I have been looking for witch hazel. Will happily take any you can spare. Can send wisteria cuttings or check my list for other possibilities. although the map says this is Z6 we are rural, high and windy so all our plants are hardy to Z5. Here is a link that might be useful: my trade page

Thanks everyone for the responses. Bboy: I've looked up Autumn Embers and it looks like a great one for my purposes. If I don't plant it here, I'll definitely plant it at my next place, in which I hope to have a "Witch Hazel" grove. Whaas: Thanks for the info. My main concern is yellow-gold fall color, although a mix is nice. I'm really trying to get more yellows into the fall scene here, as it seems like everything is cultivated toward the reds when the growers are going for fall color! I'm going to research vernalis more. Mainegrowers and Whaas: Yes, I think I'm finding out that it takes a really good freeze before the color really gets going. I have noticed that most of my fall color comes so late (Grn. Mtn. Sugar Maple colors just before everything dies for winter!) so I'm trying to balance it to get a really long and beautiful (lots of mixed colors) autumnscape. Re: Rare Find: I initially called them but received little help -just read to me, out of a catalogue or something, info. that I could find on my own. I was really looking for info. from people who could give me advice from their own experience. Perhaps I just caught the wrong two people at RFN that day. Nhbabs: You've said some intriguing things. I've always nixed planing Fothergilla as my soil pH is somewhere along the lines of 7.1, but I see azaleas and things growing around here, so perhaps if one plants them with a lot of organic matter and feeds them with some food geared toward acid-prefering plants, it would work. (On that thought, I think WH is an acid prefering tree, so I guess I could try the Fothergilla since I seem to think that WH will work here!) COULD YOU GIVE ME A LITTLE MORE INFO. ON THE BRANCHING HABIT OF VERNALIS VS. VIRGINIANA? Besides fall color, one of the main things that interest me in the garden with shrubs and trees is form. Also, I noted your thoughts on winter die-back, and I do think now that I may go with virginiana or vernalis, at least in this cold garden. Thanks again, everyone! Amy

The buds that are brown/blaack are most likley dead check them with your fingernail if alive will he firm not hollow.

I keep both rubbing alcohol and peroxide on hand. Have never used the alcohol for wounds, though. Usually soap and water first, followed by hydrogen peroxide if I'm concerned about contamination, followed by Neosporin and a Band-Aid. A couple of years ago I tripped on a rug/runner going into Walmart. It was raining, and they had put it down at the entrance, I guess to keep so much mess from being tracked into the store. Well, it wasn't laying smooth and flat, and down I went. Scrapped up my forearm pretty bad, was bleeding all over the place. They called an ambulance, which I didn't really need, but the medics did clean up the wound and bandaged it. But they didn't use anything to keep the gauze bandage from sticking. And stick it did! I had to go to my doctor to get that gauze off. Well, he told me to keep Neosporin on the scrape and keep it lightly covered until it healed. I was surprised because I had always thought you were supposed to let wounds dry out. He said no, always keep Neosporin or similar ointment on a wound to keep it supple and keep a hard dry scab from forming. So that is what I did. And have continued to do on any wound I've gotten since. I do bleed very easily, and am always scratching myself up pretty bad when mowing or working in the yard. Those Mesquite trees have vicious thorns! Rusty