find the PROPER latin name.. no guessing.. and google invasiveness and its relations.. since the first latin name is different than smoke bush.. they are not closely related.. or it would be the same .. i have had it in adrian MI for 13 years.. and have NEVER seen a seedlings.. let alone a seed pod...but i cant say i looked for one .....i dont know how it could be invasive in MI .... and somehow or another.. i have some vague recollection it or its kin were native in MI .. but i have to serve dinner.. not research that for you ... mmmm .. meatloaf... ken

Since I actually have some more spare time and am not stuck up in the northern tundra that is the province of Alberta, CA in the oil sands (but really Tar Sands)....I shall pontificate further. The quail thing has actually got out of hand. One can only eat so many crock potted quail and not onsider alternatives. The major problem areas this year are the wild flower patch and the raised bed gardens. This year I enclosed the entire wild flower bet in chicken wire and bird netting. Early returns look promising. However for whatever reason, what ever likes carrots has made a concerted efforts in removing all greenery from said seedlings. There does however appear to be an answer. Tom T, from my neck of the woods in northern Nevada built a series of A-Frames to protect the seedling summer crops from quail depredation and it has apparently worked for everything but carrots. The A-frames are staying on a bit longer for the carrots. I built an extremelyy cheap A-frame of chicken wire and 1x1 pine for the more delicate veggies last week. Appears to be working so far. ------------- Future Tip: Squash Bugs Never heard of Squash Bugs until I moved here in 1991 and over the years have finally figured out how to deal with them. THe answer is, you don't. You let everyone else deal with them. Wait until late May or early June and then plant your squash. Squash bugs it seems, delight in the earliest producers of squash flowers and tend to leave the Johnny Come Lately squash plants alone. One would respond that if you don't get those plants in early and due to the short growing season that you are cutting off your nose to spite your face if you don't do this. My response is: How many car-loads of Zucchini do you need to produce that you think you can actually consume? Not that many. Plant squash later than everyone else in the neighborhood and the the Squash Bugs will tend to ignore what you have in favor of everything else. I have been doing this for the last six years and it works fabulously. ------------ For those who like Cacti: Cacti to great in Northern Nevada and if NotoLover is still around and you want some, everthing I got from here has been growing gangbusters. However, one thing I have noticed is that after a couple years, that single pad you planted which is now 3' plus in diameter; the center rots out and the pads producing flowers are living on borrowed time. Take a close look at the pads. If they start looking wilted and they are getting enough water, look at the original pad(s). Odds are they are dead and the rest of the pads are living off of water reserves. They will shrivel and die because the center of the plant is dead. The best thing to do is remove the entire patch and select a couple healthy pads as a replacement. These will in turn grow, replensish the patch and look outstanding until the center gives up the ghost. I'll put up a page or two later abou this. ~dRahme. Here is a link that might be useful: June

Dave, I used to have to spray my Rhodies with some kind of waxy stuff, to prevent leaf scald, curling and brown spots. Forget what it was called. Must admit that I did enjoy seeing this evergreen shrub all winter. Julie, thank you for the happy ever appster daylily site. have you ever ordered from this Canadian Co.? Ayway, I printed out the pix and names of all their everbloomers, and plan to shop locally for these hybrids. Astrid, I dont remember if I bought my Korean Spice virburnum at Steins garden center or a local garden center near Jackson called Lamms Garden and Landscape Ctr on Sherman road. A really cool place to visit. They may even have a web site. I just love the pink and white huge head of blooms on the KS. Sometimes the scent is almost overpowering. Also, they dont get over large like some Virburnum. If you live in the west coast of WI, I surely would look locally. ARe you near the Mississippi? I love to tramp over those towering cliffs and watch the eagles fish. Beautiful non-glaciated area. Pondy (Sharon)

Thanks! This plan is being inspired by an issue similar to the "America Elm". The road used to be planted with Black Pine, which were very salt tolerant. An epidemic of bark beetles wiped them all out. Interestingly, I had been looking for salt tolerant evergreen replacements before, and never ran into the name pinus radiata. I'd be worried the bark beetles would take them out. Eastern White Pine is IMHO the prettiest pine and totally immune to the local diseases, but particularly vulnerable to salt. That's what the neighbors planted. Ended up using pitch pine, which is very salt tolerant, but still might have some beetle vulnerability. Also considered Atlas Cedar. There are a lot of wild Juniperus virginiana thriving on the sight. Euonymousis an invasive species here. I did consider sea buckthorn for erosion control on another spot. While it isn't considered invasive in my area, I'm told some are worried it will be. I'll have to look into Holly Oak...it should survive here. It's rated for my zone. Tupelo is a tree I really think is in theory perfect for the area. Very wind resistant, slightly salt resistant, beautiful fall color, not particularly susceptibility to local diseases. The catch is this is for my parent's property...I won't be there to water them. I can't find a cheap source of tupelo, and I hear it doesn't take well to transplanting. So my "plant a bunch and hope some survive neglect" strategy likely won't work for it. I'm waiting until I can get my parents more interested in the project to plant a couple tupelo in the "place of honor" where they can be seen from the house. At the moment, I'm looking for a row of cheap bare root things I can plant in a row along the road in front of the field. This part of the project is deciduous because I want to keep the Fall color of the area and not completely obstruct the neighbor's view.