You know, I think I am going back to seeds instead of buying pre-sprouted summer stock. Either too many people are having too much fun switching labels or quality control is terrible.

It has been a strange summer. The tomatoes are now coming on hard and late, and the summer squash seem to shot their load way too early. One would think late August - early September, there would be more squash than one city block could handle.

We've been getting loads of blossoms the last two weeks but no squash. An odd year.

If anyone has any experience with brussel sprouts, I would be most interested in knowing when the the sprouts themselves actually start growing. They have been marble sized for the last month. The plants themselves are well over three feet in length and drooping all over the place. Maybe they need cooler weather to actually start growing.

Heck, they were only planted in March of this year.

Let's see, what else....... those cacti I got from Notolover last year have been going into overdrive this year. Talk about some nice plants.

Trying to keep the rugosa hedge going has been a losing proposition so it is going to be transformed into a cactus hedge.

I have finally found a downside to my tamarisk wind break - nothing likes growing around tamarisks because they excrete salt. That's a pretty good reason.

As an aside, I have almost an ounce of white and and ounce of red hibiscus seeds from the midwest, and the flowers produced from same are about the size of dinner plates.

One would think that these would be found only in indoor gardens but these I know can handle close to zero temps in the winter and 100+ temps in the summer. The only difference between here and there is the humidity and that might be the deal breaker. Anyone wants to try.... I have a bunch of seeds.

Also, I had a limb collapse on my Cactaceae Cylindropuntia Imbricata - (Big Upright Habit Cactus) and there are lots of pads available for another month or so.

If anyone has had lots of trouble with grasses in places they don't want them, try 'Grass Getter'. This is an 'over the top' herbicide and while slow acting (about 2 weeks), it does a great job. Greenhouse Garden Center carries it, but you can get it cheaper online.

dRahme

Here is a link that might be useful: August, 2008