Pictures are downloading as we speak. Unfortunately I seem to have encountered a problem with an outdoor, mature azalea tree on the porch. It's been living here in this exact spot win the exact pot for over a decade but now It appears something is clogging the drainage holes on the bottom and the pot is flooded with water, not waterlogged, worse, as in the tree has been sitting in water for days. it seems that is has been this way for at least a few days as the water smells stagnant. The tree has a small bit of brown leaves but it actually looks relatively okay, when considering how bad of circumstances this is... at this point it is still in water as the pot weighs at least 100lbs, solid glazed ceramic. I tried getting a long thin pole and poking down to the bottom of the pot, attempting to make a path for water to flow out of the pot, but about 3-4 inches from the bottom I encountered something rock hard that I could not penetrate. I also found when poking around with the pole that the pot may be rootbound, as I felt so many roots digging down. I am going to go try again and see if I can lift the pot. I just finished lifting the pot and got some of the water out, though it is still waterlogged soil, and upon tilting the pot over to the side a bit I found a thick bundle of roots blocking the water exit hole and they had gone all the way out of the bottom of the pot and wrapped around the area between the pavement and pot. this is going to be one helluva hacking job for me... I actually don't know how I am going to fix the situation on such a large scale. I can't get a bigger pot, these are about as big as they come and even if there is something bigger a quality one would cost hundreds, How would I do a large scale root trim on a 6 foot tall tree? It's such a big plant, I would need a forklift to get it out of that pot and putting it back in would be a disaster. Any tips?

Sounds like a good plan to me Kat. Most Ao do go dormant in the winter but some specimens for some reason do not. As long as the plant has leaves I would continue to water, just not as much as summer. When/if they loose their leaves I stop. Make sure to give your Ao lots of water and fertilizer in the summer, the common name of "desert rose" is misleading. They love water when its hot.

Greenjay, thanks, glad you like my efforts so far, my fav is #3. Bikerdoc, hope someone from the USA comes in to help you find a good seed supplier as I'm from the UK. As for the germinating media I tend to use a 50/50 mix of cactus and general purpose potting compost. The seeds need to be soaked in warmish water for 4 hours or so before lying them on the surface of your pots and covering with just a sprinkling of mix. Keep them moist but not saturated and in the mid 20'sC. If fresh, they should pop in a matter of a few days, mine come through in 5/7 usually. They grow quickly once through and need to be kept moist for several weeks after sprouting. When around and inch or so high and with a couple of sets of true leaves I re-pot mine individually into 30% cactus mix, 30% potting compost and 30% horticultural grit...it needs to be very fast draining. I let mine dry out before I water again which can be every other day even here in the UK! Give them as much light & warmth as poss. Keep them growing year round for 2 years if poss...I find young seedlings don't go dormant anyway and the bigger the plant is going into winter, the more reserves it has to go through a dormant period. When older/bigger, in summer treat as tropicals...ie.warm and watered often but remember, don't let them sit in water or get waterlogged or the roots rot. In winter keep drier like a cactus....if they go dormant and loose leaves hardly water them at all. Cold and/or constantly wet and soggy feet are killers, the roots and caudex can rot easily. As for root pruning, well I'm not the one to tell you much about that as I haven't got to that stage with mine...yet! Good luck, hope this helps, it's what I do with mine anyway. Josh, thanks for the heads up on the root pruning... I will certainly now wait a while before I chop them as I'd certainly like them to put on some more growth yet. Regards, Gill from the UK.

Tracy, Hold off on the fertilizer for your new transplants. I was thinking of my sprouts when I said I alternate rooting hormone liquid and seaweed fertilizer. (No wonder you asked about stress on the plant.) Sorry about that...one of those moments you know. My new transplants and up-pots get rooting liquid once a week for 2 weeks--the roots need time to rejuvenate and grow more roots first—then I go on to a fertilizer schedule. My treatment for clones and newly root-cropped plants is another story. As you know I am constantly experimenting—what I do now may be different next year. <chuckle>