditions was not going to do well in my yard anyway. I can't control the weather, so there is no sense in overstressing it. And I embrace our very cold and very hot temps - I need the cold for spring bulbs and the heat for summer flowers. If my flowers are rewarding me with a yard full of blooms and pollinators, yours will be fine with your much more attentive care. Lose the tarp and let them do their thing!