I have long hair, well longish now since I just had a foot of it whacked off. I find headgear useful when working. My mother always wore a kerchief when she was doing serious cooking, and I sometimes do as well. Likewise I'm liable to plop on one when I'm out spading ground, or vegetable gardening to keep the mound of hair secure. I'm seriously thinking of making a couple flannel mob caps to plop on my head for winter sleeping. We like to keep the rooms very cool to sleep and bundle on quilts or heavy blankets. It's an old saying keeping your head warm is the most important part of bundling up, and it's the only thing peeking out of the covers. And really, hats, caps and scarves have saved my behind on bad hair days when I had to be out with the public. Didn't Jack Kennedy wear a stove pipe top hat when he was inaugurated? Regardless of political bent, you gotta admit Mr. Obama is a very pleasant person to look at. He'd look super in the fedora.

Hi everyone, I just had another thought about where I might put EVS, but wanted to find out if EvS MUST climb or can it be more shrub-like if it has horizontal space to spread/fan out. I have a big front window that is about 5' above ground, and about 6' wide. Does EVS have to be a climber? If left to its own devices, does it sort of spray up and out, tumble and fall, I don't know the lingo yet. But I guess I'm wondering if 5' tall and 6' wide (even with some pruning) would be sufficient for EVS (in NorCal) if not trained to a trellis but allowed to become a shrub. If it can be grown this way, does it still need some sort of grid/trellis/cattle panel something or other behind it (up against the house) to train the plant initially? With the Celebration just a few days away, I'm still trying to decide where to place the plants I already *own* so that I can justify buying *more*. LOL Thanks!

Hi Judith: Muriate of Potash is potassium chloride, salt index of 116.2, very high, that's the stuff we use to de-ice in zone 5a winter. I would not use that stuff on any plants. Sulfate of potash has salt index of 43, NPK 0-0-50, plus the sulfate part which makes it more water soluble. The safest potassium with no salt would be chop-up banana peels soaked in water. Banana peels NPK is 0-3-42. MiracleGro Moisture Control potting soil (blue bag) already has slow-released fertilizer for 3-months, no need for additional fertilizer. What it doesn't have is calcium, essential for root-growth. I put granular gypsum bought from Menards on top of my roses ... after 1 month of spring rain, that didn't dissolve. Gypsum is 22% calcium, and 17% sulfur, but it varies with brand .. some brand contains less sulfur, and never get dissolved. The soluble gypsum from Kelp4Less dissolved easily in my tap water, pH 8, so I suspect there's more sulfur % in that one. The instant green-up and deepening of bloom colors most likely is from the sulfur %. I would dissolve the gypsum you bought from the feed store at the rate of 1 tablespoon per gallon, if it doesn't dissolve, then is best used in the ground. Roses Unlimited recommends mixing in 1 cup of gypsum in the planting hole. If the gypsum you bought from the feed store still doesn't dissolve, I would put less than 1 tablespoon of vinegar per gallon ... any more roses will wilt in the heat. Putting vinegar in the heat is risky, less is best. So far 4 studies pointed to calcium and extra potassium as essential in best root-growth: U. of Kentucky with Peters 20-10-20, same with U. of Mass with marigolds. Two additional studies: one with hydroponic lettuce, with the best result Masterblend 20-18-38 with added calcium nitrate and magnesium sulfate (Epsom salt). This was done hydroponic, no soil, thus the logic for Epsom salt. Another experiment is done by Ohio Link NTD center on New Guinea impatient flowers. Here's the tested ones: Peters-water-soluble 20- 4.4 -16 Daniels-soybean-base 10- 1.8 -2.5 Osmocote 3-month release 15-4-10 5-month slow-release 15-4-10 The best performance is Peters-water-soluble (NPK 20-4.4-16). The worst performance is organic soybean base, too little potassium. Potassium mobility is a 3, somewhat mobile, and gets leached out. Potassium is essential for root growth, that's the only extra fertilizer one needs besides calcium for best root growth. MiracleGro potting soil has plenty of nitrogen, I get a gigantic dark-green Excellenz von Schubert from a band, I had to chop off 2 feet of growth, before planting in ground. The safest bet: chopped up banana peels soak in water for potassium, and gypsum powder at 1 tablespoon per gallon (low salt index of 8). Plus MiracleGro Moisture Control potting soil (blue bag), which already have slow-released fertilizers. Less fertilizer is best for young bands. Below is Gene Boerner, bought from Roses Unlimited end of June sale, fertilized with the above approach. Picture taken few days ago, so it's 3-weeks of growth:

Zabby - I didn't say, at least I didn't mean "that the whole concept of canning in South Africa is a a serious safety problem" - that is far too broad and likely very untrue. But in the current situation it is a serious safety problem for Tanya. Surely somewhere in SA there are experienced home canners and suppliers. If not SA perhaps somewhere nearby there is a source of reliable info and supplies for Tanyak - thus my suggestion to contact the university. Proper jars are sold throughout Europe if all else fails and while shipping may be high a basic set of supplies and a good book on canning could be a life saver in this case. But Tanya is clearly inexperienced and she apparently hasn't found any of those reliable sources so far - that much is clear from all her posts - and we here certainly can't teach her all she needs to know in this forum. By trying to help we could easily be misdirecting her because of the simple misunderstandings. We can't even understand how her "5 ring gas burner stove" works or what the canning jars/lids she describes are from the info provided. Not everything in life can be done equally well everywhere and home canning may be one of those things. So Tanya needs to do some more local research on the basics, get a good book ordered (that alone would solve many problems), contact her canner manufacturer for help with the gauge problems, order a 3-weight set and ignore the gauge, contact the stove manufacturer for assistance with how to use and adjust the stove, contact the glass company and ask for help finding a proper supplier, call or write the university, etc. and make another attempt to find a local source of good information. I'm sorry but it simply isn't safe to "experiment" with home canning when there are so many uncontrolled variables. Dave