http://oikostreecrops.com/store/product.asp?cookiecheck=yes&numRecordPosition=3&P_ID=384&strPageHistory=cat&strKeywords=&SearchFor=&PT_ID=96 "Prairie Cascade Willow Salix pentaphyllum 'Prairie Cascade' A fast growing hybrid willow from Morden Research Station in Manitoba. A smaller form of willow, Prairie Cascade has golden-yellow stems and glossy leaves and is more disease and insect resistant. Its smaller size (35-45') makes it a good choice for those of us who want a weeping willow, but have smaller yards with less space. One of the best landscape willows. Can be limbed up real easy to form a straight trunk. Average growth rate of 3-5 ft. per year. I like this selection better than the "zippy" Australian clones because the foliage is darker and much more dense. Hardiness -40 °F." http://www.backyardgardener.com/plantname/pda_edfd.html "his is a weeping deciduous tree, 35'-45' tall and wide, with yellowish-brown shoots. Leaves are elliptic, very shiny, medium green above, up to 5" long. 'Prairie Cascade' is a hybrid of S. pentandra x S.'Blanda', and does not bear catkins. A beautiful specimen by water, but don't plant this tree anywhere near a septic system or its lines or you and the Roto-Rooter man will know each other on a first name basis." http://www.mnpower.com/treebook/fact102.html "Weeping growth habit with fine textured branches. Bright yellow color of young stems. Description: Height: 50-70' Width: 30-50' Hardiness Zone: 3b Weeping Willows are large round to wide-spreading trees with slender, pendulous branches. New shoots are yellow to yellow-green in color. Leaves are very narrow and 2-4" long. Foliage emerges very early in the spring and remains on the tree late into the fall. They grow very rapidly. Because of their size and pendulous habit, they are best used only on large properties. Willows hybridize readily and their precise identification can be quite confusing. Requirements and Culture: Not demanding of site conditions. Prefer ample moisture and are often found along waterways. Branches break readily so pruning and clean up is frequently required. Limitations: Tree size and form and brittle branches limit usefulness on small properties. Species and Selected Cultivars: S. alba `Tristis' - is the common Golden Weeping Willow. It is a large tree. Sometimes sold as `Niobe'. `Prairie Cascade' - was developed at the Experiment Station in Morden, Manitoba Canada. It is a hybrid combining the form of the Weeping Willow with the glossy foliage of the Laurel Willow." http://www.umanitoba.ca/afs/plant_science/courses/PLNT0790/woodyplantsnotes/woody_plantsr_s.html "Salix hybrid 'Prairie Cascade' (Prairie Cascade Willow) Native Habitat / Origin. 'Prairie Cascade' is a hybrid resulting from a cross between Salix alba var. tristis (for the weeping habit) and Salix pentandra (for cold hardiness). Developed and introduced by Wilbert Ronald at the Agriculture Canada Research Centre, Morden, Manitoba in 1981. Hardiness zone. Zone 3a. Shade tolerance. Relatively intolerant. Habit and size. Medium tree, 12 to 15 m tall and wide, round, with cascading, pendulous branches, less so in winter. It grows as a multi-stemmed plant. Fast growth rate. Medium-fine texture in winter; medium to medium-fine texture in summer. Leaves. Leaves are shiny, dark green, alternate, simple, elliptic-lanceolate to ovate, acuminate tips, rounded base, serrulate margins. Flowers. Female clone. Flowers occur in catkins, borne on short, leafy, axillary shoots. Not very showy. Fruits are small capsules that split into two halves when mature to reveal hairy seeds. Culture. 'Prairie Cascade' has grown well at the University of Manitoba through difficult winters and with no supplementary irrigation. Landscape value. Valued for its yellow twigs and cascading form, given that weeping willows are not generally hardy enough for the prairies. It is useful for large properties, parks, and golf courses. Willows have extensive root systems and are not usually recommended for residential properties. May suffer winter die-back." Prairie Cascade is a hybrid resulting from a cross between Salix alba var. tristis and Salix pentandra. Mine is not weeping yet but shooting straight up up and far away high up there.

