Thanks Josh, Your right, i watered every morning and then set them in the sun. The peppers in the gritty mix has greened up after i skipped watering every day (every other day now). I still have 20 plants that are in the seed start kit that needs to be transplanted. I was able to mix 25 gallons of the 511 mix with the stuff i have on hand. Good enough to fill 1 half wine barrel and a start on the 2nd. Josh and Al, do you have any tips on fertilizing? the 511 mix i have is made up of turface, bark, and granite. do i soak it thouroughly with hose, wait 30 mins then fertilize? If i have 15 gallons of the mix in each container, do i pour about 5 gallons of water, 1 tsp of fp for each gallon? Thanks I will post pics this weekend once I have transplanted the peppers into it. -bob

DD was 10 or 11 when we decided to drive up Mt. Washington again. We made a loop to include Hershey Park on the way up and Niagara Falls on the way back. After we left Niagara Falls [our bodies remaining poised to feel the ground rumble whenever we stood up], but still winding though the New York mountains, we saw a number of signs to "Rock City". Well, you know how it is, the big things planned have been done, and there's still a lo-o-ng drive home. So we followed the signs which more or less led in the direction we were going, and eventually came to a tiny wooden stand beside the gravelly entrance to "Rock City". This Rock City was not what anyone could have expected. It was simply an area - a large area, maybe a mile square, with a trail wandering up and down the slopes and around trees and huge boulders. Really tremendous boulders the size of cabins and mansions; but scattered here and there, occasionally leaning against each other in eternal support. A certain sense of disapppointed touristy-expectations accompanied us at the beginning of the tour; following the trail up and around these boulders as the guide gave a very short spiel that neatly encompassed geology, mineralogy, and a bit of family history. After maybe ten minutes, he told us to just continue following the signs and to take our time. As we walked, the surroundings became less park-like, and more... something. One could easily feel that one was walking backward through time, not in the let's-play-indians sense but in terms of milleniums passing. The trees became huge trunks, the boulders more impressively solid, and we became tiny observers. Then, turning a corner at one edge of a towering rock, we came upon a cathedral of trees; a double row of huge trunks with branches that reached up and over, touching twig tips to form a most gracious arch. Moss paved the gentle slope, hillocks and pillows of moss-covered stones invited one to sit and absorb the awe-inspiring silence. We weren't tourists anymore, but visitors who were being permitted to see the land as it was, as it had been for thousands of years past and, it seemed, as it always would be for thousands of years to come. The signs are long gone. Rock City doesn't exist any more. The guide told us that the last of the family was selling the land. He thought that apartments and maybe a shopping center would be built.

Nice to know it's a species not a mongrel (hybrid) like I see too often here in Texas.

Rock City Gardens' June issue of The Early Bloomer is filled with horticulture design solutions for the south Florida climate. Stories include how to cultivate and care for butterfly gardens, artificial turf for beautiful and environmentally safe lawns, container garden ideas, and loads of caladium varieties that thrive in the Florida sun. Read the full stories here: The Early Bloomer - June 2015! For continued landscape inspiration, sign up for our monthly digital newsletter at www.RockCityGardens.com/newsletter.