I can hear that you're very frustrated, but I don't understand why you want to take such drastic measures, lol. Though, I have thought about scrapping the whole thing from time to time. I'm a first time gardener. I have to tell you that we had snow on May first, lol, so it sounds like we have similar areas. If your squash are otherwise healthy, you shouldn't get flowers until now anyway. Spray the evil bugs off with your garden hose and then give em a real good spray with soapy water. I was a little freaked out over a few different kinds of good bugs in my garden (ex: pill bugs eat compost). Are your cucumbers small because they've just formed? Or do they need to be pollinated? If they're healthy, they'll just keep producing more cukes until a few get pollinated correctly and one grows to full ripeness. If you planted in mid-May, most tomato varieties won't be ready to produce yet, lol. I have two romas that are two feet tall. Every other plant is four feet tall or taller, but those romas I started a bit later (mid-May, btw) and haven't started their real growth yet. One of them has decided to keep up with the Joneses and is trying to produce, and that has it's own set of issues. Overall, if your leaves are green, you're doing just fine. Toss a bit of compost on those squash and get rid of those bugs. One word of caution is, if those little bugs you found are squash bugs, I understand they'll saw right through your stems, so you should take immediate, decisive action. It doesn't sound like them from your description. IMHO: you're doing just fine, you're entering the home stretch, don't give up just yet. Grace, Carolyn P.

Thanks all! Yes SISTER LUCIENNE is a Shooter intro, and I really like it. We have had record temps (tripple digits in the Seattle area is almost unheard of, and we have had them for two weeks!) and this DL has held it's beautiful color dawn to dusk. Granted, it is in part shade, but I have learned for the first time this year to appreciated something that is still vibrant when I get home from work! Debra, if your's is redder, I would be thinking that it may not be the right plant, as mine has been one of the more consistant in color of any in my garden. As for PAW PRINT, I only added it last fall, but from what I have seen so far, if you are thinking about it, GET IT! It's first blooms started before our outrageous temps, but it has still been lovely at the end of the day when it has been very hot, and it is totally packed with blooms. I was terribly afraid that I would not get the watermark in my "cool...ha ha ha" world, but every bloom has been wonderful. I am doing a budcount analysis this year for all of my dl's (Thanks Rita, for the inspiration to really SEE what my plants are doing), and I would bet that even as a first year plant it is in my top 20%. The pic of WOW was taken early in the am, so the color by evening was much more washed out...it is not a real good "color holder" when the heat is on I am thinking....

If the heavy soil is killing the flowers buy lighter soil and dump it on top, without mixing it with the existing soil, plant in that. Or choose adapted flowers. You will have to do the same with shrubs, if the kinds you want don't like clay soils they won't be any happier with the existing soil than the flowers were. Is there a hedge, wall or solid fence behind the border, as in the above photo? If not you should install such or plant evergreen shrubs behind, informally arranged, as well as at corners or ends to in either case form a sort of stage for the smaller plants (groundcovers and dwarf shrubs, if no herbaceous plants are to be used). In the well-designed mixed border deciduous shrubs serve primarily to form transitions between the bulkiness of evergreen kinds and the lightness of non-woody plants. Flowering climbers like clematis and roses can be trained on fences, walls or hedges, to include them in the planting, as well as large deciduous shrubs like lilacs that provide no summer interest otherwise.

I wouldn't worry too much. With the way things are going with other environmentally friendly products and regulations, they will be in production again very soon. LED will probably be banned.