First order of business is to pry up and discard the glued down rocks so they can't interfere with watering. Don't keep the tree indoors. Liquidambers are outside trees. Give it morning sun and water when the surface soil is dry to a depth of 1/2". Let it go dormant (loose its leaves). If you live in a place that gets below 25F put the tree in a protected place where it will stay between 30-40F. If it is dormant it can be in the dark. I would not try to do anything to it until spring when it is getting ready to sprout new leaves. In the meantime you should look for a bonsai club in your area. Go to the website of the California Bonsai Federation. There you will find a listing of almost all the clubs in CA, along with a contact person. You should also get at least one or two books. I would recommend, Bonsai Techniques I, by John Naka. It is the best single book on bonsai in the US. Any book by Peter Adams, Peter Chan, Harry Tomlinson, Marty Mann would also be helpful. If you Google "bonsai books", you will find web sites where these books can be purchased. Good luck with your new obsession, Jack

do it now.. but i gotta say.. i never tried to dig a foot and a half tree out.. good luck with that ... even if you completely bare rooted it.. how the heck are you going to lift it out??? .. and you arent going to put it at the curb .... cut if flush to the ground.. then.. off a few feet.. find a spot where you can dig a 3 foot wide hole.. for the new tree.. and cover this one with mulch.. after you kill it ... you might.. in this method.. only have one large root to deal with.. and even if i found that.. i just might move the hole a foot the other way.. in other words.. bury and forget ... your only problem here.. is your thought that the replacement has to go precisely where the other one is.. will your life end.. if its 3 feet one way or another??? you can prune it to grow off toward the stump.. if the space above ground is what you want filled.. you dont just want some straight up boring upright JM.. do you?? and no.. the RU is not going to be sucked into the roots.. and then out thru the roots to migrate thru the soil ..... to your new plant.. that simply isnt the way it works .... i sum up this method this way: work smart.. not hard ... lol ... ken ps: trees bud out on stored energy.. if you wait till it has leaves.. its already storing more energy.. kinda defeating yoru purpose ..... kill it.. and if it suckers.. you are dwindling that stored energy.. basically on your way.. to starving the root masses ability to keep suckering.. NEVER let suckers get too big ... or you will lose ground ....

Hello Cathy, You mentioned 'Amber Star' which is an excellent choice to go with ÂGlowing AmberÂ. It has the same height, the same vigour, but very different colour alright. It is a sport of ÂGlowing Amber and not a sister seedling. You mentioned my rose ÂIngrid which is a Mini-Flora & will be introduced in the US in 2006. It has the identical colour as ÂGlowing Amber but will be a bit taller and has larger blooms. ÂIngrid is a half sister of ÂGlowing AmberÂ, or step sister as it has the same pollen parent. Check out photos of all three roses I mentioned on HelpMeFind (HMF) Glowing Amber and Ingrid you will find at the "Mander Roses" at HMF. See link below. For 'Amber Star' you'll have to search at HMF. George Mander Here is a link that might be useful: Mander roses at HMF

I was just doing a little mold maintenance in my new terrarium (still finding that moisture balance!) and noticed this tiny reddish dot inside hanging from a dead frond. It's just a couple mm in size. I placed it on a paper towel and you can see it soaked out a little amber liquid. I've seen this same thing just once before, sitting on the soil in another terrarium of mine (totally different plant, container, and soil though), and posted a picture online but everybody was stumped. It clearly has something to do with mold/fungus, but has anyone here seen something similar? I'm just so curious.