My plant failure (in the last photo below) is staring at me every day, and I am ready to call it a day and dig it up!  Friend Stephanie (new MG like me, but honestly, a much better gardener) grew golden berries from seeds taken from fruit she bought last year at Trader Joe's.  So, this year I tried doing the same.  Trader Joe's sells these for maybe 2 weeks total in early spring.  The name is Cape gooseberry or Peruvian groundcherry, and it tastes like a delicious flavor bomb.  Intense sweet tart flavor, looks like a small orange cherry tomato growing inside a papery lantern-like husk.  lts closely related to tomatillo.  So I planted some seeds, tended to the enormous plants through the summer (it seemed like they would never stop growing) and disappointingly have only found one berry ripe enough to eat!  Now, in 40 degree F nights, it's clear that all the flowers and tiny husked fruit, will never make it to maturity.  So, next year if I want to try it again (probably not), I need to actually purchase a seed packet online, and start much earlier! 

Thank goodness then, for Tradescantia!  A friend has these trailing beauties growing all over her yard and she gave me cuttings. The pink, burgundy, light green and silvery coloring combination is so eye-catching!  There are many varieties of Tradescantia, which is the correct name for this lovely plant.  My variety appears to be 'Zebrina'. The first picture is of the original cuttings, and the second pic is of new cuttings.  Earlier this year, I found a light pink colored Tradescantia called 'Bubblegum' at a Fort Bragg Nursery.  Unfortunately it did not thrive in my yard under a Japanese maple.  I thought it was sheltered enough but maybe not, or perhaps there was just insufficient water when we were away on vacation. I managed to take 3 tiny cuttings (not shown) from the remains, and they are now starting to grow.  Fingers crossed, and giving it a lot of attention.

Cheers!