I completely disgree with the disagreement ;) Basing nutrient availability primarily on base cation ratios is out dated and poorly supported by research. There is something to competition of nutrients, but it's not nearly as important as making sure that you have sufficient amounts of each nutrient. That (and the fact that the BCR method results in over application much of the time) is why most labs have gone to a sufficiency factor system in favor of base cation ratios. Boat loads of studies have been done to support this. Here is a discussion which sites a good amount of support from a University of Wisconsin study: Oh look. Here it is. Note that the highest corn and soy bean yields were in soils with Ca:Mg ratios which showed magnesium at approximately 3 times higher than calcium (Holy cow! Can that be?!?) and potassium as much as five times higher than magnesium. (Whaaaa..?!?!) And there is plenty more out there showing the same stuff. The BCR stuff was championed by Bear et. al. (read: quacks) and their ideas have been all but dismissed except in myth, lore, and comedy skits. Oh yeah, all I said was not to sweat the sulfur in potassium sulfate in regards to pH. That sulfate is not going to have a huge effect on pH (if any) I say again, don't sweat the sulfur in potassium sulfate if that's they way you want to go. You may note that I recommended the greenwaste compost to bump up primarily potassium. I think that would be prudent for this year, based on the test. Actually, I never said don't sweat the soil test before, but you know what? I'm gonna say it now. Take note of the fact that you could use some potassium. Put in the compost, plant some plants and test again next year. Use this year's test as a base line and adjust from there. Yes, use the tests as a guide but don't freak yourself out over trying to get everything perfect in one shot. Although some adjustment certainly may be warranted after you've gone through a crop or two, plants tolerate very wide ranges of nutrient and chemical conditions and they might do just fine. By the way, if you depend on potassium and magnesium to increase your pH, you're gonna wait an awfully long time for very little change.

Clematis hybridizers have all sorts of motivations as to why they do what they do and how they go about approaching their intended goal. I'd venture to say that in the past most focused on floral effect - the size, shape and color of the flower and its associated parts - and left the development of the vine itself and its growing habit as a secondary byproduct. The Evison breeding program approaches clematis hybridization a bit differently. One of their intents was to develop very compact vines that display an ability to develop flowers all along the length of the vine rather than at the terminal growing points as most vines tend to do. Combining the genes of vines that bloom on both old and new wood is only one of the methods they employ (and I am not sophisticated enough in the specifics of clematis genes and the mechanics of hybridization to offer a better explanation). The results so far have produced a varied selection of smaller vines that tend not to develop the 'bare legs' of their taller growing cousins but rather produce growth points and lateral stems all along the length of the vine and each of these laterals has the ability to produce flowers in the same manner that the top growth does on more conventional clematis vines. And each of these flowering points has been developed to produce multiple (5-7+) flowers per stem. Hence the designation of "free-flowering". One of the corresponding characteristics of these newer vines is that they tend not to fit easily into any recognized pruning group, but are treated more as one does the herbaceous clematis, removing all growth down to a rather low level (even to the base) at the start of each season. Not all of the new Evison introductions have been bred for this attribute but my experience with several of those that have - 'Harlow Carr' and those of the Boulevard series (previously marketed as "patio" clematis) like 'Picardy' and 'Cezanne' - is that they do live up to the label of "free-flowering", producing continual blooms from midspring to frost. I've not even really noticed any 'flushes' - just a continuation of the initial bloom cycle throughout the growing season. As Miguel very validly points out, how long and how well any clematis will bloom for you has much to do with where and how its planted, the care it receives and your specific climate but some of these newer introductions do have - at least in my limited experience - a remarkable ability to produce a profusion of flowers virtually nonstop throughout the season. I think even Miguel would agree with me on 'Harlow Carr's powerful blooming capacity, irrespective of any hybridizer marketing hype :-) YMMV

You're sayin I can prune any and/or all my secondary vines, right? Cuz I have a short growing season & still no fruit. -__- I also wanna buy topsoil & bury/fertilize any remaining leaf nodes to make this process speed up. I don't think we have that many 80+ degree days left here.. :(

I met with a designer today about the whole house and she gave me some good ideas. For the bathroom we discussed a number of options. Of all the things we talked about the bathroom was the most challenging one. The kitchen (which I had thought to be more difficult) was much easier to deal with. The option that had the most appeal to me: Turn the hall closet and part of the office closet (secondary bedroom "beneath" the master) to open into the master and be one closet. That would become DH's closet. He doesn't need a lot of space and could manage with a good closet system. This would have the virtue of leaving a small closet in my office so that remains a secondary bedroom with a closet. Alternative to above - Take both closets (hall and in my office) and make a larger closet opening into master for DH. That gives him a good sized closet but leaves my office without a closet. If and when we would ever sell the house if we felt we needed a closet in that room then we could revert to 1. and put a small closet in that room. I like this idea as this is a retirement home for us that we don't plan to sell. In the bathroom, the closet in the upper left corner goes away. That area becomes a large corner shower, extending a bit into where the tub is now. The vanity extends to the wall where the toilet is now. Possibly put in a small linen cabinet. The toilet is put into where the shower is now. That is about 38" wide and 4' long. That would be fine for the toilet but doesn't leave room for the litter box. My closet extends to take up most of the space now occupied by the tub. No, it wouldn't be long enough to have clothes hung on both sides. But I would have one long side that I could double hang clothes. The door would open to the long side. The toilet room could then be extended a bit (for the litter pan). I would lose one side of hanging space in the existing closet. But, right now the closet is very cramped as it really isn't wide enough to support hanging on 2 sides. If the shower encroached a foot into the tub, I would end up having a closet that was about 10' long. If it encroached 2' then I would have 9'. At the end of the closet (the existing closet I would put some shelving. I think this would solve most of the problems. I would get a long enough vanity and toilet room. The corner shower would be a nice size. My closet would work for me. In my prior house I had about 11' of hanging space and didn't use all of the upper space. I might even get a narrow linen cabinet. To make this work, the skylight would have to go away. That seems to be the lesser of evils. I could potentially put in a high window in the shower as it would be on outside walls. I haven't drawn this out (as I am terrible at doing that) but it seemed to make a lot of sense. Of course, it only really works with adding the closet for DH to the master. But that is a relatively easy thing to do.