In my area - the Japanese Beetles are only here for about a month - mid June to mid July. I have just learned to enjoy the roses prior to that then deadhead them and even do a severe pruning if need be. By the time the new foilage and buds are formed the beetles are gone and I have the roses for the rest of they year. Same with my hollyhocks - I will enjoy most of the bloom and when they start attacking them - I cut the stalks back and sometimes get a second smaller bloom later in the season. I do alot of handpicking of them - always have a container of water and dish soap and put the container underneath the beetle/beetles and use the lid or even my hands and knock the beetles into the jar - put the lip on and then shake or swirl it - the beetles die. They are a mess - thats for sure. I have also learned the very BEST Bag-o-Bug is the one in SOMEONE elses yard - preferbably a couple of houses away. NEVER put them directly in your garden - if you feel you must have them - put it as far away from your plants as possible. As for the original question - I would love to just get cosmos to grow for me. I LOVE the flowers and want them in my garden however I am learning to accept the fact that not EVERY flower will do well in my zone/soil so will work with what does best for me. I DO know they grow down here because they are used for the roadside and median plantings by the DOT so will continue to try..... Lynne

TS - Not a bonsai calamondin, but one that stays the same size in the same size pot, using bonsai techniques. Unfortunately, citrus trees aren't winter hardy in MN, so a 6' tree in a 35-gal. pot would crowd out the sofa. Many Northerners who grow orchids balance limited indoor shelf space between fast-growing houseplants and more slowly-growing orchids. Toni, yes, the tree is in flower/fruit. It's 27" tall now, from the bottom of the pot to the top of the tree. As for removing the fruit, are there consequences one way or the other? I wouldn't care if there were ever fruit - it's the scent of the blossoms that does it for me. Hope that isn't heresy here. :) Thanks, Whitecat8

I have read most of these post...yet I still do not seem to see an answer for me...I have lemons, maybe a handful that have been growing for almost 10 months! and still are green as grass....Are they ripe? Can I eat them? Or do I need to just say "Hey, it will take a year and a half to get a yellow lemon?"..it is for sure a meyer lemon plant..*sigh* Oh I live in mid to north Georgia..Highs are low 90's and cools are 68ish..

Hi everybody. I guess I should have looked for help here a long time ago, but since I have yet to kill the tree living in my house there's always hope. First off, let me say that I am COMPLETELY IGNORANT about hibiscus. I do have halberd-leaf mallows in the yard, but they're native and don't ask me for anything. The trouble is this: I have a hibiscus that was given to me as a cutting when I was a sophomore in high school, and it has patiently suffered my ignorance for 20 years and is now a 6 foot tree. My lack of knowledge has only slighly improved since I learned just last year that it is a hibiscus schizopetalus after spotting one in a butterfly park down south. It did bloom nicely as a young plant but since then has maybe put out one or two blooms in the past 5 years. Other than keeping it looking a healthy shade of green I am sure I have been doing everything wrong. What do I need to do to coax this plant to bloom? Here's what I know about it: started from a cutting in 85 Transplanted only when it began to show signs of serious decline I live in southern Illinois--it gets put outside in the late spring and brought back in this time of year. We live in deep woods so full sun is a rare thing...good for ginseng, not for hibiscus! In winter it gets a sunny window when indoors. Our house is kept at around 70 during this time. Space is an issue so I was forced to dramatically prune it back every so many years. Currently in a pot approx 13-14 inch diam. Rarely fertilized except at transplant time and then lightly I spoke to a horticulturist at the butterfly park where I spotted this growing and was told never to prune after February. Not a single bud this season. This is almost like a part of the family now since it has made it this far. We decorate it for Christmas for Pete's sake. I just wonder what to do to get it to flower again.