I also acquired an austrailian pine for the same purpose, the owner of the property was happy to let me try and dig one up. The woody parts of these trees becomes very rigid, very fast,and I have only read about bonsai successfully. My actual plant trials have...just survived my uneducated toilings. The roots of my 'pine' were very easy to clean and separate. Pruning wasn't too bad, but I am afraid the woody parts will be my eventual problem. It's hard to shape something so rigid, and I just wanted to make sure I could keep it alive before toiling somemore... For staring with a sapling, I don't know how much to push the pot, soil, pruning issues. Hopefully someone can answer your questions, because I am interested in them as well Shannon

That one is gone. Nick

hehe this is one I can answer ! I have two Bunnings nearby, and seem to end up at one or the other most weeks. In my area (south east ish suburban Melbourne ) Bunnings can get bare root ("body bag") roses as early as late May-June. As a rule, these tend to be really cheap end roses; think well out of patent classic/popular hybrid teas similar to Mr Lincoln , Eiffel Tower, Julias rose, Just Joey etc or floribundas like white iceberg, europeana, Bonica and lilli marlene. But they do get a few of the older more obscure Austins. In previous years I have seen Yellow Charles Austin, The Dove, Perdita, Claire Rose, Cymbeline, Tamora, lucetta, Happy Child etc, It seems to be luck of the draw, because different stores have different varieties..To be honest, I ended up chucking a lot of the body bags of mine, as they were either dud plants, not suitable for my area and didn't grow well, or they were bought in a bargain induced frenzy and were just..wrong.. My advice is to look up all the older austins and make a checklist of ones you would like, so you can avoid the ones you don't have room for. Still have Cymbeline tho..shes lovely. and its a good way of experimenting on the cheap. Last year they were all around 9.95 (year before they were 8.95 I think), They usually have higher priced more popular PBR roses nearby ( think Pierre Ronsard, Ebb Tide, burgundy iceberg, etc). I think they were around 12.95? Warning- They dont tend to be very good quality , so check them thoroughly for dodgy canes etc, try to get a good look at the graft area, and you have to get them early, as the best ones go very quickly. I think they just get the one shipment, and the rest stay till they get sold...One cane wonders abound! Keep an eye out for the Delbards - they seem to appear a couple of weeks later as "potted barerooted" for around $ 16 /18. That is, bareroots that appear to have been potted in the minimum sized pot available. They look to be a bit better quality with more and thicker looking canes. Either Delbards is keener on quality control, or the plants keep better that way.

Has anybody ordered an Australian Finger Lime from Four Winds Nursery? More specifically a premium. A friend of mine received one and it looks like it was pollardized. I hope that is the correct term. The graft is also at the top. Just wondering if this is the norm for FW. My friend is not very happy with the tree at this time because the box was damaged during transit, the roots and soil came out of the pot, and to make things worse, it was snowing and all the new growth is dying back.