Tom: OK, maybe you will have to water. Some pointers that may help. Do you have some kind of SUV? I have a Suburban, so I am lucky. I have been watering about 400 new trees and some that I planted in prior years, If I use my methods and had just 100 or so--"piece of cake." I got a shallow rubber-like or flexible plastic tray that fits in the back. I can line up 40 jugs on this and can re-fill them right there and drain off the spillage out the back of the tray by pressing down its lip. I have another tray in the side that holds another 18. I drive close to me trees and carry them by twos or threes to the trees. For 90% of them I created a nice berm to hold the water, so I can pour it out fast. 100 trees, if they are in rows close toghether, maybe 2 or 2 1/2 hours. With kids helping, much less. No problem! Good luck. If you water them and keep up their strength, they will get established fast. If you see good buds form and the thick leader develop, you are home free, and one good watering now could do the trick. If the buds are really small and the leaders don't show any thickening, you should water more regurlarly until fall, if needed. --Spruce

Aw thanks everyone for the warm welcome back. I missed chatting with you. I used to have kind of a "meh" attitude about Florida and now I can't for the life of me figure out why. It's so easy on the eyes. And really nice folks there - although maybe they're just so nice because they're living in paradise. /Eileen. I hear you about the furry babies. I have been out of town so much lately that my cat is punishing me. ._.' So great that you have 3 sisters down there! I definitely hope I get to retire near my sisters someday. /Poseidon. "I agree, joni is one of those people that you just do not forget meeting." You just could not have put it better. That's what I keep trying to explain to people about her. I can't quite put words to her, but she's one of a kind. /Pug. It is exactly like that. I felt like Homer in that episode of The Simpsons where he is in The Land of Chocolate. All those little planty faces staring up at you, and their moms nearby so you can see exactly what they will look like when they are of an established size. It should make it easier to decide what you want, but really what happened to me was that I suddenly saw the appeal of all the plants I'd previously vetoed when merely viewing them online. Unfortunately Kelly has been busy addressing some health issues. We recently heard she was making some progress and I'm sure she'll be on here again eventually. I miss her too. /Renee. Whoa a vacation with both Bulbophyllums and Hoyas?! That's pretty posh. :) I hope you're able to make it out to Sarasota/Siesta Key. My sister really wanted me to drop her off in Siesta Key while I was visiting Joni but unfortunately for her, she slept in and I wasn't going to wait any longer! :P /Ima. It's a really pretty area, so I think it would make a fun day trip. If your daughter takes you, maybe as a thank you gift, you'll be faced with the same conundrum as I was: what a person's First Hoya should be. I went with polystachya, but Joni's suggestion of merrilli was a really good one, I thought.

I feel your joy!! We are not in the PNW but are just days away from having out metal roof installed. They have to do the chimney stone first, and that arrived yesterday so hopefully soon. Share some pictures when it's done, if you don't mind. We used to live on Whidbey and loved it out there!

Yeah, I see there's very little info on SUNNY DELIGHT. I'm going to take a guess that it's a Coiner-bred rose tho, seeing as how that's the company HD usually buys their bareroots from. And I seem to remember I got the potted one from HD as well. I'm just really stoked to have been able to replace it. The funny thing is, I was just thinking about it a week or so ago, wondering if I might ever find it available anywhere again. I just hope this one doesn't die on me this time.