This delicate annual is one of the toughest in the OSU Extension Herbaceous Ornamental Field Trials in Clark County http://mastergardener.osu.edu/?q=content/herbaceous-ornamental-field-trials-clark-county . The plant is a rounded mound that grows to around 1' tall by about 10-12" wide, and covered with bluish cup-shaped flowers that don't stop blooming all summer. The fine foliage is green and adds to the delicate appearance. It does well in sun or shade and makes an excellent border plant or a spiller plant for a container. The only requirement is good drainage!

This large perennial grass grows between 3-7' tall with a 2-3' upright, open spread. Blooming from mid-summer until fall, switchgrass has pink-tinged, branched flower panicles that are so delicate they look like an airy cloud around the plant. Some have trouble with this ornamental grass reseeding, but when grown in a mulched bed, seedling emergence seems to be diminished.

Switchgrass also has green leaves that turn to an excellent gold fall color, standing out in a fall perennial border. It adapts to a wide range of soil, however, give it really rich, fertile soil and it flops! It prefers full sun, though it will tolerate light shade. The panicles turn a beige color in the fall and persist into winter; the seeds are a good food source for birds.

This herbaceous vine, related to the flowering morning glory that graces many gardens, produces large starchy and sweet edible roots. Native to Central and South America, the sweet potato will succeed in areas that can provide a long warm growing season. In Ohio, sweet potatoes are started from "slips", rooted cuttings or sprouts from a growing vine. The slips are grown in southern states or greenhouse grown and shipped north during the proper planting season (late Spring). Slips are planted 18" apart in rows 3' apart. The vines quickly develop to cover the entire area crowding out most weeds.

Sweet potatoes can be harvested beginning in late summer and harvest should be completed shortly after frost. Cold soil temperatures reduce the storage life of the sweet potato and rot organisms can quickly move from frosted vines to the roots. Dig carefully to avoid damaging the tuberous roots.

After harvest, the roots must be cured to develop their sweet flavor. After they are dried for a few hours, they are moved into a warm (85F) area with high humidity for two weeks. After this initial curing they can be stored long term in a cool area (55F).

Most varieties available are orange-fleshed ('Centennial', 'Georgia Jet', and the non-trailing 'Vardaman') but white-fleshed varieties might still be found. As a houseplant or school project, a sweet potato will grow an abundance of fine roots, leaves and vines from a tuberous root suspended in water. They can also be stored through Spring to grow a crop of slips for next year's garden.

The term yam is often used interchangeably with sweet potato. Yams (Dioscorea spp.) are native to Africa and Asia and produce very large starchy tubers. They grow only in the tropics. However, because the two names are often thought to indicate the same vegetable, USDA labeling rules require "sweet potato" to be included anytime the word "yam" is used.

Ornamental sweet potatoes (also Ipomoea batatas) are selected for their foliage and growth habit and not for the eating or keeping quality of the roots. Additionally, pesticides used to grow ornamental sweet potatoes may not have been labeled for use on vegetables - use caution when gleaning ornamental sweet potato tubers.

A weed or a welcome addition to the landscape? That's surely a fair question. After all, the bright golden panicles of this common resident of fields, roadsides, and sometimes gardens can be a very attractive addition to the landscape from late August through October. It even makes a wonderful cut flower. What about the common perception that it is a major culprit in fall hay fever episodes? Not so. Goldenrod pollen is often blamed for causing hay fever; however, the true culprit is ragweed. Both plants bloom from late summer to early fall, but ragweeds have small green flowers that unleash huge amounts of pollen into the winds. Goldenrods produce far less pollen because they are both wind and insect-pollinated.

Over 60 species of goldenrod are found in northeast and north central North America. Perhaps one of the most intriguing cultivars for landscape use is Solidago shortii 'Solar cascade'. 'Solar cascade' is a federally endangered wildflower native to a few small populations in Indiana and northern Kentucky that has been extensively grown, propagated, and promoted by Steve Foltz, Horticulture Director, Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden. 'Solar cascade' is a low growing (2-3' height) plant that does not spread as much as other more aggressive spreading species as most other goldenrods due to its shorter rhizomes. For more information on goldenrod please refer to University of Minnesota Yard & Garden Brief, "Goldenrod and Ragweed" http://www.extension.umn.edu/yardandgarden/ygbriefs/h530goldenrod.html.

Many BYGLers stated that they had tomato and pepper plants loaded with green fruit, but they don't seem to be ripening at all. First and foremost, tomatoes and bell peppers are very sensitive to ambient air temperatures. Tomato and bell pepper color, flavor, plant growth and fruit production are optimal when daily temperatures are 70-75F, with nighttime temperatures 60-65F. High temperatures, specifically anything above 85F during bloom and ripening periods, will result not only in reduced fruit set (bud abort), but fruit flavor, texture and color will also be directly affected.

This "tomato time-out" is mainly due to the plant using most of its resources, like water and nutrients, in addition to its manufactured photosynthetic products, to simply survive temperature extremes. More resources maybe partitioned to produce more roots in an attempt to access more water which causes the plant to suddenly cease to grow. Remember, the plants are attempting sustain

all of their physiological processes, like cool its leaf tissues, and continue to grow in order to produce new blooms and new foliage, and also ripen fruit, all at the same time! That requires a huge amount of plant resources and energy when environmental factors are perfect, so imagine what that is like when the plant is trying to cope with an environmental stress of…oh let's say 98F and dry, hot constant winds blowing!

Tomatoes do not like cooler temperatures either. In fact, temperatures lower than 50F will cause a type of chilling injury. It may take 2-3 days for tomatoes to return to their previous levels of photosynthetic activity, even after just a brief chill period. For this reason, the best way to preserve the color and flavor of vine ripened tomatoes is to keep them in a cool place out on the counter instead of inside the refrigerator! As the environmental conditions experienced by tomatoes and bell peppers this growing season were reviewed, everyone suddenly realized that just having green tomatoes...is really a good thing!