Hi. Stan here. All right, let's put this puppy to rest. First, if you want to keep one of the "resurrection plants" alive, you need to figure out which resurrection plant you have. Here, I'm going to address ONLY the resurrection plant from the Chihuahua Desert, spanning several states in the southwestern USA and adjacent parts of Mexico. (If you have one of the other kinds of resurrection plants, you're on your own.) Botanically, these plants are part of a much larger group called the club mosses. They fall somewhere between the mosses and the true ferns. They are a very old group of plants dating from the Coal Ages. Their scientific name is Selaginella lepidophylla. If you want to get it right, the "S" and only the "S" in Selaginella is ALWAYS capitalized, all other letters are lower case. And both words are italicized. (No italics on your typewriter? Then you can underline them instead.) Almost all other Selaginella in the world are moist habitat plants, living in deep forests, swamps, in or near streams and creeks, or among other plants for protection from direct, scorching sunlight and desiccating dryness. You would grow them the way you grow most of the true mosses. S. lepidophylla is a distinct exception, apparently surviving if not thriving in a desert, and a pretty severe one at that. I am trying to include several photos I took of them growing in their native habitat in western Texas. Note that they most commonly grow on the northern sides of hills and protected in the shadows of rocks or other plants. If they receive any direct sun at all, it's only for a few hours in early morning and very late afternoon. They tend to grow where they're in dense shade throughout most of the day. Note also that the soil in which they grow is comprised mostly of disintegrated, calcareous rock (i.e., limestone soil) with a little organic detritus (mostly naturally composted leaves, grasses, mosses, and other dead plants) mixed in. The limestone base is strongly alkaline, and the organic stuff tends to act as a hydrophilic buffer, holding water for a few precious hours or days after a dew or rain. The climate in which they grow is fierce. In Summer the daytime temperatures often reach 100̊ F. They may receive a few drops of rain from time to time, BUT while the Chihuahua Desert does not receive a lot of moisture in the form of rain, it is often blessed with dense fogs and heavy dews. And these are the resurrection plants' saving grace. Winters are a little less hostile. Nighttime temperatures often drop slightly below freezing, and light, freezing rain and sleet are not uncommon. For S. lepidophylla, life is a lot easier. S. lepidophylla, much like other Selaginella, uses a collection of tine hairlike roots to hold itself in place in the desert, and to absorb what little liquid water might be available, but it probably gets most of its water from the aforementioned fogs, dews, and occasional rains as the water is absorbed directly through the surfaces of its leaves and stems. It almost never sits in liquid water for more than a few hours. No, they are not immortal, and cannot survive forever in a dried state. In fact, if your S. lepidophylla isn't obviously fresh and alive when you get it, it probably never will be, regardless of what you do for it. All reports of them recovering after 50 years rolled into a brown ball are either circus hawkers' sales pitches, or statements by people who can't recognize a dead plant when they see one, and were fooled by the unfurling corpse. (At this point perhaps you should review the Monty Python "Dead Parrot" Sketch on YouTube.) How long can they survive in such a dried, dormant state? I don't know. Apparently no one has ever performed any sort of controlled experiments to determine this, and there is so much hogwash flying around about the matter that it's impossible to even make an educated guess. So, how might you try keeping one alive? I confess I've never been successful, and I've only seen one botanical conservatory with living S. lepidophylla on display. And, I know of a veritable garden of them growing wild in the Chihuahua Desert of west Texas. Here are some suggestions based on general plant care, plant physiology, Botany, and what I've seen in the wild: 1) Almost all plants in nature experience an annual growing cycle based on the change of seasons. This helps all members of a given species flower at the same time to promote cross pollination. It also prevents them from flowering in deepest Winter and trying to go dormant when they should be actively growing. If you try to get one of these to grow as Winter approaches, you're almost certainly wasting your time. Early Spring would be a much better time to try this endeavor. 2) Don't waste your time on a dead plant. If it isn't obviously alive, move on to the next hobby. 3) Soak your newly acquired S. lepidophylla in room temperature tap water for 2 or 3 hours, no longer. This is intended to just "top off the tank" of its water reserves. Soaking it any longer might likely afford harmful molds or bacteria a foothold. 4) Plant it by laying it, right side up, on a layer of barely damp soil. The soil should be composed mostly of a mix or limestone sand or finely crushed oyster shell mixed perhaps half and half with compost or garden loam. Do not use commercial potting soils because they are composed of either peat or composted lumber byproducts. All these things are acid by nature, and these plants have evolved to survive in an alkaline environment, the exact opposite. Commercial cactus soils might work. Maybe, maybe not. 5) Do not use a tall or deep container. A "bulb pan" would be much better than a standard 6" terra cotta pot. The entire soil must be kept only slightly damp, and large masses of soil are sure to develop pockets of wetness in their centers. If the plant or its roots are allowed to set in water or are too damp, they'll rot and the plant will die. 6) For the first week, keep it loosely covered with plastic to maintain a high humidity. Remove the plastic after a week, or as soon as the plant appears to be alive and growing, or begins to develop mold. Mold is a bad thing. Generally, a molding plant is a dead plant. Maybe you need to try a newer, fresher resurrection plant. 7) Give the plant the brightest light available that isn't direct sunlight, except that it can receive a little direct, early morning sunlight for 30 minutes, no more. 8) Do not water the plant like you do your geraniums! Instead, mimic a dew once a week by misting it. The plant itself should end up quite wet, but the soil should be only a little damp. 9) S. lepidophylla should be allowed to dry out a little more in Winter, and moved to a brightly lit but much cooler place for several months beginning in early Winter (November in the Northern Hemisphere). Remember that they routinely survive light freezing weather during many Winters. They may be taken out of their Winter rest period in early Spring (early March perhaps in the Northern Hemisphere) by moving them to a warmer room and beginning their weekly misting. Go easy on the misting at first, but resume normal misting after two or three weeks or as you can see new leaves and branches forming. 10) *USE DISTILLED WATER.* Not spring water, not softened water, not demineralized water, not baby's sanitized water, not holy water, not expensive French bottled water. Reverse osmosis (RO) water might be acceptable, but is a lot more expensive than simple, old fashioned, distilled water. All such water contains some level of dissolved minerals, important ones being lime and/or salt. As you water your houseplants with the wrong water, the water evaporates, but these contaminants merely accumulate. If you don't believe me, look at the mineral crust that's developing around the edge of the soil in your half dead geranium's pot! And before long your gorgeous plant begins to look tired and droops as it tries to fight off the doses of lime and salt that you've been dumping on its roots for months. Soon, it can no longer grow effective roots and it begins a slow, inch a day, march towards the waste bin. I hope this helps you when you try your hand at growing these most fascinating plants. Best of luck.

