Cacti and succulents can be repotted at any time of the year, though spring or the end of the growing season are convenient times. Many succulents present no special handling problems, but prickly cacti have to be treated with respect.

If possible, choose a soil mix formulated for cacti, as this will be well drained and have the right sort of structure and nutrient level. A soil-based potting mixture is a practical alternative. Some commercial growers use peat-based potting mixtures, but these are best avoided. Apart from the difficulty in keeping the water balance right, peat-based potting mixtures do not have the weight and structure to support large cacti and succulents.

Large specimens do not need regular repotting. Simply remove about 3 cm (about 1 inch) of soil from the top and replace with fresh cactus soil.

To handle a prickly cactus, fold a strip of newspaper, thick paper or thin card to make a flexible band that you can wrap around the plant. Tap the pot on a hard surface to loosen the root-ball. You can then often lift the plant out with the improvised handle. If it refuses to move, try pushing a pencil through the drainage hole to break the bond.

If the plant has been in the same soil for a long time, crumble away a little of it from the base and around the sides of the root-ball. But be careful to minimize damage to the roots. Just shake off loose compost.

The majority of cacti and succulents are best in pots that are quite small in proportion to the size of the top growth. It is usually best to move the plant into a pot only one size larger. If using a clay pot, cover the drainage hole with pieces of broken pot or other material.

While holding the plant with the improvised handle, trickle compost around the old root-ball. With some cacti, their shape makes this difficult to do without your hand touching the spines, in which case you can use a spoon.

With a little care in handling, you will have a plant ready to go on decorating your garden for some time to come.

By S. & C. Tollison

Okay, so maybe Neil Diamond wasn't a gardener, but he probably would have preferred his love being "in a mist" over "on the rocks".

Love-in-a-mist comes in a variety of colors. These charming flowers are attractive and useful - and they stand tall. With moderate TLC, love-in-a-mist will thrive almost anywhere. If you're "in a mist," read on and all will become clear.

You have an array of choices to choose from, white, pink, purple, and light blue; light blue is the most common color. With this many colors, incorporating your favorite hue should not be too difficult.

Fresh cut or dried, love-in-a-mist will accent any room, its flowers and seedpods are a great arrangement all by themselves. They stand 12 to 30 inches tall and wide. A love like this never falls short in your garden.

Plant love-in-a-mist in full sun, use soil with excellent drainage, such as Gardner & Bloome Harvest Supreme, and water moderately. These annuals do tend to die out quickly if the weather is too hot, so make sure to keep track of the temps outside before planting. The good news is that these flowers readily self-sow and are usually problem-free.

So don't hang your heart up just yet; love-in-a-mist will surely bring the sparkle into any garden.

No matter where you live, the growing season is never long enough. In the North, the season can be as short as 90 days--barely enough time to ripen tomatoes or melons. In the South, drought and intense heat often limit gardening activity to the spring and fall months. The good news is that by using a few simple season-extending techniques and plant protection devices, you can shield your plants from extremes of weather and stretch your gardening season by two, three, or even six months.

Contending with the Elements:
Extending your growing season requires protecting your plants from wind, frost, cold soil, heat, and too much sun.

Wind:
If the plants in your garden must battle the wind, they will end up using most of their energy simply to survive, rather than developing strong root systems and putting on healthy growth. A permanent solution, which may be a worthwhile investment if you live in a windy spot, is to enclose your garden. You can build a wood fence, plant some shrubs, or put up windbreak netting. Creating dead calm is not the goal. Your objective is to reduce the wind speed. If there’s a prevailing wind direction, a fence on that side of the garden may be all that is needed. If a permanent fence or hedge requires more of a time or financial commitment than you are ready to make, you can try covering your plants with a polypropylene garden fabric. Seedlings grown under the shelter of garden fabric will often put on twice as much growth as control plants.

Cold Soil:
If you protect your garden over the winter with a thick layer of mulch, be sure to pull the mulch off the planting beds in early spring to expose the soil to the sun. Building raised beds is another way to warm the soil more quickly. Covering cold spring soil with black plastic can boost soil temperature by several degrees. The plastic can be left on all season, or removed prior to planting.

Combining black plastic mulch with a clear, slitted plastic tunnel will raise soil temperatures enough to get melons and other heat-lovers off to a fast start. In the fall, polypropylene fabrics will retain heat and keep soil temperatures several degrees warmer. This can give heat-loving crops such as peppers, okra, and tomatoes a couple extra weeks to ripen.

Sun and Heat:
Hot weather can be just as challenging as cold weather, especially for people who garden in the South. Young plants can be stressed and stunted by too much direct sunlight, and once the weather gets hot and soil temperatures rise, getting seeds to germinate becomes very difficult. Cool-weather plants, such as most salad greens, turn bitter and go to seed in hot weather. Shade netting can be laid right over wire hoops or a movable wooden frame; reducing the amount of sun reaching the plants can keep soil temperatures cooler and reduce moisture loss from the foliage. A piece of wood lath attached to a frame can serve the same purpose.