Just so you know........butterfly bush, Buddleia davidii, is a listed invasive species on the west coast and on the invasive watch list for much of the rest of the country. Responsible nurseries are tending not to offer the very fertile and weedy older cultivars in favor of the newer sterile varietes on the market, which tend to be more compact in habit.

Appleseed, it is free wood chips, I convinced a tree company working in my neighborhood to dump a truckload in my driveway. I have started putting down black fabric underneath the wood chips around my fruit trees to keep down weeding. I also have some wood chips under the fabric in a 2 foot circle around the trees. I have learned to put down a light coat of the chips of an inch or so on top of the fabric or else the weeds just start growing on top of the fabric as the mulch deteriorates. Champs, this will be my 1st Goldrush crop but from what I have read, they should ripen in late October here in Atlanta. I experimented last year that Goldrush tree bending over the central leader with rope while it was still flexible (see enclosed picture). The tree was growing so fast in its 1st year, and I wanted to keep it at 8 feet max. I am not sure if that has helped produce the nice 2nd leaf crop. I got the idea from Bob 6z, a regular poster on the site. It seems to be working so far keeping the height in check.

Barbara, I will try to read or at least skim over that book (have difficulty concentrating for too long now) and next time I'm at the hardware store will get a respirator then, oh with glasses, goggles and that, it is not going to be easy. They are a little more helpful and knowledgeable generally than big box stores. I stuffed a bandanna into the masks, know from reading about other things small particulate especially liquid still can get through, but I'm old and if one thing doesn't get me it's going to be another, none pretty. I feel I'm ok for now, feel sorry for people who do that for a living. I know for fact the young guy who I FINALLY got to come in years ago and spray for cockroaches and fleas got some pneumonia-like affliction, and we both agreed it was probably from his work with chemicals. He used no protection other than pants and long shirt IIRC and did it all day, every day, inside and out, much of the year. I've always hated any sprays in my house for anything, one reason I like to stay independent because you have no choice in almost all community living situations. They spray on a regular basis; it's mandatory, and I'm not real confident they have but minimal concern for the occupants or people who do it, just so things "look" nice. Sometimes there is no other way. But it seems they spray routinely as a preventive. In spite of taking so many precautions and doing my homework as best I could w/new equipment and things I've never attempted before, I ran into several little problems. The spray itself once you get it going is easy enough, but anything can go wrong at any time. It's just faith that the dial actually delivers the correct dilution. I'll only mention a couple of things but there were more, that is nasty stuff to work with and hard to clean. I need some longer rubber gloves as found one unused pair left of surgical gloves, and by the time I was done, my hands felt slimy, could be from sweat, but I think some got in, washed several times with soap and water. The other thing was maybe stupid on my part but the way they tell you to clean the dial container. I could work at the faucet with that because there's bare ground, but you have to unscrew it while the spray part is still on the hose, rinse out as well as you can, on the other side of the two-way diverter I have there, and it takes several rinsings to get it out. NEVER unscrew the dial part from the hose connection until you've got it as clean as you can, why later. Then you screw it back on and clear out the spray part and uptake tube, says two short bursts (and even rinsed those other parts under running water, don't think instructions said. I did five bursts and maybe shouldn't have. But either way, when you finally think you are done, turn off the water, start to unscrew at the hose connection, the pressure left in the hose squirts water. And I noticed in spite of my care, there was still slight evidence of milky liquid in the container, much diluted but still there. Being alone, few people or pets ever come into my yard. I let the cat out for the night, he's back, hope he didn't walk through that area, it can take awhile to dry and for things to develop. So it's a good thing I quit when I did and not attempt anything in the front. Maybe from now on I'll just do those several specific plants I did and probably not as often as necessary because I procrastinate anyway. No way could I have suited up and done that if it had been hotter, so that's a future consideration. I don't know how other people deal with this stuff. It was quite the learning experience. If somebody locally could convince me that organics really work and show evidence of clean roses like I see so much here (this was mostly to save my cherry trees and a few other congregating plants that aren't blooming), it won't seem like as much trouble because spraying is trouble, too. Kelp I don't worry about any of it, practiced with that in my pump sprayer. Well, since I've done another one of my diatribes, I was thinking about writing a blog in our local paper about my experience with iminicloprid. The Bayer product for spraying that has evidently flown off the shelves. Here we are with no honeybees, and we want to keep our pretty blooms and kill bumblebees and other pollinators? At least I thought of them and took off the blooms or targeted things that aren't blooming now. Madness. But I think I'll hold off on that because I don't feel comfortable writing on one of those things, few read them anyway. My neighbor across the street says he has no JB's.

Very lovely, as usual Hoang Ton:-) Your roses are always so healthy! I think we talked last year about how shocked I was that my Molineux was so very tall. I was expecting Molineux to be a smaller plant. I do love it, even though it’s bigger that expected and the blooms don’t make good cut flowers. BenT, mine is in bloom right now and it’s very colorful each bloom is saturated with colors. I do sometimes get that pale yellow, but I enjoy seeing what Molineux will do each flush. Life of the Party has been one that I’ve been eyeing for a while. It’s just that I don’t trust it to stay compact. It probably really would be the “Life of the Party“ in my garden. With my climate it would probably grow enormous and its new name would be something like “Raging Wild Party”. Thanks for the pictures and videos! I do enjoy them so. Lisa