Most all the minor spring bulbs will grow under deciduous trees and they will be much easier to plant if there are a lot of roots under the Maple tree. These bulbs get enough sunlight before the trees leaf out to be happy. Using minor bulbs will also increase the length of your bulb season as many of them bloom before a lot of daffodils and tulips. I have Scilla Siberica, Anemone Blanda, Chionodoxa, Fritillaria meleagris, & Ipheions (along with a nice collection of various miniature daffodils (regular daffs already suggested by Daisy will work too) growing under the very dense shade of a low-growing Crabapple tree. BTW, my tree is right up next to the patio, so seeing little bulbs is no problem. If yours are to be seen from a distance, I would use the minor bulbs as low sheets of color under the tree & probably use the large daffs, if I wanted daffs as well. One thing to remember is that it takes a lot of minor bulbs for impact from a distance. Think in hundreds not tens, but they are very inexpensive & you can add a few of the 100-packs (don't worry - these are very easy & quick to plant) each year of this or that to get the effect you want. Most of them spread well also, some even too fast, especially if you have sandy soil. Please see my pictures of some of these minor bulbs in the posting by Trowelgal on this page about planting with sedums. All of these minor bulbs should be available from places like Brent & Becky's Bulbs & John Scheepers. I attached a link to Scheepers, which has some lovely pictures of various varieties. Fritillaria meleagris - this one likes a bit of damp, which might be a problem under a Maple tree, but really lovely and spreads very well for me. Might be worth a try. The white ones pop out the more purplish color of the others & I love the checkering. P. S. These are also taller than the mini daffs. Miniature daffodils - I bought two mixed packages of 50 minis each which have spread generously. I now have two large patches, each with various small daffodils blooming at different times of the season, which is nice. Here is a link that might be useful: John Scheepers

If you have big rocks right under the surface, just layer organic material on top of the dirt. Dig little holes and plant your vegetables. You do NOT need all the fancy amendments like green sand, and bacteria and comfrey. This garden photo shows what you can do with alkaline desert dirt and a couple layers of organic material. I spread 2-3 inches of rough compost (you could still identify many of the raw materials) and over that a thick layer of shredded tree prunings. This is the first year. Next year I'll dump more layers onto it.

In southern MS, pretty much all brugs should be hardy in the ground for you. The topgrowth dies back after more than 4-6 hours at 27 degrees or less, but the rootball can survive longer, colder temps---as long as they're not wet. Wet + cold = rot. Potted brugs generally grow more slowly than ones planted in-ground, but they can eventaully get quite big. But remember, the soil in pots gets colder/freezes quicker than the soil in the ground, so unless you plant on bringing that big pot indoors, you have a higher risk of losing the brug to the winter cold. The soil in pots also gets hotter during the summer, and requires more frequent watering. Then there's the 'bucket method', which I use for my more temper brugs, chiefly those with Versicolor genes. I take a 3-gallon bucket and drill several 1" holes around the sides, but NOT in the bottom. I plant the brug in the b ucket, then plant bucket and all into the ground. Come fall, I cut around the outside of the bucket and lift the whole plant for overwintering in my greenhouse. I cut back the top just what's needed in order to get it inside, but I do strip off all the leaves. They generally drop them all anyway, and removing them while still outside eliminates the risk of bringing in pest eggs on them. I think it also helps the plant deal with the shock of root-pruning, by giving it a little chance to recover before it has to support the water needs of full-sized leaves. My in-ground brugs have gotten bigger each year. The oldest one, a nameless, seed-grown white, puts tp about a dozen trunks each year now, and they usually make it to 10-12' before first frost. Brugs aren't all that deeply rooted, I've learned from digging them up. They spread out pretty wide, but not deep, and they have a tendancy to break or blow over in high winds. One way to avoid damage when you're expecting strong winds (like when there's a tropical storm coming) is to remove most of the big leaves. Brugs drop and replace leaves constantly, so this doesn't seem to hurt them. Of the ones you mention, I've had CG and Frosty Pink in the ground here sor several years now. Both are quite hardy and heavy, work-horse bloomers. I find they're happiest here with direct sun from dawn to mid-day, then bright, indirect light until late afternoon.

Betty, The problem with the cats eating each other is mainly when there are later instar cats with the newly hatched. They are so much bigger and can move faster, the new babies can't get out of the way fast enough. So as long as they are all about the same size, you can "house" several cats together, provided there is enough room for them to pupate without being on top of each other. I purchased some small vases from Walmart and use those to keep the food fresh for the cats. The necks are rather small and keep the drownings down to a minimum, although some cats do occasionally go exploring and end up in the water. Enjoy your new hobby (aka obsession) and don't beat yourself up over the ones that don't make it to adulthood. It happens. Sometimes we don't know why, they just don't. Just the fact that you are providing them with food and a safe house free of parasites and would be assassins is a big help to them. I read somewhere that the survival rate is somewhere around 15% for butterflies in the "wild". In my experience, I have had about 85-90% survival, so I guess I am doing something right. About a week ago, I brought in some monarch eggs and never saw the cats emerge. So I left the leaves alone (they were in a cage with BST chrysalids) and yesterday, suddenly there were 3 cats on those dead, dried up leaves! (Boy were they happy when I supplied them with fresh food!)So, just because you don't see them right away doesn't always mean they didn't survive! Mechelle