Pam and Susan, You both are making me blush. ;-) Seriously, thanks for saying such nice things. It made my day. I've just always believed in helping people, and of course I'm trying my best to help the butterflies. Pam, I don't know what to tell you about the V. bonariensis. Have you tried wintersowing? I guess when I planted mine several years ago, I hadn't been aware about it being hard to germinate. Actually, when I sowed my seeds, that was before I found out about wintersowing and I guess I sowed the seeds just like I had been sowing all my other seeds. I think I merely sowed them in potting soil in late winter and the plants came up. Since they are small seeds, I wouldn't plant them very deep, maybe just press them into the soil. I'd try various ways and see which works. I sure hope that you can get some to germinate because the butterflies sure do love those plants. Susan, Thank you and I think we're lucky to have you too. I've been reading here lately more than I've been typing. I do really enjoy seeing what other people are doing in their gardens, and I keep up with what you're doing. I remember your generosity to me and if there's anything I can do for you, I'd do whatever I can to help you. :-) I just looked at my profile because I didn't know exactly how long it has been since I joined here. It was in August of 2006. I started my butterfly garden the previous summer and it included several swamp milkweed plants that I had bought at a local nursery. I didn't get Monarchs that first year, maybe because it was so late in the summer when I got the garden underway, but I was thrilled in 2006 when I found some cats on the milkweed plants. I don't remember exactly when I first found the forum (reading but not yet posting). I guess I read enough here to pique my curiosity and to become interested enough to start a butterfly garden but didn't post right away. I suppose I felt an urgent need to post when I didn't know what I was doing when I found the first Monarch cat but didn't know the details of raising one. So I guess you could say that when I first found the forum I probably read just enough to become dangerous. lol Thank goodness that there are such nice people here like you, MissSherry, CalSherry/aka tdogmom, and others who didn't discourage my questions or I really would have felt beside myself. I suspect I'm not the only one who starts into a project only to feel like she got in over her head. Well, I think when I first started planting for the butterflies I didn't really have any intentions of raising caterpillars; however, then once I found some I felt the need to protect them. All of a sudden it became urgent to me that I not let anything get to the cats. If I had been told by people that I should go read first, I probably wouldn't have been able to save those first cats because till I had read enough to feel like I knew what I was doing, I'm sure it would have been too late for them and they'd have perished. Because of the generosity of you and others I've learned a lot and raised many cats over the past 4 years and have been trying to pay it forward ever since. Thanks so much for opening up another world for me and enabling me to help another part of nature, which I love so much (I've been into birding for 20+ years and have online birding friends too). I think my butterflying and birding friends are some of the nicest people that I've ever met. I really did get to meet many birding friends in person about 5 yr. ago when we were at a get-together in TN, but that's a whole other story. Yes, that would be too cool to celebrate people's birthdays and join dates. I noticed that your birthday is just 4 days before my husband's. Cathy

Hi Luis, actually I am lucky enough to have good soil,not to sandy a former pond bottom. My biggest problem in a normal rainy year is drainage. I had dug ditches to maintain drainage which worked great but this last year I wished they were gone because of the drought. But tonight I am thankful as we have probably gotten five inches of rain in 24 hours, so I am floating two inches of water under my house. Back to soil My parents live 3miles away and are on sand Its constant watering for gardens and pastures. In reference to shi shi I am surprised that more spreading type camellias have not been hybridized. Of course I didn't know that yuletide was not a fast growing camellia either. mine grows about 6 inches per year I am going to move it next fall as it is in the wrong place for a small slow grower. It also does not bloom reliably every year. I do mulch the camellia beds with pine bark, pine straw , chopped leaves and straw mixed. Just what ever I can get my hands on. I have planted more pines for this purpose but have not been to successful as last summer some form of caterpiller ate all the needles off from top to bottom.I hand picked over a gallon of culprits. The old mature pines no problem but those I planted and babied stripped bare. James in Florida

Hello, IRuehl. The growth rate depends on such things as the length of your growing zone, soil nutrients and moisture, pruning, etc. A 1-g plant may become 3' over here in a few years (3 years maybe?). The size given in plant labels is a commercial term that means at 10 years of age so if you see a label advertising 4x4 then that is 4x4 at 10 years. By the way, your shrub does not need to be fertilized this first year as the soil in your pot probably came with those round fertilizer pellets. You can start next year by using a general-purpose fertilizer like Osmocote (per label directions) or you can also use composted manure or about 1/2 cup of cottonseed meal. Apply it in May and July in the South and June in the northern half of the country. You should also not need to prune the plant if it was planted in a location where it can reach 6x6 and not bother you or the other nearby plants. Mulch it with 3-4" of mulch at all times to keep the soil evenly moist and water early in the mornings every time that a finger inserted to a depth of 4" feels almost dry or dry. About 1g oif water is probably right for a newly planted shrub. Keep an eye on wilting episodes starting at the end of May. If the wilting episode looks extreme compared to other ones then immediately water it (1/2 gallon say). Otherwise, wait until the next morning. If the shrub does not recover by the next morning and the soil feels dry then water it. I wish I could tell you exactly when my "Nikko" reached that height but I am joking. Ha! I supposedly bought a Nikko Blue at Lowes and was shocked a year later when it bloomed a lacecap! Woops! Oh well. I kept it and still call it "my Nikko". Ha!