Hey Brad... I wanted to ask you a few questions about pine mulch that i am looking for... i will send an email with those questions if that is ok... You are in Suffolk right? Im sorry to here of the loss of your queen palm...these past two winters have been brutal here...lets hope for an early spring...we all deserve it!! As far as the forecasted temps...i wouldn't put any $ on them..LOL...especially from one city to the next...remember when we had the weather watchers call in on the local news...i guess those days are gone...it did help people like us that are interested in gardening and our plants/trees in general...Miss that J. Cash..on the local channel here...he seemed pretty good...oh well...we just have to be out own weather watchers!!! Please post pics of your your citrus and other great trees...i/we would love to see what you grow....I especially would like to see the key lime..lemons..Guava..Bananas..ok...lets see it all...LOL Even..the "worm" That has really worked well for you... It sounds wonderful..and you have done a great job!!! Take care everyone.. Laura in VB

Maydl, buying fruit at the market, makes one wonder if whomever labels them knows what they're doing. lol I checked Improved Meyer's in a citrus book. It says: Meyer isn't a true lemon like Eureka and Lisbon, it's a hybrid between lemon and mandarin or an orange. The fruit has 'thin' skin with a bright yellow rind that darkens to orange-yellow as the fruit ripens on the tree, but still acidic. Flavor is unique-lemony with flora overtones in both the juice and rind. Meyer trees sold in Ca are often sold with a tag from the CA Dept of Food and agriculture. Fruit: Medium size w/very thin, yellow to yellow-orange rind..Dark, yellow very juicy interior.Acidic, flowery taste, many seeds, holds well on tree, difficult to peel. Tree is small, compact, with few thorns. Fruit grown in Fl generally has a thinner, smoother rind..It's juicer, bigger, more elongated and harder to peel than the same variety grown in CA. When did you buy your Meyers? Citrus from Fl aren't allowed to be shipped outside of their state. (The ban is still on) So, it's possible your Meyer's was grown in Ca. Whatever, enjoy the fruit, Toni

It's not "semantics", it is simply a wrong use of terminology, John. There is no chemical reaction going on, or excretion of some chemical or poison, causing graft failure. So for me, using the word "poison" isn't really descriptive of what is happening. Sorry, I have a science background, and I think I provided a pretty clear explanation, John. Steve, the Meyer lemon (or other incompatible cultivars) does not excrete something that kills the rootstock. It is just an inability to make that cellular connection well enough to support the transport of nutrients up through the rootstock and to the scion cultivar. More an "apples and oranges" analogy, since John is fond of analogies. Or, square hole in a round peg. There is basic incompatibilities between several cultivars and trifoliate rootstocks, Meyer being just one. If I have a chance to snap a photo of my container Chironja orangelo, I'll post it to show a scion/rootstock graft issue. I didn't want folks new to citrus to think that a citrus scion had the ability to poison the rootstock, definitely not what's happening at the graft. Patty S.

I had one lime in a pot on the back patio about 3' from the house, and it looks great, but no buds. Lots of new growth. The one 1' from the south wall is growing and has buds. Same with the lemon. I also had 4 other limes planted around the yard (got a load of them cheap and decided to give it a whirl). I had to chop them back a few weeks ago, and they were ugly pokey sticks, but all of them survived and had new growth toward the bottom. I didn't cover or baby them at all. However, I want trees, not perennials, so I dug them up and gave them to the south wall of my brother's house. I've also got a loquat on the same large south wall. I've had it for several years with barely any growth, but now that I've moved it here, it's growing very quickly. Cross your fingers that I'll one day have fruit!