as a kid my mom had a potted cactus that was atleast 40 years old her grandma had given it to her. It was a small simple looking round cactus. One day it bloomed, (it didnt set seed, I guess it needed a friend to pollinate with) very soon after it bloomed it died. I always thought that was so bizarre.

Thanks Dawn for posting your mw being up. I would be almost positive that it is indeed viridis. You are correct that the mw tends to come up faster by the edge of the road more than likely due to the warmth of the pavement, and tendency to hold water. Congrats upon seeing your 1st Monarch!!! Even if it looked pretty fresh, it was still your 1st sighting, and they are always the most special. Probably a Houston migrant looking to leave some eggs. I will post your sightings. I always look forward to your reports. They are appreciated. :) How wonderful to hear that you got some much needed rain. I know that you were really dry, and it will make a big difference. Okiegardener, good to hear from you. Like Randy said, it is probably too late to think about planting some native mw seeds in April. Alot of them them require cold stratification. But, tropical mw does very well in Ok. Occassionally, it will reseed for me in warmer winters, but I have never had it come back from the roots in Okla. I have been able to overwinter some in pots in the garage. The Monarchs do tend to prefer it in laying their eggs. What part of Okla. do you live? You may have some luck finding the A. tuberosa in some nurseries. It is perennial, and comes back every year. The blooms are gorgeous, and really attracts the butterflies, but does not do well in the heat. The A. incarnata (Swamp mw) does well in a lower wetter area with morning sun in central Ok. Sometimes you can find it in nurseries. I would highly second Randy's recommendation in trying to make one of Marilyn's plant shows from Wildthings Nursery. She is a dear friend, very knowledgeable about natives and butterflies, and has quite the green thumb. She carries alot of hard to find butterfly host plants that she grows from seed or propagation. E-mail her, and perhaps you can work something out. Good luck with your butterfly garden! Randy,hope things are going well for you and your daughter. Are you about to get caught up on your ice storm mess? I'm sure that your daughter is continuing to win gymnast awards. Thanks for checking on your mw. :) Hope that the Monarchs stay put. Forecast of high of 49 on Friday, with temps down to 30's on Saturday with possible SNOW???? Oh,no. Keep in touch!

Good news - it isn't toxic or unworkable. Bad news - it's not done. Even though it's been a year. Why did this happen? The bacteria that produce compost need air and carbon to balance the nitrogen and water. Without them you get only bacteria that thrive without oxygen - which don't produce compost. (Picture a pile of cut grass clippings just rotting.) The smell doesn't lie. An anaerobic pile stinks. On the contrary, healthy compost piles smell earthy and sweet. If it's is very hot there might be a trace of ammonia fragrance. On your ingredients list the only carbon heavy (brown) material are the coffee filters and cardboard. For the compost pile to work, you need a balance of both the green and brown - 50/50 by volume is a workable goal. That means every time you dump in some kitchen scraps and coffee grounds, you also add an equal volume of shredded leaves, cardboard, straw or other high-carbon brown material. A Way Forward Basically you are back at square one. What you have is high-nitrogen sludge. This is a great "green" material for composting, or for worm farms. Either way, you will need to combine it with a brown material like straw or wood pellets. Going forward, wood pellets (the unprocessed kind used for wood stoves) are pretty cheap and a handy carbon source if you don't have a natural one available. You can keep them in a sealed garbage container close to the tumbler. Every time you throw in some garbage, toss in some wood pellets as well. That will get you in the ballpark of a workable carbon:nitrogen ratio. If you fill the tumbler up all at once, add the right moisture and turn it every few days, this should be able to take the container through the end of the bacterial (hot) stage in about 8 weeks. After that, you can empty the composter and let the batch finish in a pile on the ground or in another (ventilated) container. The bacteria will have consumed everything rats or raccoons would eat, so you don't have to worry about critters at that point. Fungus will continue to break down the carbon for a few more months. Tip: Shredded leaves are the best brown material and are, of course, free. This fall collect all the leaves you can from your neighborhood and just store them in plastic bags. They will slowly decompose over time, but they will be your free carbon source for composting throughout the year.

Sorry you have had to wait for a response.......I think your post just got overlooked :-) I think your climber looks in fine condition for a first year plant!! The browning of the stems is perfectly normal.....as you assmed, this is just an indication of the natural aging of the plant. And the spider webbing is pretty normal as well :-) At this time of year, spiders set up housekeeping wherever they can - I have them all over my shrubs. And I also tend to ignore a lot of leaf issues at this time of year as well. By the end of the growing season - and one that has had some unusual weather conditions - leaves are often less than pristine in appearance and the odd brown splotches are just showing the effects of this. You might want to search the forum archives for other posts on climbing hydrangeas to gather more info.......there have been many excellent discussions. This is a plant that requires a fair amount of patience and you might have to wait several years before seeing any flowers. And it is not technically a 'vine' - the plant has no capacity to wind or twine around a support structure. It adheres to surfaces with root hairs that emerge all along the stems, so is best with a flat, wide and fairly textural surface on which to grow or adhere its stems to. And if provided with good growing conditions, it can get very large (30'+) and quite heavy.