Hi Jenny, I'm no where NEAR experienced with this container growing stuff but I have to say I think the clay pots might help, when the problem is the ambient heat of the area as well as direct sun on the pots. Clay does breath so the roots dry out out quicker, but it also insulates the roots from the heat. And since they breathe, it enables you to water MORE without having to worry about roots staying too soggy. And I THINK (maybe Al will chime in on this) it's the temp of the ROOTs that often affect whether the plant takes up water and nutrients. Not the temperature in the air itself. I'm in the San Francisco bay area inland and my summer days get 90-100. My terra cotta pots (citrus mostly) seem to help not bake the roots. The ONLY plant I've ever lost (knock wood) was in plastic. You probably know, but there's another greek poster... goes by the name of "greekman" who has TONS of stuff on his balcony. I think he's in Athens, tho. Don't know where you are. And forgive me if I didn't read your entire post closely... but if you're able to construct some sort of umbrella, canopy, pergola across the top of your balcony that might help with the extreme heat. Oops, I see you said it didn't... but maybe if you went to a thicker shade block, who knows? As far as varieties... one thing I don't recall seeing on your list is figs or citrus or olives... things I always associate in pots in a mediterranean climate. (And they always sell them at our local greek festival every year.) I know nothing about growing those items (well citrus) and definintely NOT growing them in Greece, LOL, but have you tried those? One final thought... I agree with you I find succulents mostly unattractive. But I've beens seeing more and more I like that are drought tolerant and striking and you may be able to find a few varieties you like if it comes to it. Not all are prickly spiky things. Another idea might me some of the big grasses in a pot. Like a new zealand flax. Google the plant name and you'll see how big it gets. I just inherited a huge (like 7' tall one, about 8 years old) in a beautiful pot. It's foliage is striking but it could add height (for shade). Good luck this summer, -k

Thanks Jannie. I'm really looking for answers about whether these flashes (whatever they are, warm or hot) get worse as time goes on, or if they continue at the same intensity with which they start. In other words, if the first flashes feel mild, do they continue that way or do subsequent flashes feel warmer and warmer until eventually I'm having really hot flashes? (I have yet to feel as if I'm dripping with sweat, thank goodness!) Last night was cooler than it had been the past few weeks. I added an extra blanket yet I was cold all night and never woke up feeling the least bit warm. So, these "warm flashes" seem to occur only when the ambient temperature is a little on the warmer side... not necessarily warm, but not cool. I guess I should get together with my girl friends and ask them. One of them recently told me she's "past hot flashes" now, which surprised me because the last time we spoke (just months before) she hadn't had any yet. So that leads me to think they last months but not years. But again, I'm mainly wondering if they start out mild and get worse over the months/years. Just curious, that's all! :-) I remember my mom going through this, and she looked red and sweaty. But her heat tolerance has always been lower than mine so I'm wondering if my experience will be different.

I'm going to reply to my own post! I have had such sinus pressure and burning and hearing my pulse in my ear, I finally went to the ENT doctor. I mentioned that I wondered about my hormones, and he sort of shrugged it off. I'm going to have allergy testing next week. But......after I got home from the ENT visit, I started having really bad ovary pain!! I can't believe this. This substantiates my suspicions. I wonder if some of our post menopausal symptoms are from our FSH getting sooooo high, that it starts beating our ovaries into submission........to spit out any possible remaining eggs. I was pretty sure this sinus stuff WAS hormonal......but gee, its been several years since I had a period. Now I have to decide if I want the allergy testing or not (I'll have to pay for it out of pocket). I suppose with all my funky symptoms (fibromyalgia, etc.), that it probably wouldn't hurt to see if I had any allergies. But I suspect, once again, its these DANGED hormones!! Die you ovaries, die!!

It's a single line jet pump. Before we closed on the house, the well company installed a UV filter and chlorinated the well and house, due to bacteria that turned up in the water test. What no one mentioned to me was that apparently while chlorinating the house and flushing a thousand gallons of water out of my well and through all the plumbing, the pump also lost its prime then. The well company had to come out and had a hard time re-priming it (it probably didn't help that the priming plug on the pump is rusted in place, the hex head is broken loose and you'd need an ez-out to remove the important part)and he told me on Saturday that he thinks the well line probably looks like a roller coaster, and there is air trapped in the high spots that would be very difficult to get out and would waste a lot of water. Not the bad news I was expecting (your well is dry) but still information I would have liked to know before I flushed 80 gallons of water out through the water heater.