I stack the big ones up along the side of the garage, which is out of the way and doesn't mar my view of anything. The smaller ones are rinsed out and stored in a big plastic container inside the garage. I use them for various purposes - winter-sowing, spring sowing, over-wintering plants in the garage (this past winter I had approx. 40 containers of various sizes in the garage), plant swaps or giveaways, plant sales, and when I move from the current house I hope to bring LOTS of plants with me.

I'm in the midst of an experiment growing another generation of oak seedlings. This time it's Quercus rubra (Northern Red Oak). Nurseries that sell oaks generally cut their taproots so they won't spiral. Fortunately, they can grow new ones in short time, but I wanted to allow taproots to remain intact by planting acorns in 3" dia. x 18" deep cardboard tubes with plastic caps on the bottom. Here's my results so far: 1) I collected a bucket of soil from beneath a stand of Oregon White Oaks for the soil's mycorrhizae and mixed it 50-50 with regular potting soil. 2) I collected acorns lying on our first snow, took them home and soaked them in water for 24 hours. 3) I placed them in a ziplock bag with some moist soil and cold stratified them at 34 degrees in the refrigerator for a month. 4) I them placed them in a pot and covered them with about an inch of soil and placed the pot inside the house where the ambient temperature was about 68 degrees. I checked them every couple of days for the emergence of a radicle. They grow out fast! 5) With a 1" root coming out, I planted each in their own deep pot, covered with an inch of soil and in waited for stem emergence. Took only several days at most. 6) I grew them indoors during the winter and into the Spring. By early Summer, the leaves had been on long enough for the little 6" tall trees to think fall was coming, so they began to get a beautiful red in the leaves, albeit slowly, due to the warmer temperatures. 7) I put the pots outside in mid September to allow them to acclimate. In early October, I planted 3 of the 7 in the ground with onset of Fall as the last remaining leaves dropped. 8) Once I removed the 3 (I planted) from their pots, I studied the root mass to find that it held the soil log together very well and that the tap root went nearly to the bottom. Just fine roots were present at the bottom, but it told me that the depth was adequate for 1-year's root growth. So with the taproot in place, they'll establish quickly and be more resistent to drought as they would naturally. As for the other 4 trees, they have been left outside to endure the winter with the pots exposed to temperatures that have dropped into the minus single digits (Zone 6). I want to see how resilient the roots of Quercus rubra are under these conditions and will post my findings in the late Spring.

trust me on this ... lol ... like the snake in jungle book ... sooner or later.. you will get a hate on for any plant like this ... its part of the learning curve ... at 1:25 at link below .. lol ... [omg.. wathc the one after too ... also look for the actual recording video.. louis primo does the whole dance while recording the song ... ill find it for you] and when that hate fully evolves.. you will get rid of it.. and spend the next 5 years after.. still getting rid of it.. for all the seed in the soil .. .lol .. then years later you will be on some garden forum warning the next person .. lol ... ken https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCX5JJwkZhU i think i may have dated myself https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rV8HrpOu1FA

I put my seedlings in window boxes and see what I've got as they grow. Most of them come from a bunch of Fortunei Aureomarginata planted together in the front gardens. Their seedlings are usually very dark green and of good thick substance, plus they grow fast and bloom with vigorous flowers on stiff scapes. And they propagate like mad as do their parents. I've gotten one blue plant that is phenomenal from those Fortuneis. What I do now, since I have so many of these seedlings, is cut the scapes down after booming. I have one seedling in the back gardens that is interestingly odd. It has narrow leaves on long petioles and is very, very waxy. It's planted next to Lamium, so you can see how light it is next to those leaves full of white. Its wax holds all season. But the leaves are not dense; darn. I'm waiting for it to get more mature to see how it looks at 5-6 years old. Here it is in context from last season (I think), and a close-up next to its Lancifolia (!!) mommy from the previous season or the one before that. Lancifolia does not set seed in my garden, but one season it did and this baby was born. So it is is special in several ways. I don't throw hostas away, and I don't eat them either. I value them too much. They are all precious in my sight.