boday, I had heard similarly re P. Polymorpha. So I planted one a couple of seasons ago in a less than sunny location. It has done just okay. But in fact if it did very really well it might actually be too large for the spot! They can grow huge. ----------------------------- I have a polymorpha that started out as - "I wonder if it'll grow here"? to "I wonder if it'll work as a focal point for the whole yard". - (Big yard). So, I can chop some rooted branch and experiment. Trying to establish sight lines, distance and close ups is a big challenge. Astrantia Roma looks great close up, thirty feet away is just a pinkish blob. Five plants disappear.

meslgh......... You have gotten advice from people local to you, so my two cents is of less value than what they have told you, but it may add a dimension you can use in your decision making. I live in a latitude further north than you and I live at a higher elevation, so even though we both live in zone 8a, the light is different up here than where you live. That's why the local advice is much better. Also, since I live in the mountains, my night temps cool off by 40 to 50 degrees and that gives the plants a chance to rehydrate themselves during the night ... pull moisture up from the root zone to the top growth. I don't know if that is true where you live. What I have learned about growing roses in an area of high heat (Heat zone 8), is that roses with thicker petal substance can handle more light and heat. Since I don't have any disease pressure once the day temps hit 85 degrees and stay there or higher, I prune for foliage. That means I don't take out anything that might produce foliage. The rose will abandon what it cannot use. I have found that the roses need as much foliage as possible to stimulate the plant to pull moisture up from the root zone. Once my roses have been in the ground for 3 to 4 years, they are much better at handling the light and the heat. I have some roses that only look wonderful in spring and fall and pretty lousy during the summer months. That's fine with me because I love the roses and I have enough other roses that do well in the summer months. My goal is not to strive for perfect blooms, but for a healthy plant. A healthy plant provides enough blooms to keep me happy. I hope this helps. Smiles, Lyn

That's going to depend upon how many seedlings there are per pot and of what type. If you have three or four minis in a small pot like that and can both keep them from frying in too high heat and well watered, they could exist their first year or so in many instances. If you've raised seedlings of large climbers or shrubs, one would outgrow that size pot in a very short time. I created 2' X 4' x 8" deep wooden table planters with screen and wire bottoms which stand on saw horses. I plant all the seeds in them and leave them from planting (around Thanksgiving) until the following Thanksgiving when the temps are cool enough for transplanting and the rains SHOULD begin. I cover the tops of the tables with wooden lids which are 1" X 2" frames with hardware cloth stapled to them so air, light and water can easily get in, but rodents and birds are kept out. Once they are transplanted, they can go into anything from a four inch pot to a five gallon, depending upon the seedling. I had many fit the four inch pots this year with just as many demanding gallons, two and three gallons and several which required five gallon nursery cans. If the seedlings don't out grow the size pots you've used, they can remain in them until they do. Many seedlings won't generate vigorous root systems on their own and those are often not healthy nor vigorous enough to retain. Generally, mice, birds, rats and squirrels LOVE the seeds. Squirrels and other rodents will eat the hips and seeds like candy as they've very nutritious and require virtually no effort to "harvest". Seedlings are susceptible to rabbits, rats and squirrels. Keeping all of them out is a constant battle. For the smaller ones, I place them up in a raised terrace where the rabbits generally can't get in to. I have to use traps for the rats/mice. Squirrels are impossible as it's illegal here to do anything to them. For the larger cans, I put the gallons inside and surround them with the larger cans to create a barrier which works to a point. But, as with burglers, if one WANTS in, you can't stop them. Good luck! Kim

Well, it's kind of tough to start some plants right now, but okra, peanuts, sweet potatoes love the heat. Peppers and eggplant can take the heat. Realistically, July is the time most people put their gardens into hibernation and then they start their seeds indoors/out of the sun in the next month or so for fall planting. Here's a link to the IFAS planting guide: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/vh/vh02100.pdf