Christin, there's a difference between mulching and leaving the remains of a plant in place until new growth emerges in spring :-) Mulching can very well make a difference in protecting marginal plants because it does afford insulation - certainly to the soil (which will help with roots) and perhaps even to the crown if you pile mulch over the top of it. But it's not a guarantee and it may work very well on some plants and not so well on others. Leaving old stems, dried flower stalks, etc. in place just doesn't have the same effect. I don't know of any good reasons NOT to mulch :-) It is a soil insulator, moderating against temperature extremes in both winter (heaving due to freeze/thaw) and summer. It will provide protection against erosion both from heavy rainfall and your own irrigation. It supresses weeds and if you use an organic mulch, it will add to soil texture and provide nutrients as it decomposes. It encourages beneficial organisms and can help prevent reinfecting plants with diseases by not allowing fungal spores, etc. to splash up on the foliage. There are some drawbacks, primarily that it provides a safe/secure environment for some pests to hide or overwinter in, but those can be successfully addressed rather easily. If organic, it needs to be replaced on a fairly regular basis and if inorganic, it's a PITA to keep it tidy and debris out of it. What is the most effective method of mulching, material to use and when to do is going to vary a lot by garden and location. And what you are trying to protect. For the most part, I never mulch over the crown of any plant for winter protection simply because my climate does not require it, although this is a very common practice in colder climates. Marginal or not fully hardy plants get any necessary protection by growing them in containers and overwintering them in safe place or sometimes, piling loose leaves around them. IME, having good drainage affords a more reliable method of protection, as the combination of cold and wet is typically the kicker, not just the cold. So to respond to your statement that no amount of mulching/covering will save a plant from death by cold, because that is only topical cover and will not protect the roots of the plant, I'd say that is not true most of the time :-) It depends.....on the plant, the location, the soil conditions, the severity of the winter and any specific microclimate that might be involved. Mulch can and does protect against cold but it is not a guarantee, especially for marginally hardy plants.

Ditto Countrybumpkin. Treat me right I'll treat you better,treat me bad I'll treat you worse. The rest of the time I'll ignore you. Even on sites like this it still applies. When someone tries to put me down or attacks me or makes it clear they don't like me it usually ends up with my back to them. Some vague internet person doesn't affect me one way or the other. If they make it a habit I just write them off. Completely. No congrats, no good wishes,no sympathy for their sorry lives, no response to their posts at all. Ever. UNLESS they directly attack me or my posts again. Then I may respond but then of course they then will run and cry to GW to have my response pulled LOL unlike in real life where they have to own their words and take some responsibility for them.

I was about 12 years old, and was taking a test in school, when the principle came to the door and said there was an incident I was involved in, and needed to come to the office. I had no idea what he was talking about. The teacher said as soon as I finished the test, he would send me. My mind went blank and I couldn't concentrate. I am sure I failed the test. I went to the office and when I got there, a little neighbor girl of ours, age about 6, was there and her older brother. (Small school...all grades in one building). The story was that when I was walking to gym class the day before, and walked through the recess yard where younger children were playing, I picked up this little girl's dress and looked at her panties and called her a "debbil". I didn't even know what a debbil was...I thought it was a bad word that I didn't know the meaning of. Later, I figured out she meant that I had called her a "devil". I don't know why that little girl said that. The idea that I would lift up her skirt to see her panties was mind boggling. But, she had said that...and told her parents, who called the school and, hence, I was in the princple's office being questioned about it. I was crying and I couldn't remember even seeing her the day before. Supposedly other kids saw it, so they were called in, and no one saw it. (Of course, because it didn't happen.) After about an hour, the principle told her it wasn't nice to lie and she had to appologize to me. She said, "I'm sorry Marilyn. I told a lie." I was so distraught and sick, I went to the bathroom and cried my eyes out. But, worse than that incidence...in '95, my husband fired a deckhand. To make a long story short, to get back at him, the deckhand got his girlfriend to say that her children had been out to our place, here on the bayou....we didn't live here at the time, and my husband had molested them. They filed charges...filled out a report several pages long that said they were out here every weekend for 6 weeks, swimming nude in the bayou and riding horses. No one rides my horses...not even me. They aren't broken. Even tho our place is remote...there is a lot of boat traffic on the bayou in the summer. This is MY place...at the time, my husband hardly ever came out here because he was working, but I was here every day. We didn't even know the woman or the kids. Later they tried to recant, but the charges couldn't be dropped. It took 15 months and cost us $60,000. Now, if that won't give you a sorry outlook on the human race, nothing will.

Someone who has been very dear to me recently showed her "true colors" by behaving in a manner exactly as her mother would behave ... her mother, whom she and I have often spoken of and understood to be manipulative, unreasonable, and downright hateful. The saying that about the apple not falling far from the tree resonated with me, and it makes me sad that she has chosen this road. I won't pretend to know all the ins and outs of what you're dealing with, Oakley, but in my own situation I have resigned myself to no further contact unless and until she decides she wants it. I've made repeated overtures which have been met with a less than enthusiastic response, so I'm understanding that even though you may have once been close to someone and still desire that closeness, unless it is reciprocal you are really just spinning your wheels to try to force the issue. I hope someday my friend will realize things differently, but in the meantime I have intentionally decided not to dwell on it. I hope that you and your friend resolve any hurt feelings. If you are both open and authentic, that will help tremendously.