Thank you to all who took the time to read my long, novel-like chronicle of symptoms and suspicions. Already working on the cutworm collars...and I had called the exterminator even before I wrote my diatribe. He layed traps. Only one mouse thus far. Oh...and I did start on my own personal comost pile earlier in the summer. But these pictures I put up were of garden #1, during the summer. I bought two cubic yards of the best compost our local landscaping/nursery man carried. I was lucky that my husband just happened to take me to pick it up because I had ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA how much I had purchased. I about died when I went outside from paying for compost in the office to see a large tractor dumping the last scoop full of it into the now overloaded bed of my bewildered husbands big Silverado truck! (see picture...which is only half of what I bought. The first half was put out front!) Honestly, I thought it would be a few bags similar to what I had purchased at Home Depot! Talk about a newbie! At any rate, all of that has been tilled into the garden now before I even planted for the cold crops. I already have sprouted brussel sprout seedlings waiting to be planted again. It is not due to stop raining here until Sunday; if the ground is not too soden, I will plant them and the others that are ready then, place collars on anything that remains, and then put chicken wire tops on everything until they outgrow them. Now, after all this sage advice, I guess it could have been birds after all. Blue Jays? Now those I WOULD see every morning, along with smaller sparrow-type birds, in their busy little worlds, pecking away in my garden, while I opened the cupboard to make coffee. I usually let my dog out to pee pee and she would make a beeline for them. But who knows how long they were pecking away in there and how big some of them were earlier in the morning hours. Maybe even an owl or larger bird? But I think those are dedicated carnivores. (When I lived in Santa Barbara I once saw a hawk swoop down and carry off a pigeon. It was devastating to me. Poor bird. I am so grateful to be at the top of the food chain. But the seagulls will snatch whole sandwiches out of your hand while you are busy admiring the ocean. So I know that birds take things, sometimes heavy things, up into the air and away. Maybe a 2 1/2 watermelon plant? ) Still a bit baffled. But the collars and cages are coming out until the plants are big enough to survive. This post was edited by lindsaybev on Thu, Nov 20, 14 at 13:26

The small one went into winter well, came out brown and completely fried. I did it all wrong. I planted in the fall, which I know that everyone cites as being best. However, I have had a much higher success rate when planting in spring and allowing more root development going into winter. Personal success and preference that probably does not align with the experiences of others. I planted in a nicely shaded area near a Norway Maple. No shade in the winter and I was too busy with other fall chores to prioritize screening. It's possible that the plant was neglected prior to when I bought it, but I will try one more Skylands. I'll plant in spring, mulch well, water properly and absolutely will screen in winter and summer to year 3. I had no summer burn on mine this year, it is tough once established. The largest risk I have is winter wind now. There may be some ugly years, but overall, I think I'm out of the woods. Hope this helps.

was it fully leafed out at planting??? yellowing of lower leaves [or interior leaves] .... is common transplant shock .. and if very minor.. can only show.. after the heat of summer hits ... which might also make it a watering issue ... are you watering deeply enough thru the root mass planted .. to insure proper moisture at root depth .. lawn irrigation is rarely sufficient to get water down into the soil to root depth .... take a hand trowel or tablespoon.. and dig a couple 3 to 6 inch holes around it.. in the gob planted.. and in native soil.. AND FIND OUT about moisture at root depth ... and then change your watering to account for such knowledge ... most of us would suggest you never amend a planting hole .... especially if your alleged soil amender holds more water.. in your clay soil ... but im thinking that isnt the issue.. depending on what you find when you dig those holes ... ken

There is little progress to report. The painters are finishing their penultimate house now, and mine will be their final house of the season. They have two guys doing preliminary prep here, going up on ladders and scraping and assessing. One guy started scraping the garage Friday. The old lead paint is very hard and it was going slowly. So after the Saturday morning work party at my pistol club (we replaced a bunch of fluorescent lights with LED tubes) I went home and stripped and sanded that wall in the afternoon. Took about eight hours, much faster than normal because I could do it from the ground, it wasn’t hot, and its my last hurrah so I was furiously powering through. I don’t know if the guys resent me doing this (maybe they’ll work fewer hours/make less) or are happy (they’ll do less tedious scraping) but it’ll result in a better paint job, so whatever. But I am definitely DONE now. My hands are tingly and numb (too much power tool time), my shoulders hurt when I lift my arms (shoulders now bigger, but less functional), and I need to step away and do Other Things.