I'd like to trade! I grow a red Mammoth Hibiscus with paper plate size blooms...have seeds for that? I also have bulbs for the Canna called Tropic-Canna ...beautiful orange veins on the leaves and bright orange flowers? Rhizomes for Calla Lily? Seeds for Okra (Star of David) that produce a unique white flower with dark inside? Not sure if you want seeds, cuttings, rooted plant...get back to me? ~Sandy

I only learned about the root riot cubes this year in the fig forum. Evidently people have a lot of luck rooting fig cuttings in them. What I like about them is I can pick them up, and view all these little amazing roots sticking out! I planted 25 seeds, and every day a new seedling pops up. So far, 6 are growing, including the twins, and I see green ready to pop up in 2 other cubes. I hope I get singles from now on! Every day they go out in the sunshine, and they are so pretty and green! They come in at night where it's warm and safe. This is a little project that, if it works, will save us about $600.00 purchasing dwarf citrus trees. It's hard to explain, but the house is built above the road, and there is a flat front yard, a wrought iron fence, and a rocky slope down to the road. We planted lots of rosemary and flowers on the rocky slope. In front of the fence will be blue agapanthus and behind the fence, dwarf citrus in ground. We don't want anything to grow to high, and I'm thrilled these little seeds are actually sprouting!

EW - The best time to repot F lyrata is around mid-Jun if you're N of the equator, and mid-Dec if you're south of it. If you're less than 25-30* N or S latitude, it's not particularly important when you repot. If you want to achieve that look, and especially that look combined with that ht, you'll need to make some sacrifices. Trees thicken and trunks strengthen in a direct relationship with foliage mass, The more leaves, the faster the tree grows, thickens, and strengthens. To replicate that look, your job would be to try to make sure the terminal bud on the main stem doesn't get damaged or removed until the plant is about 3/4 as tall as you want it in the end. In the meantime, you should only tip-prune any branches that occur, so you maintain as much foliage on the tree as possible. As the tree approaches the desired ht, you'll start removing the lowest branches and working your way upward over time. If you allow any secondary branching (branches of the main stem, to grow 2 - 3 leaves, then remove the apex (growing tip), more branches will be forced to grow from the leaf axils. You can then keep those oriented toward growth that flatters the plant, and remove those that spoil your vision for what you'd like it to be. Often, growing is a catch 22. If we maintain a plant so it always looks its best in the immediate, we might be destroying its future. If we're serious about having our plants grow into something that is going to be pleasing to the eye at maturity, we usually need to make some sacrifices and stick with a plan as the plant moves through the formative stages. I realize how much that is to ask of a grower because of how long it took me to develop the ability to look ahead. The good news is, though, I didn't have anyone to help me learn to see into the future or explain all this to me, you do. ;-) Al

Fun!!! Despite my having lived in New Mexico for over 25 years, my Michigan roots showed up with almost every pronunciation (LOL). I still recall moving down to Florida in my mid-twenties and being surprised that a "soda" in Florida did not come with added ice cream, as it did in Michigan. Most of my friends there had no idea what a "pop" was. I've always referred to my tennis-type shoes as "Tennies (TEN-ees). Growing up in Michigan, flip-flops or sandals were called "zorries" (ZOR-ees). I have no idea where that one came from! I have a New Mexican pronunciation for you: instead of "Sandwich" many locals (although not all by any means) refer to it as a "Sang-wich". Even my DD's high school English Lit teacher called it that. Thankfully, this is a term we've managed not to pick up. Thanks for such a fun and interesting thread! Lynn