Mike - I wanted to talk a little about sealing tree wounds because I think you had questions after one of Dorie's posts the other day. The late Dr. Alex Shigo practically revolutionized the way we think about trees when he presented us with his findings on how trees react to injury. He called it the CODIT system. CODIT is an acronym for Compartmentalization Of Decay In Trees. He discovered that trees have their own natural defense against injuries and decay, essentially creating barrier or boundary zones that help prevent the spread of decay through these zones and into other tree parts. He also discovered that the WAY we prune was far more important than how we treat wounds after pruning. He didn't speak out strongly for or against treating wounds, but he did say that treating wounds was of no value insofar as curbing the spread of disease is concerned. He taught us that cuts flush to the trunk inhibited barrier zones from forming or greatly dininished their effectiveness, which allowed the spread of disease into the tree's interior. In nature, trees die primarily from mechanical injury or the effects of mechanical injury, including insect injury. Eventually, these injuries result in structural failure of tree parts. Trees rot - the wind or snow loads break them - the tree ends up with too little photosynthesizing surface to sustain it, and the tree starts using more energy than it is making, making death inevitable. We needn't worry much about wind or snow breaking our containerized trees. Actually, structural failure is rarely an issue for our containerized trees. Even if the center was to rot out of out, the cambium will still go happily about its business of making wood. Most of our trees won't live long enough for structural failure from natural causes to be any consideration at all. So - on containerized trees only - not on trees in the landscape, I generally seal any wounds with a product most bonsai practitioners use, called 'cut paste', or I use a twig as a 'paint brush' & seal them with waterproof wood glue. What does this do? On small trees in containers, and especially when we make cuts flush to the trunk (not recommended but common practice to avoid ugly scars/lumps) the cambium can dry out and die back a significant distance from the actual cut. Sealing that wound prevents the cambium from dying back, this allows callus and wound wood to begin forming quickly and the scar heals faster. Note I'm not approaching this from the perspective of disease prevention or helping to keep decay from spreading - I really don't care about that in containerized trees. I'm approaching it from the perspective of aesthetics. Also, I do a LOT of succulent cuttings, lopping stems in half that are anywhere from 1/4" to 1-1/2" in diameter. I ALWAYS seal these wounds to prevent tissue from dying back as far as 1" from the cut site. You've seen this plant many times Looking closely, you can see that after I chopped this plant off, many new buds emerged directly out of the cambium at the wound site (where I chopped it). If I hadn't sealed the wound (waterproof wood glue), those branches would have emerged from latent buds up and down what was left of the stem/trunk, and the particular way I manipulated the Aeonium wouldn't have been possible. Just wanted you to understand my thinking, in case you were wondering. Al

Diana, it's so funny you mention that about your names ending with 55. If you remember, you were my swap buddy last time, and I remember being paranoid I'd research the wrong person and send something that didn't make sense. Well, I did the same thing this time too...paranoia on my part. I'd read something, then go back and make sure it was Brenda and not diana. I'm just a little OCD. LOL (I won't even tell you how many times I proofread this. I have issues. LOL)

Fun!!! Despite my having lived in New Mexico for over 25 years, my Michigan roots showed up with almost every pronunciation (LOL). I still recall moving down to Florida in my mid-twenties and being surprised that a "soda" in Florida did not come with added ice cream, as it did in Michigan. Most of my friends there had no idea what a "pop" was. I've always referred to my tennis-type shoes as "Tennies (TEN-ees). Growing up in Michigan, flip-flops or sandals were called "zorries" (ZOR-ees). I have no idea where that one came from! I have a New Mexican pronunciation for you: instead of "Sandwich" many locals (although not all by any means) refer to it as a "Sang-wich". Even my DD's high school English Lit teacher called it that. Thankfully, this is a term we've managed not to pick up. Thanks for such a fun and interesting thread! Lynn

She is scheduled to start some horrendous chemo next week, even without the bio report. I'm praying they find out the bone tumor wasn't cancer and cancel the chemo. I believe in miracles. And the power of prayer.