We really haven't had much of a winter here, Jeff. In fact, I noticed today that my hibiscus is coming up, and it usually does start into growth until the end of May. Things have been either way early, or they haven't done anything at all because we completely "skipped" over spring (like my double daffs didn't bloom). My Colocasia 'Ruffles' is up already. Usually my colocasias don't start into growth until mid-late May, or even early June! It has been a way-wacky year here. It would have been a great year if I had planted amorphs in the ground, since we had a drought, and they like dry feet during dormancy. So, I guess you're getting the spring that missed us, huh? Susan

AWWWW~~~ Love the poem my dear friend Blanca! Did you write that?? OK, April Fools' recap! First...I am sooooo serious most of the time and I actually pulled a small prank on 3 people AND IT WORKED EACH TIME! These were all people I know well. I said I had something in my hair and I couldn't see it. Could they see anything?? As they looked I dropped some little plastic spiders on their desk! Got screams 2 of the 3 times, followed by laughter! Now here's the weird part of the day --- In the morning I got an email from a boyfriend that I lost touch with back in 1982. I found a Valentine's card from him a few weeks ago while I was cleaning and wondered what had happened to him. It took a while searching the internet, but we connected yesterday and he was actually happy that I had made the effort. He still lives in so Cal (where I grew up). Not married, no kids...wants to keep in touch, etc. Finding old friends is just soooo great. Then I got a cute email from another guy at work that is working his way into the "friend" category. He's always been there for me during times of crisis (linkage cable break in car transmission and garbage disposal disaster last thanksgiving)...so we are working on the friendship "thing". Making friends is harder when you are older. I don't know if we put more restricitions on it or what, but it's just different. Then I get all these text messages from my "country" gentleman friend to come out and have a beer with him...which turned into 2 beer, dinner and a movie! And somewhere in between I had communications with the guy that I am interested in (always nice to hear his voice). I was on guy "FRIEND OVERLOAD" yesterday...! WHOOO HOOOO!!! K

Hi All- I bought my DoA from Bluestone's sale last summer. I planted in a 1 gallon container so she was keep moist at all times. My DH did all the pinching; something I haven't got the hang of yet. Don't really understand where you should pinch. She was planted last fall 2007. When we removed her from the container she had an amazing rootball. We planted her deep w/some bonemeal in the bottom of the hole. The pictures are of her very first blooms ever! I am so proud of her and I think she is a very pretty clematis. Now I need to find a vitacella to grow together w/my Henryi that is about 8 years old. He had wilt the first 3 years and this year he has just started blooming. I was thinking of VV but would love a nice blue like Ramona. How would Betty Corning look w/Henryi? I hear she is a great clematis and I love the bell-shaped flowers. I want something with color to really stand out w/Henryi. I guess I am not really sure what I want but would love some suggestions. suebot in CT

It's not unusual for long periods of repressed root function to cause ruination of a plant's foliage, even when there is no fungal pathogen infecting the root system. I too am interested in the answer to Dave's questions re repotting vs potting up, and would also have asked if he hadn't, this, because they're different procedures and yield different results. Potting up can be done any time with little concern for an adverse turn toward decline, even though it's best to do it in very late spring or very early summer, unless the plant is circling the drain and intervention is a necessity. Repotting, which is more stressful initially but yields far superior results ultimately, should be a regular part of your tree's maintenance. Repotting includes bare-rooting, root-pruning, and a change of soil, and should be performed sometime around Father's Day or the Summer Solstice if you live in North America. The plant will recover much faster if any heavy work is planned for the point in the growth cycle when the plant should have ample energy reserves and it's ability to carry on photosynthesis (make food) is about to peak. Since a plants natural defenses are linked to its metabolic rate, repotting when the plant is at its most robust makes sense. What Dave said about using a wooden dowel (a "tell") is also something I'd've suggested. The advice to water when the top inch or two of the grow medium is dry is ok if the pot is 5" deep or less, but the baseline of watering when there is 2" of dry medium in a 10" pot more often than not is a recipe for over-watering, and I'm not just talking about Ficus. There can still be more than 6" of 100% saturated medium in a 10" deep pot when the top 2" of the soil column is dry; so, habitually using that metric to to determine when it's time to water is almost certain to end up seriously sapping a very large measure of a plant's potential in areas like growth, vitality, yields (for crops), and appearance. Using a 'tell' Over-watering saps vitality and is one of the most common plant assassins, so learning to avoid it is worth the small effort. Plants make and store their own energy source – photosynthate - (sugar/glucose). Functioning roots need energy to drive their metabolic processes, and in order to get it, they use oxygen to burn (oxidize) their food. From this, we can see that terrestrial plants need plenty of air (oxygen) in the soil to drive root function. Many off-the-shelf soils hold too much water and not enough air to support the kind of root health most growers would like to see; and, a healthy root system is a prerequisite to a healthy plant. Watering in small sips leads to avoid over-watering leads to a residual build-up of dissolved solids (salts) in the soil from tapwater and fertilizer solutions, which limits a plant's ability to absorb water – so watering in sips simply moves us to the other horn of a dilemma. It creates another problem that requires resolution. Better, would be to simply adopt a soil that drains well enough to allow watering to beyond the saturation point, so we're flushing the soil of accumulating dissolved solids whenever we water; this, w/o the plant being forced to pay a tax in the form of reduced vitality, due to prolong periods of soil saturation. Sometimes, though, that's not a course we can immediately steer, which makes controlling how often we water a very important factor. In many cases, we can judge whether or not a planting needs watering by hefting the pot. This is especially true if the pot is made from light material, like plastic, but doesn't work (as) well when the pot is made from heavier material, like clay, or when the size/weight of the pot precludes grabbing it with one hand to judge its weight and gauge the need for water. Fingers stuck an inch or two into the soil work ok for shallow pots, but not for deep pots. Deep pots might have 3 or more inches of soil that feels totally dry, while the lower several inches of the soil is 100% saturated. Obviously, the lack of oxygen in the root zone situation can wreak havoc with root health and cause the loss of a very notable measure of your plant's potential. Inexpensive watering meters don't even measure moisture levels, they measure electrical conductivity. Clean the tip and insert it into a cup of distilled water and witness the fact it reads 'DRY'. One of the most reliable methods of checking a planting's need for water is using a 'tell'. You can use a bamboo skewer in a pinch, but a wooden dowel rod of about 5/16” (75-85mm) would work better. They usually come 48” (120cm) long and can usually be cut in half and serve as a pair. Sharpen all 4 ends in a pencil sharpener and slightly blunt the tip so it's about the diameter of the head on a straight pin. Push the wooden tell deep into the soil. Don't worry, it won't harm the root system. If the plant is quite root-bound, you might need to try several places until you find one where you can push it all the way to the pot's bottom. Leave it a few seconds, then withdraw it and inspect the tip for moisture. For most plantings, withhold water until the tell comes out dry or nearly so. If you see signs of wilting, adjust the interval between waterings so drought stress isn't a recurring issue. Al