There were roses everywhere when we bought this house, and we have been removing them one by one and giving them to friends. One friend lives on a street called Rose Circle, or something like that, and she has been good about taking the unwanted roses off our hands. I have been replacing the roses with drought tolerant plants, such as succulents and cacti, which I much prefer. Still, some roses still come back from roots that we were unable to remove, and so it is an ongoing process to get rid of them. We have kept one rose bush in the front yard that makes white flowers, and it seems to bloom all year, which is why we kept it. Also, the white flowers go better with our color schemes than the pink ones. We are trying to get rid of the pink that we inherited with the house. The first thing to go was an ornamental peach tree that attracted possums. We have replaced that with banana and heliconia - not drought tolerant plants, but they work with our existing watering system. I have a hard time throwing out orchid cuttings, but we have too many epidendrum in the back yard and no place to put all of them. I also have a bit of a hard time throwing out bromeliad cuttings, but I have no trouble at all throwing out roses, as the thorns are quite nasty. Some of the bromeliads are nasty also, and so I do not feel bad about throwing those out. If it pricks you, do not feel bad about throwing it out is my philosophy. It's nice when you can find homes for unwanted plants, but it is not nice to keep something that is getting in your way.

Just happy to have them. Very easy. Although they are only coming into bloom, now. One generous woman sent me seed of the rarer, white flowered form. Really only charged me for the shipping. I didn't plant the normal colored, this summer, because I know I probably would not get white blooming ones, next year, if cross pollination happened. I would get occasional white-flowered plants, as time passes. But, for sure, even the pods of the normal colored one are as nice, and as colorful as the flowers. The Sun will shine through them. Mine are mixed with Scarlet Runner Bean, 3 colors of Morning Glory, red-flowered Cypress Vine and Moonflower, in a row of plastic window boxes, at the base of the lattice fence, on one side of the pool deck. They all mix in a competing mess. No sheets of bloom, as they only get half a day of Sun, but interesting.

For Annieplantsny There is symbiotic or interdependent relationship between Light (sunlight), temperature, water, humidity and nutrients. You have to consider how a Meyer Lemon planted in the ground would grow and than mimic those conditions and seasons indoors. If the symbiotic relationship between Light, temperature, water, humidity, and nutrients are working at cross purposes indoors the plant will die quickly. You can't fertilize like spring, water like summer, light like January, and provide humidity like a desert. Your grow situation as described and considering your location is like growing in the darkest days of winter. A Meyer Lemon tree outdoors is fertilized from April-Sept. Fertilizer is than withheld from autumn through winter. Your adding fertilizer but the plant can't use the fertilizer because it does not have enough light this time of year. The fertilizer becomes toxic and you have leaf drop. Many people overwinter citrus in a basement or garage where it is cool and use little supplemental light. They get away with it because the plant is basically dormant and the growth occurs mostly outdoors. In an apartment the temperature is always too high and the humidity is always too low for the plant to go dormant. You need a vapor pressure deficit that is stress free. That is almost possible in an apartment unless you have a grow tent where you can raise humidity. Citrus are a lot like cannabis in light requirements. For an apartment I would recommend a grow tent with an LED rack light. When a citrus does not get the required light they are starved and they begin to consume themselves for energy. Your LED lighting gives off heat. Should not raise the leaf temperature more than 10F. Use an infrared thermometer to confirm you are not placing the light too close or too far away. The LED industry uses 10,000 Lumen per square foot as a benchmark for natural sunlight. If you can get 5000/sq foot indoors you are doing pretty good. This picture below is with a spectrum king Low Pro Flower plus. The light produces about 102,000 lumen. It is the equivalent of a 1000W Double Ended HPS Fixture. Had to turn the light down about 20% to keep the ballast running cooler and in turn that dropped the surface temperature of the leaves to about 10F above ambient. Currently running at 65 RH. When you do take your plant outside give it the TLC it needs and fertilize with a proper citrus fertilizer. They have specific macro and micro nutrients. Another way to visualize the growing seasons is to compare to swimming in a lake. If a lake is 50F but the ambient air is 80F than the swim is not that enjoyable. The same goes for your plants. If the pot soil is chilly and the leafs are burning up under artificial lighting the plant won't enjoy the experience. All the variables have to work together. Citrus are heavy feeders when they are growing. They like lots of compost.

Mxk3, that is quite a list! I too bring some of those same ones indoors. I am tired of spending money to replace them when they do just fine in my care. I find the hardest to keep over winter are the herb plants like Rosemary Or Lavander. You need strong lights for those. I wonder if they can be kept cold on a porch too? As for the ones I have brough inside and stuck on a cold porch or under lights they are Stock...I keep on a cold porch and water as needed. Gardenia...Cold porch and water as needed. Begonia...I keep in a warm room under lights. Coleous..In a warm room under lights. Heliotrope..I keep in a warm area in a sunny window at work. It does awesome all winter. It is a grafted 3 foot tall one like on a tree I spent 50 dollars on. Geranium..I keep on a very cold porch and only water as needed. I will snap a few pics of the annuals and plants I over winter for next season. I couple I will dig up, but most are already growing in pots the entire year. P.s.. I wish I could over winter Alyssum and Petunia, but no success with those. They are two of my most fragrant annuals I could have. I have one right now over 3 feet wide and long in a hanging basket thriving even now. Going to miss the fragrance of that before walking into my main entrance door( Mike