Jroot, that looks so pretty, and I can almost smell it here. I think you gave me a cutting from Frosty Pink last year in the fall, and it is one of the few cuttings that is doing very well for me. It rooted up pretty well, and is now about two feet tall. It has finally gone outside for a few hours now that we have gotten some warm sunny days, and seems to have just taken off. I am hoping mine will bloom like that for me this summer. Love all the pics people share. Thanks.

Thanks for that info silica, I've always wondered what size these guys should be for their supposed age. One thing that always bothered me was how my 'grafted dwarf citrus' package (3 citrus trees) have no signs of graft lines, and that they were all extremely small and the trunk was thin and green despite being 1-2 years old upon arrival... last year. If I were to go by the sold as date, my trees should be 12+ months(cultivator) + 16 months(me) for a minimum of 28 months. Yet every single one of them are between 18-24" in height, and none of them were larger than 6" upon arrival. When they showed up, they were essentially green sticks with pale green leafs on them, that promptly fell off upon arrival. The roots were only a small tap with a few small feeders. My apple trees at that age almost always have a root system more extensive than the branches above. In fact I count on that when plating them. When the citrus finally started branching, they branched from every direction instead of following a leader similar to how my non-citrus fruit trees grow in my orchard. I assumed they were cuttings that were rooted and then shipped out as grafted dwarfs. Anyway, the trees have done well and with a bit of training started growing straight and up after 2 months of total dormancy upon arrival. Leaves are nice and green, but I was worried by fact that they may be a cutting might mean the Meyer was thinking it's ready to start making fruit and stop getting big, if that makes any sense. Well I wont worry about the flowers, and I'll just enjoy them while they last. I noticed 2 more buds sprouting after coming home and firing up the grill.

Dave I understand your analogy and your position that plants of the size I mentioned are beyond the stage at which they should be transplanted into their final growing place, and from my experience I don't doubt that plants would perform better in a longer season if they had been initially transplanted as smaller plants; my big transplants are pretty pooped out by the end of the season (if season was longer, I don't think they would last much longer), while their younger siblings tend to look better and fuller and like they would have a longer healthier lifespan than the bigger transplants had (but though healthier and fuller, the have also produced fewer and later fruits, as mentioned). Is there somewhere I could find more information what effects growth/what is the ideal stage at which to set out? I don't know if it makes a difference up here, if proper transplanting and setting out would still result in later, fewer fruits. Regarding transplanting in general, when I changed up a few things last year I seemed to have poorer root development than prior years. Plants still grew pretty large and produced ok given the weather conditions (maybe excess precipitation acutally helped bring more nutrients to the smaller root systems this summer). I was told by some people here last year that root growth could be improved by allowing plants to become somewhat (or more than somewhat) rootbound in smaller pots before potting up...may explain better performance in other years when I procrastinated before potting up. Did some research and came across the below link among other things. Not sure how old or accurate it is, but the article discusses root development, and seems to indicate the possibility that the more times a plant is transplanted, the less fruit it produces, due in part to damaging effects of translanting on the roots. Besides direct sowing, or planting seeds in 6-inch pots (instead of starters then cells then larger pots) I don't see a practical way to plant in a manner that would avoid all transplanting...and probably tough to plant one or a few seeds per 6-inch pot and have enough room/pots to set up for germination. Ignoring the transplant size issue, any comments on what this article says about transplanting and root development (and applicability to a non-commercial garden, if any)? http://www.soilandhealth.org/01aglibrary/010137veg.roots/010137ch26.html

Some plants, not all, respond to cutting back by an explosion of new growth. Pruning is, after all, more of a growth promoting activity than a reduction. As a professional grower, timely cutting back is essential to produce a full pot exploding in flowers and promising buds. Petunias, among many other species, respond emphatically to being pruned; any grower who doesn't actively follow such horticultural practices is missing an essential step. Now that I simply tend to my own gardens, snipping, disbudding, and pruning is simply a routine part of gardening.