Hi Al/plantcrazed/et. al., I thought I should come back and share some results from my "experiment" that I started at the end of April. The controls in my little trial were almost non-existent, but I think that actually makes the results more relevant to me and my growing conditions (and hopefully others will get something from this too). Back in April I got an order of leaves of 19 varieties of AVs. 14 came as pairs of leaves, so I decided to try growing them in different media. As I described in my post in mid-May, 14 leaves went in 100% vermiculite and 19 leaves in 100% turface fines (the smaller stuff left over after sifting for other mixes). The planting tray is an old kit I had leftover from years ago that has a clear cover for germinating/propagating. I had grand plans to carefully measure watering, leaf condition, first sign of roots/new leaves, etc. (like a good experimenter would), but the same day I planted the leaves my toddler ended up in the ER, kicking off several weeks of stress and doctor's visits, not to mention usual life events and adventures when working full time and caring for a small child. My plant care regimen settled in to, basically, watering when I noticed they looked dry. After the plantlets started to appear I took the covers off the trays, but otherwise I've just watered and left them under fluorescent lights and hoped for the best. Here are my results. Vermiculite 4 have plantlets, all of which seem to be growing alright 5 are mostly-dead or all-dead 1 formed a nice-looking plantlet that subsequently died, tho the leaf is still there and has roots 4 have roots but no sign of new leaves (yet?) Turface fines all 19 leaves are still alive 16 have multi-leaf plantlets 1 has a new leaf just beginning to appear 2 are strongly rooted and some gentle investigation revealed new leaves that just haven't broken the surface yet (I had just finished watering when I took this photo, which is why the turface shows wet and dry spots. This is what my usual watering of this tray looks like) A few other observations: the leaves of the new plants in the vermiculite are larger than any in the turface the leaves of the new plants in the turface are much smaller, but there are many of them, they are a strong green colour, and have a vital appearance (my experience tells me these are stronger plants than in the vermiculite) one variety was not in very good shape when it arrived. I considered complaining to the store owner about the quality, but see above re: bigger life priorities right now. That variety didn't survive more than a few days in the vermiculite. The leaf just rotted away. In the turface, it slowly rotted up the stem towards the leaf, but then rooted from the remaining piece of leaf and now has a lovely little plant growing: What these results say to me is that, for my horrible, neglectful treatment of these leaves, the turface was a better growing medium. I'm sure Al or Kevin/ewwmayo would have the correct terms for the properties of the two media, but I would say it seemed like the vermiculite contributed to a less stable environment - it went from a soggy mess when I watered to very dry, very quickly - and the turface was much more stable and allowed these poor things to survive despite my neglect. I've read some of the very lengthy threads about the properties of the various gritty mix ingredients and it makes sense to me that a plant like an AV that doesn't like to dry out but also hates being soggy would appreciate the turface's qualities of holding water but allowing for drainage and air movement through the medium. I think from now on the turface fines will be my preferred method for starting AV leaves (and likely other similar plants like episcias or begonias). I also moved two other AVs (a standard and a mini) into a modified gritty mix (1:1:1, but perlite in place of bark). So far nothing meaningful to report, though neither plant has bloomed and the mini seems to be happier than the standard. But with my neglect of the plants lately I don't think these results are meaningful, beyond saying that AVs can actually survive in the gritty mix even with an inconsistent and sub-optimal care routine. If there's anything interesting to report as these AVs continue to grow and I pot them up (likely into a gritty mix of some sort), I'll be sure to come back with an update. I would happily accept comments/questions/criticisms of my results, but please be kind in your criticisms of my care routine. I might be bad with my plants, but this little one is thriving: Thanks everyone, Melanie

No for both. Here's a wider picture of each so the foliage may help. The bottom plant is usually thought of for its fruit rather than its flowers. Tim

It's hard for me to do the math in my mind and picture how thickly your trees and shrubs will be, but from my experience, it will be easiest to maintain if you put down newspapers, several sheets thick and then a few inches of mulch over that to keep the weeds down. If you call around, you might be able to find free mulch. I got a huge load delivered free to my house from a tree service company. It's not as nice as the stuff you buy but the price was right and I got it in the winter so it was free of leaves which makes it break down more slowly. Or your city may have a recycling facility with free or cheap mulch. I agree with Mosswitch. I'd put it right over the grass instead of trying to dig it all up. I'm not familiar with Maryland's climate but you may need to water them the first year or two when it's dry. I am quite jealous that you got all those for free! Wow! Sounds like you're going to have lots of berries/seeds for song birds. Spicebush is a host plant for Spicebush Swallowtail butterflies and Sweetbay Magnolia is a host plant for Tiger Swallowtails. Nice bonus.

Andrea, by ordinary liquid fertiliser, I mean one not designed specifically for natives e.g. Thrive. Some natives can take ordinary fertiliser - brachyscome and paper daisies, which both flower for a long time, are two that spring to mind. I'm not saying you must do this, just that with a reasonably high rainfall and sandy soil, it's something that works for me. As for the rest of my native garden, which mostly consists of shrubs, most plants receive a small handfull of slow release native fertiliser once or twice a year. I avoid feeding anything I consider "difficult", eg, Boronias, Fringe lilies, Geraldton Wax etc, as I've learnt to think of these plants as lovely but short lived pot plants.