I'll start by saying I don't know the answer to your question, and now I'll just babble for a bit. In general, many plants will go 'vegetative' again if you cut them back before they flower. Right now I have 3 types of kale that are 1 year+ The first is a tree collard - so that's expected to live 5 years. The others are lacinato & standard curly green kale. All three are now enjoying their second winter with lush growth. The tree collard has been flowering and now the lacinato is about to flower. I was told to take cuttings when the tree collard goes to flower, so I snipped them and have a bunch in a rooting mix (peat, fine woody compost & potting soil). I don't see any roots yet, but none of the small leaves have wilted, so I think they will do fine. There are also another bunch of florets coming up, so I guess I'll take more cuttings. I could eat them like broccoli, but I'd rather make more plants. I could't resist to let at least few flowers go to seed, even though these are generally propagated vegetatively. What I really want to do is hybridize the tree collards with the lacinato, to improve the taste of the tree collards. Now it looks like they will both be flowering at the same time, so I might just have a chance at it...

GrowDan, I am interested in a trade with you. Please email me privately and we can discuss specifics. Thanks, Wanda

Hi Melissa, All of the parents of P. exoniensis x parritae (mollissima, antioquiensis and parritae) can only take temps to the mid to upper 20s from what I've read (I think I've occasionally seen lower for mollissima). So you would definitely have to protect it over the winter at least some of the time. I have only had mine since February and our last really cold weather (26 F) was in January, so I really don't know what it can take. However, even if you protect it from the cold, the summer heat could get you. I've heard stories that people grow P. exoniensis in Florida, but not much detail--can they bloom it? The usual story you hear with Tacsonias, of course is that they don't really like it over 85 and that they really need cool nights. However, we have had two big heat waves already this year, and the plant actually seemed to like it. Recently it hit 96 and then 98 and the plant responded by increasing its growth rate from 1 inch/day to 2 inches/day. However...the nights were in the 50s. My plant is also where it gets full shade in the afternoon. So I doubt it would live outside all year there, but you are welcome to try. I actually rooted a bunch of these during our first heat wave, when it was 80 and above inside for several days in a row. One of the cuttings was in those 80 degree temperatures PLUS bottom heat, and it rooted slightly faster than the other ones. So perhaps this hybrid isn't bothered by heat as much as some others? I don't know. Still I would give it shade in the afternoon. Since it's so easy to root it would also be easy to take cuttings and risk a plant in the cold.

Hi Michelle, I have a couple of roses also posted in the trade section, a Henri Martin (Aka Red Moss) and an unknown pink. I would be interested in either a William Baffin or a Graham Thomas, if you would like to do a trade. I could ship them bare-root in April, May, or early June. They are well rooted plants and are already hardened off outside in pots. Marbree