By the way, how big do you wait for your seedlings to get? At least a couple of sets of true leaves. Do the plants fight it out and the strongest wins? Or do you have to thin out eventually. I plant hunks and I really don't thin. Maybe a few die off but most seem to continue to grow and grow. My go-to filler is whatever is volunteering in my yard. So often melampodium, coral nymph salvia, rud hirta. Basically whatever pops up. Karen

Surely depends on your micro climate. For my area they say October 20th, but I have seen snow in the last week of September. I know I can sow lettuce, swiss chard and spinach around this time for the late fall. I was going to sow some beet and seeds and see if they will produce anything, as the spring sowed ones failed due to the dry summer we had. For the warm weather plants that are still growing,I pulled 2 of the Fairytale eggplants that were not flowering well, and I pruned back the Charentais and Casaba melon vines so the later, smaller fruits (golfball sized) will get larger, but not put energy into the long vines. The bell peppers, I pulled one of the smaller sized ones that didn't have babies on it. My pole beans are just starting, as I sowed them in mid June. I plant by the moon, so now (dark of the moon) is the best time for underground veggie sowing. Also, if I know there is going to be a heavy frost in last week of September, I cover my plants with old sheer curtains for protection. If this fall and winter is anything like last year I will we able to harvest till Jaunuary, gees we had 60 degree weather till end of January. This was the most ususual fall winter we ever had. I plant later in the spring becuase I enter into the largest fair on the East Coast which is the last full week of September every year.

Thanks, gene. I didn't even think about it being a seedling and not turning into a good little fig tree like its mama. Good point. I will also try a sucker, can't hurt. Peg, thanks, I know I am very spoiled. It's like living in the garden of eden because everything grows, but of course, we pay dearly for it out of our pocketbook, but it's worth it. This fig tree grows like a weed. I prune it back severly after the leaves fall in the winter and then it comes back with a vegence in the spring, growing, growing, growing and producing more figs than we can handle. I try to eat them, give them to friends, family and strangers, and still a good bit of them go into my compost. Oh, and I do make jars upon jars of fig preserves too. I will definately always have a fig tree wherever I live from now on, they are just so easy and tempting. But my kids find the best part the low branches, perfect for preschoolers to climb up in. :)

I'd go with Macrocarpa. It likes alkaline soil, is recommended for your area, and as a White Oak Group oak is resistant to Oak Wilt. Probably the slowest growing and worst fall color, though. Be sure to mention alkaline soil in your posts...that is the big fly in the ointment. Actually, you should test the PH of your soil. Northern Red Oak grows fastest, may have decent Fall color, and takes best to being transplanted, but might have trouble with chlorosis. If I could find it I'd go with seed grown. Grafting just creates more opportunities for the nursery to botch things. They could pick an unsuitable tree for the root stock, often the rootstock is root bound, there is confusion as to whether to bury the graft. I'd only buy grafted if it was a special cultivar or something. Personally, I kind of like potted trees. They give me more planting time flexibility. I can buy them when I see a sale and plant them when I have a weekend free. I buy small trees, though. And many disagree with me. It's partly a matter of how much you trust the nursery...potted trees create more opportunities for the nursery to botch things. They can become pot bound. Lots of Q Rubra near me are only just starting to leaf out, with tiny leaves the size of dimes. A few haven't leafed out at all. We had an unusually cool Spring, though.