I used the smaller ones (Verdura-10) for a recent DIY home-landscape project, I'm very impressed and satisfied. It's like they work WITH nature & physics, rather than fighting nature & physics as a conventional reinforced concrete-block wall does. The bare Verdura wall may not look quite as good as a conventional concrete-block wall, but if the Verdura wall is planted, it soon looks much better than a concrete-block wall. And in terms of longevity, the inherent "work with nature & physics" design would seem to make it almost timeless, compared to concrete-block walls that eventually crack, or start tipping outward, or the bricks near the bottom of the wall start to discolor and spall due to the ever-present water that builds up behind a solid wall. The Verdura products are just a much more logical design than a concrete-block wall which requires a reinforced-concrete footing below it and all of that drainage stuff behind it.

The "Florida Prince" variety of peach tree sets fruit, but my tree is still so small that the chickens jump up and eat all the fruit - usually the day before I want to pick it. It does go completely dormant and looks dead for about a month during the winter, so don't take it out while it is "dead". ( I almost did! ) One of my neighbors in the next camp over has a red apple tree that fruits every year. He doesn't know what type it is, but he gave me a seedling so in several years, we will know if it breeds true or not. I had several horseradish plants in a pot that just languished and did nothing for a year. I wanted to put something else in the pot and stuck the horseradish in the ground where it is now doing well. The asparagus is growing well, but it doesn't seem to want to make spears at the same time. If you want to eat one or two spears a week, then plant asparagus. I suppose I could freeze the spears, but now I just use the asparagus greens in my cut flower arrangements. Roses love it here, but the beetles eat the leaves terribly. I put Sevin dust in a shaker can and dust the roses whenever there's more holes than leaves. Same with the grapes. Iris (flags) don't seem to do well at all. I've tried wisteria and clemantis, but haven't gotten any to survive long enough to find out where they want to grow. Nasturiums thriving and reseeding all over the place. Green beans grow well but will die off after one "season" of harvest. Lima beans will last for several years of harvest. Indeterminate small fruited tomatoes (cherry, Roma, etc.) do real well and last for several seasons. Collard greens grow exceptionally well and will last for several years. Also other assorted greens do well. Sometimes the small green caterpillars attack the leaves, but the plant will usually survive.

Well, we are expecting company for dinner tonight...any minute...and I am serving a new cheese with our drinks that I have never had before. Rougette. It's a soft cheese that has a strong aroma, looks like Brie. How's that for something I have never tried before? I'll let you know how I and, everyone else likes it. I'm hungry...wish they would hurry up and get here. sooey

Oh great thank you! I searched but didn't find that one. I did go out and look at it in a little more detail today and was surprised how thick some of the branches are and felt like it would be damaging or break them to bend that far down. Probably 4.5ft long and 3/4" diameter. This is all new growth this year as it died to the ground yet again. The other thing that worried me is that it has tons of healthy looking lateral buds, but the terminal bud on many branches seems to be opening? It's not just little bean like the lateral buds - it has the shape of small unfurling leaves. I wonder if I'm already doomed and shouldn't bother wasting my time. This is in CT z6a and it's been a warm fall, but nothing extraordinary I don't think.