Streptocarpus do well here. In fact, a local home nurseryman has them planted outside and they thrive in shade in spite of our 100+ daytime summer temp and 73 nighttime temp. I had some outside during the winter in pots and they even survived 70 inches of rain. We don't have your humidity during the summer though so maybe that helps them survive the heat. I don't grow any of the other gesneriads yet.

David, Interesting to read about your methods and results. Although I've gardened for 40 plus years I really never used containers till 2 years ago. This is my 3rd growing season with them. So far I've mainly grown tomatoes in them. Have one pepper plant in a container this year. Last year was better than the first and so far this year the plants are looking good for what they are and as late as I planted most of them. Due to the drought and my current work situation I only have plants in 11 containers. I use the 25-30 gallon feed tubs. I can get all I want for free from about any farmer/rancher around here who has cattle. They work well. I've grown in smaller containers. My personal opinion is the bigger the better and I would want at least a 5 gallon for even a smaller type tomato. I know several growers who have good results in ten gallon containers. I recycle my mix like you do. This year I added some HuMore compost and a little of the organic fertilizer I used this year. I tried a product from Fox Farms called Happy Frog for tomatoes. I've been impressed with the results. I also mixed a little in around the top and will again around Sept 1st. My plans for my container plants is I will move them from the partially shaded area they are currently in to full sun as the temps cool and then on into my lean to I put up and hope to extend my season 4-6 weeks. Some of these plants will be just starting to produce I figure about the time I move them inside. One thing I've found here in our heat that David don't have a problem with is the containers and especially the black ones will get real hot and even cook the roots. This year I put straw bales around the containers and also mulched the top well. I can tell a big difference even in the extreme heat we had this summer. I've used several potting mixes. I prefer the Ball mixes. I don't use potting soil. I have mixed in some manure compost before from my pens, some pecan hulls and some leaves if I have them. But this year it was just the HuMore mixed in with what was in there except the last 2 which got some Soil Mender I had handy and wanted to use up. Bonnie and anyone else growing okra in a container. I wonder how Stewart's Zeebest would do in a container. It is a big bushy plant so one to a container would be plenty. And one of them will usually out produce several regular plants. And a good eating variety also. In the garden I space them 3-5 feet a part. Jay

I thought it was an 80s thing, but I guess not. My mom moved into an upscale duplex (S. CA) that had been "flipped" by the previous (temporary) owner. Mom may have actually chosen to forgo the knobs/pulls, but it drove me nuts. I can't tell you how many times I tried to open a cupboard from the hinge side, which is hard on the fingernails! When we chose the hardware for our new kitchen we were very much aware of the issue DIY2Much2Do mentioned: snagging clothing. We were careful to choose pulls with sleek ends that don't snag pockets on the way by and the knobs are all on uppers. Not this one, but this type:

[Warning: Stream of Consciousness Craziness Ahead] Americans, as a whole, seem to prefer the comfort of standardization and homogeneity. The popularity of chain restaurants, national hotels, and production builders is an expression of that comfort. Perhaps it's partly because Americans lack these things, ethnically ("Melting Pot," anyone?), that we seek them out, in attempt to gain what other nations around the world have -- a distinct, easily-identifiable culture and sense of self. We are too large, geographically and socially, to successfully embrace a "standard" style of anything, really. For example, our language dialects differ from region to region, yet how many news anchors, television series actors, or anyone else designed for popular consumption, speaks in anything other than a "standard non-accent"? (Whatever the heck that actually is???? lol) Conformity is expected and reinforced in our formal educational institutions, from daycares all the way up through universities. It is present in our workplaces (dress codes, name badges, cubicles, etc.) in the cars we drive (much less selection for a family with more than 5 members), and in the homes we live in (municipalities allowing large developers to buy tracts of land and cookie cutter them up). We are stigmatized for breaking the standard mold... Life is more complicated, the more you differ from the mainstream sameness. So, when folks set out to buy or build a house -- a huge financial undertaking; the single largest for most of us -- the rational choice is the one that doesn't stand out. We are conditioned from young ages to avoid anything that makes us markedly different. Most people don't want to be "weird." There are costs to being weird, not all of them economic, but none as measurable. It's just too risky. So here is a question: Has the speed of information dissemination increasing led to homogenization of American home styles? Beginning with the Sears kit home, and culminating with modern production builds, things have gotten more and more "the same" from coast to coast. I'm not certain we'll ever really know the answer to this question, because the United States has such a short history; we haven't really been around that long. Most of our existence has been in "high speed information" times. It was much easier to develop regional styles prior to the invention of the printing press, a luxury we have never had, let alone prior to the internet. Second question: Is this less noticeable in the custom home market? Do people who are building a home that is not in a development or at least not part of a production model tend more often to choose a regional style? Sadly, not around here. :-( Not that I've noticed, anyway. It's possible I'm not looking in the right neighborhoods, but price point doesn't seem to affect my inability to find vernacular architecture. Third question (Inspired by bpath's post of that lovely 1930's gem this AM): If so many of us fawn over historical styles and house, why do we not make an effort to build anything with near the charm? Why so many CAD-designed, uncategorizable hodge-podge "transitional" stock plans, and so few Dutch Colonials, Dog Trots, Georgians, etc? I don't think "so many of us" fawn over historical styles... I think a very select subset of GardenWeb folks do. ;-) For reasons I ranted on, earlier in my post, lol. It doesn't help that even around the forums here, people caution others to avoid "killing resale," further promoting conformity. America's contributions to the world are largely technology-based -- not art-based -- where mass production and making things more widely available reign supreme. Making things pretty doesn't seem to be a national past time, and those who value beauty over function are considered foolish.