Hmmm, sorta. Late last summer the removal removal of two very large ailing oak trees prompted a whole front yard re-do. For one thing, what had been dappled shade was suddenly full sun, and even though we've planted new trees to replace the oaks, it will be a while before they cast any significant shade. For another, the front shrub border had overgrown its purpose, while more screening was needed along the east property line, where the neighbor's tree canopy was overshadowing the perennial bed a bit much. So ... I decided to flip 'em, and work 6 cubic yards of mushroom compost into this sandy soil as part of the project, put in that white picket fence I've always been wanting and develop the front perennial/shrub border on both sides of it. I'd not been working, so thought I had all the time in the world, but in the middle of it all secured the dream job - in a public garden of all places! So, working all by myself and with less time available, the project took longer than expected and, racing cold weather, I wound up sticking the temporarily potted plants just about anywhere I could find room, having also neglected to mark the varieties of some plants, as I was sure, when I dug them up, that I'd remember which were by the patio and which by the gate, which in the black pots and which in the brown. heheh. Needless to say, there were some surprises this season. Some quite pleasant, actually. Maybe I crammed things in a little too closely, or maybe it was the mushroom compost (I've never seen things grow like this in my 30 years of gardening), but a little bed-expansion is going to be needed this fall, as well as some re-placement. Wish I could call it "tweaking" but that really would be an understatement. I've been taking photos, making notes, and tagging plants all season, in hopes I'll be better organized THIS time around. But I didn't get rid of anything. As a matter of fact, I had a lot to add and am just beside myself with joy and satisfaction with the way it's turning out. I did rip out quite rudely some of those same "ditch lilies" to make way for a climbing rose. Tossed them behind a convenient bush intending to get them later ... forgot ... they not only grew leaves, lying there with their tubers exposed, but they bloomed! Under the category of "mistakes": Allowing the Star of Bethlehem to remain in the yard, not realizing how invasive they can be. Allowing some of the morning glory volunteers to share the front perennial bed. Between the full sun and the mushroom compost, something is developing out there that has not the slightest concept of "sharing". I know I should rip it all out now, before it sets seed ... but they look oh so pretty when I leave for work in the morning. My beds will probably never be neat and tidy themselves. When I get to feeling they look a little untidy, I ask one of my sons to mow the grass and then I freshen the trenched edge ... and all is right with my world. Kudos to you for taking the bull by the horns and making your garden just as you want it. That's just how it should be :-) It's a lot of work, but it sure is worth it, isn't it? Diane

My family, and some friends, know I post on GW, so I don't post anything I wouldn't want them to read. I've recommended it to several for gardening/computer/home improvement advice. I posted pics of my painted play room floor, and my brother's step daughter was excited to recognize the pics when she was searching for painted floors (she wasn't searching GW specifically). There was a similar thread in the KT recently. I typed in a few key bits of info I've shared on GW and realized how easy I am to find, even though I've never shared my exact location. A GW'er from Ohio once asked if I lived in the same town as she. I do not, but I remembered the post later when she posted a picture of her home, with the street sign visible and legible. I emailed her and suggested she delete the pic, since the two pieces of info put together could lead someone to her door. Years ago, before I knew about all of Google maps features, someone with whom I'd exchanged flower seeds and bulbs mentioned in her thank you email that my place was in a nice location. She had typed my address into the search field and looked at the aerial view. I was surprised, but since then I've realized that we no longer have an expectation of privacy.

Cedar fences are very common around here in fact I have one myself. You could expect it to last pretty well for about 15 years and then you will either start replacing it post by post and section by section or have to consider a new one. My neighbor was able to get some brown square metal parts for the bottom of her posts. They go into the ground and the post go into them. Not sure what they are called but this is to extend the life of the posts, which eventually rot out below grade.