Gloria: not to be a bummer but, your best defense going organic with CAR will be planting resistant trees from my experience. From what I've read, the sulfurs won't work very well against CAR, in addition they shouldn't be sprayed when the temps. get above 85-90F (I think) or they will burn the foliage. They can be washed off easily leading to freqent sprays which is O.K. if you have the time and the weather cooperates during the infection periods (wet weather). Between resistant trees and very diligent organic methods you might do fine, I don't know, but I heartily applaud your effort. Keep us informed. You will learn what does and doesn't work for you which is what it is all about. Oh yes, I have benefitted enormously from having a digital camera with macro capabilities. The plant pathology lab @ K-state accepts images for diagnostic purposes. Olpea: have you seen the link below? Probably applies better to your local than mine in the NC part of the state. It is for commercial growers but highly educational if one can comprehend it. I had to print the beast out and poured over it for hours referencing other materials in the process. Here is a link that might be useful: 2009 Midwest Tree Fruit and Spray Guide

Crepe myrtles bloom on new wood; this along with trying to maintain the height was probably the reasoning for the "topping" technique through the years. While this practice does not improve the crepe's attraction, it does not actually damage this plant either! I did a crepe myrtle restoration pruning to mine that were planted by the previous home owners at the entrance to my driveway. The previous owners would cut them to the ground every year treating them like a woody perennial. They would grow up to about 5 feet and full of blooms. The only trouble was it created a sight hazard pulling unto the street out of the driveway. To perform a restoration pruning to restore them back to what they really are-trees, you will need to implement a systematic program during mid to late winter (around end of January-early February before buds begin to swell). This will not be difficult. First remove all stubs and rubbing limbs the first pruning cycle. I would also pick out no more than 2 leaders coming from each "knuckle" to leave while removing the remaining sprouts. Be sure that the leaders to be left have a good attachment. During the growing season, pinch off any suckers and unwanted lateral growth. During the second winter, you should be in pretty good shape and be able to thin out the canopy to a level that is sustainable for the tree and more appealing esthetically. After this, your crepes should be pretty well good to go. Crepe myrtles are very forgiving so if you mess up in your restoration pruning, don't worry you can still cut them down to the ground (as suggested earlier) and they will come back. (You have some attractive trunk development so I would try to do the restoration pruning first rather than simply cut them down and start again though.) The bloom show on mine has not been negatively effected by my restoration pruning efforts. The flower show has just simply been raised up on the plants. Crepes are very fast growers, specially in the hotter areas of the south so based on your pictures, I would bet those guys that you have are not even 10 years old! You note that they did not bloom very well this year--Do you have any idea of the cultivar (if not how about a flower color)? Crepes like full sun, more sun exposure equals more flowers. I see a lot of towering pines that may be limiting the amount of direct sunlight on your crepes. Good luck.

First, sorry you are having trouble with what are generally pretty much trouble-free plants, so take heart and hang in there, this fine group will divine the answer(s) . . . My first thoughts are these: The little holes in the leaves sound like one of hosta's few but infamous pests, slugs. You will find all sorts of discussions about that here and elsewhere, and they are controllable, and certainly NOT killing you plants. From my mere 13 year experience (trust me, there are much more experienced growers here), I immediately thought of tree root competition. Maples are the most infamous, though we learned the hard way that Red Pines are almost as bad. Insidiously, this sometimes takes a cupla years to manifest itself, but again, there are ways to make all well, so stay in touch, O.K.? We'll make it worth your while, Hosta folk are tenacious and very giving, helpful folk! hh

Thanks daninthedirt, (Hardened off yes for about 2 weeks, took me a week to decide the move to vinyl bags first when temps were in low 40s for 10+ days Now, When I see the temps for the low if to be around 50ish) It should be within 10 days depending upon weather still and I will stake them. So far the in 10 days the weather at night seems to be around 50 or over and day temps in the high 60's to high 70's. When I stake them i use those 3/4 inch green pole stakes stakes that are about 6 ft tall then just support them with twine. (The new burppe seedlings will be planted in about 10-14 days) Also at times I use anything I see to prop them up when the plants become to heavy/tall, Not the best way but it worked for the past few years. Also my neighbor gave me at the end of last summer another 8 or so 6 foot high (2 inch) wood stakes so, it will be kind of fun to see how I makeshift this summer. All of the fabric bags are planted within a foot of each other so, basicly the twine with about 15+ stakes kind makes a makeshift cage plus with other props.