lol I had to think about this one. I can't say I've really seen a pattern. I do agree w/Denise, though, that when a plant takes off we go: Ah, you're fine; I don't need to watch you. On the other hand, if a plant is refusing to grow, then we go: You stupid [insert name of mean plant here]. I refuse to acknowledge how cute you are b/c you are annoying. I'm just going to forget I own you and see how you like that. So, really, to claim my attention, a plant has to be in the happy middle. Growing here and there, but not like a weed. :P I wonder if we could apply the same logic to relationships. I think it would go something like: To hold your partner's attention, don't give them everything they want but never ever make the mistake of giving them nothing. jk of course! :P

Suzie, You never know, she might get a thundersnow storm. We've had a lot of them in recent years. I grew up in Texas just about 80 or 85 miles south of where we now live in Oklahoma, but I'd never even heard of thundersnow until we moved here. I won't say we have thundersnow here at our house every year that snow falls, but probably about every other year. We had it last year, and we've already had it this year. Jim Cantore was very entertaining the other night. I'm sure a lot of that is part of the "show" he puts on for the camera, but I also think he was shocked to see thundersnow that far north. The other weather phenomenon we have here that I don't remember having in Texas is derecho winds. The first one we experienced here came during the night with 60 mph winds and hit the house so suddenly and so hard while we were sleeping that we thought a semi-truck or an airplane had hit the house. I also had about 20 flats of plants on the screened-in porch (so it must have been April) and we had to run out and bring them all into the house because the temperature plunged probably 30 degrees in 10 minutes when the derecho wind hit the house. I think we've experienced 3 or 4 severe derecho wind storms at our house since then. The one I remember best, the local met on the TV news at noon told us it was coming and told us if we went outside 5 or 10 minutes before it was due to hit our area, we'd hear it coming like a "mighty rush of wind". Of course, Tim and I went outside 10 minutes before it was s supposed to hit and went down to the road so we'd have a clear view of it coming by looking up the roadway (too many trees around our house). Sure enough, a few minutes later it came roaring towards us like a freight train (we could hear it for a minute or more before we could see the blowing of the vegetation begin) and we went from clear skies to dark grey ones in about a minute as the wind blew through and the temperatures plunged. The other one I remember was a severe derecho squall line with multiple bow echoes accompanied by tons of lightning. This time, the TV met kept cutting into regular programming to warn that anyone working outside needed to get inside by a certain time. Our barn-style detached garage was being built then, and the buys working on it were welding steel beams together. I talked with them about the weather and convinced them to heed the warnings, get down off the structure, put up all their tools and head home. They literally were driving down the driveway when the derecho hit here and the first raindrops started falling, and we sure did have lightning! I was glad they weren't up on that metal framing when it hit. You've got to admit, Oklahoma's weather is never, ever dull. Dawn Here is a link that might be useful: Facts About Derecho Windstorms

You really don't have a problem with using growth fertilizers as we near cooler weather. The tree is deficient in magnesium. Magnesium does not cause new growth flushes that can be damaged by cold weather. You can apply one table spoon of Epsom salts (Magnesium Sulfate) in a gallon of WARM water to the trees root system. You can also apply it as a foliar spray directly to the leaves. It could take more than one root zone treatment. The deficiency that your tree is showing is somewhat common.

Yes: pull your tree up immediately and plant it where it does not sit in a puddle, hope that it bounces back. Due to root death drowning plants have the same problem with not enough water getting to their tops as those where there isn't enough moisture in the soil. If you have nowhere there that isn't a damp and heavy soil that puddles when water is abundant then you will probably have to make a berm or mound of purchased soil for this tree. Or give up on trying to grow drainage sensitive kinds like this on your site. The only other option is to install a network of pipes that collect the excess water and move it away. To be able to do this you have to have access to a low area for the unwanted water to be directed into. Basically a retention pond, depending on how much water may be involved.