hi tulips, i wanted to give you some words of encouragement, because once you get over this hurdle you will be so in love with how hardy this vine is and how much it will give in terms of sheer profusion of flowers. when i buy these small plants from the big box stores, i usually kill 50% or more of them, i think last year alone, 4 or 5 of them didn't make it - or so i think, i won't know for sure until summer or even next year. some of them can stay dormant for a year or more before resprouting. why not wait and see? also, with really small clematis plants, i've heard it is best to keep it potted and nursed for a full year (1 summer's worth of growing + overwintering in your garage for the first winter) before planting it out. be sure to make sure there is ample water and that it gets some relief from the sun when young, esp. if you have it in a pot. hope this helps. since i "discovered" them 3 years ago, i've become totally in love with my clematis vines and have over 15 in my yard. i hope you overcome this hurdle to enjoy yours as well. Here is a link that might be useful: my 3 year old clematis garden

Did a web SEARCH and found the following site as the first hit regarding SERENADE- http://www.serenadegarden.com/howto/FAQ.html Even on eBAY can you find this product. http://cgi.ebay.com/Serenade-Organic-Garden-Disease-Control-Spray-32-oz-RTU_W0QQitemZ320264801834QQcmdZViewItem?IMSfp=TL0806191277r7250 Most 'hardware' stores cater to people who use common (and mostly non organic based) chemicals in a garden, and would not sell such ORGANIC BASED products, so you would probably never see this there, unless another cusomer asked for it and they ordered it special. To find such products, you would have to locate sources that sell ALTERNATIVE products for ORGANIC control. The internet is obviously quite powerful in giving many choices of sources. Bt, is a good example as is Neem. Neither might not be found in many hardware stores. Hardware stores (True Value, ACE, etc.) carry canning jars. BIGGER hardware stores ike Home Depot and Lowes, do not. Its a matter of popularity too. Most home gardeners may not even bother with trying to be organic when they grow things. Here, I spend extra time and money on organic alternatives to harsh chemicals. Herbs are no different. I wouldn't want to add a chemical base like Miracle Grow to herbs, or spray them with nasty refined chemicals. One place that I DO know that carries MANY organic products is Peaceful Valley and even though they are far away on the west coast, I still buy quite a lot from them. Needless to say , if I could find ALL the organic products in a LOCAL garden shop, I would become their best customer!

What does your potting mix consist of? The decline in your Cycad really shocks me. I store about 10 different Cycad varieties, all in pots, every winter in my garage with no harm. They are tough plants. By all means DO NOT discard yours! I bet it comes back to life... In any event, as far as the potted specimens go I suspect there is something going on which is related to an unhealthy root system resulting in a weakened plant unable to cope with an extended dormant period. I also think it is very possible that you may have underestimated how much water they need even when it is cold in the garage. A root ball constricted in a pot still needs some moisture no matter how cold. As for the outdoor plants - I can't help you much since I myself do not grow those particular varieties so I can't give you any advice based on experience. I do overwinter a Trachy wagnerianus in a pot outdoors under an awning so it stays dry, along with several Agaves. x

I ordered shaker style doors for another cabinet area I'm building. They're so inexpensive, I couldn't NOT buy from them. I've purchased drawer boxes from them before and couldn't be more pleased. Their door style selection, though, I found to be limited. Granted, I guess they do fewer things well, rather than a bunch of half-assed stuff. :) Their videos and instructions are very clear. As I mentioned, I also plan to buy from the Door Stop. Their selection is great and prices not so bad. Butt doors do meet in the middle, but I hesitate to say yes, chop that center thing out. Depending upon the width of the cabinet, it might be an important support. Imagine wide shelves, for example. There's usually a support on the inside of that thing. (What ARE the vertical things called? Rails or stiles?) My plan is to just get the butt doors and leave the middle thing. At 30" wide, it still leaves me some wide access. If it were a 24? Chop that puppy out. What's the name of your grain filler? I am going to go at the face frames of these other cabinets with something like that, and probably purchase maple or some other smoother wood for the doors. Cool! OH - and I also have mixed woods. Painted oak kitchen and painted maple credenza on another wall. I have chocolate hard wood floors (I can't remember what they're made of), and a teak dining table. The oak cabinets whose doors I want to buy from Door Stop I might even stain after really treating the face frames. Haven't decided. In my bedroom, where I've built the 16' 10" Tansu, with doors from Barker, I'll paint the maple. The en suite has espresso maple vanities, but from DirectBuy's ordering errors, I have 3 unfinished cabs in the window area, visible from the MBR. I'll probably paint those to match the Tansu on the opposite wall. Matchy-matchy in woods is unimaginative, to me. Like buying a showroom living room with all the furniture upholstered the same. Where's the character! :) C.