Konrad, I wish you would start a new post with the pictures (f you have them). I have two dwarf rootstocks from trees that the grafts died due to girdling from rabbits; want to use some of the prunings from my standard trees to try to graft to those. Good pictures are so helpful.

I had a nice size one for about 5 years and for some, unknown reason, it did not return this spring. The original plant came from Brecks, I think. My neighbor put in an order and I ordered it then. She bought two. Since then, she's divided hers and move them all over the place. I keep reading about how hard they are to move, with the large tap root and all, and every time she moves some of hers somewhere else, they never miss a beat. I bet she thinks I'm giving her bad advice about that awful big tap root! This year, when I knew mine definitely was not going to make an appearance, she gave me a piece of one of her plants to replace it. The weather was hot and dry at the time, and I kept it well watered. It wilted a bit initially. but is doing just fine now. Of course we've had rain here every day for the past two weeks, so that has probably helped quite a bit. All that extra rain is coming to an end today, so I will have to be using the watering can again and checking on it to see if it needs a drink. I've saved seeds every year in case someone needed them, but I didn't know they were easy to start from seed. I need to remember that! Thanks for all the info on this wonderful plant. Linda Oh, and I did see them blooming last weekend along the highways here in western PA.

Okieladybug, To start tomato seeds indoors, first figure out your targeted transplanting date when you'll be putting the tomato plants in the ground. For most of Oklahoma, that would be about the first or second week in April, although some people with warm microclimates could plant them a week or two earlier, especially if they can cover them up adequately on cold nights to prevent the plants from freezing. A few folks in the most northwestern parts of the state might transplant their tomatoes a bit later. Count backwards six to eight weeks (and for those who are new to seed-starting, I'd go with the eight weeks) and that's the time to start your seeds. To raise tomato and other vegetable, flower and herb seedlings indoors, even in a bright room you will need a light source you can suspend above them. Lots of us make inexpensive seed-starting shelves using free-standing plastic shelving units from a big box store and ordinary shop lights suspended above each shelves with chains that allow us to raise and lower the lights as needed. You always start seeds indoors in a purchased, sterile, soil-less seed-starting mix. These mixes have a high peat or coir component which makes them light and fluffy, and because they are sterile, the incidence of disease is lowered. You can purchase small bags of seed starting mix like Jiffy Mix right there at your local Wal-Mart, Lowe's, Home Depot, etc. Folks who start very large quantities of seedlings often go to a nursery or a nursery/greenhouse supply store to purchase large bales of Pro-Mix or Metro Mix, and there are many other brands as well. You never start seedlings in ordinary outdoor soil because it is potentially full of disease and packs down hard when watered. You also can use compressed peat pellets, but they can be difficult to use, particularly for folks newer to seed starting as they tend to hold excess water early in the process and that can lead to a lot of issues with damping off, which is a collection of diseases that kill tiny seedlings. The easiest way to start seedlings indoors is to buy a rectangular shaped seed-starting flat. Most of them are about 10" x 20" and have 72 cells. You don't have to have a heat mat to provide bottom heat, although many gardeners like to use them with certain seeds like pepper seeds that start a bit more slowly without bottom heat. Often, placing a flat of seeds on top of a refrigerator provides enough bottom heat, but you need to move the flat to the light shelf as soon as the first seedlings pop up out of the soil, or they'll get leggy in only a day or two. With the light shelf, you put your flat on the shelf and have the lights as close to the shelf as possible without it touching any part of the flat, its germination dome, etc. I try to keep my lights about 1-2" above the plants at all times, raising the lights with chains/hooks as the plant grow. Be sure you label each cell. I cut small plastic labels from an old mini-blin, but you can cut them from any plastic you have handy...like a laundry detergent bottle, for example. Or, you can use popsicle sticks. On plastic, be sure to use a permanent marker like a Sharpie for your labeling. With popsicle sticks, I have found an ink pen works fine. You also can buy little packages of plastic labels in the area where seed-starting flats are sold, but they can be pricey. To start the seeds, put your soil-less mix in the flat, wet the mix (but you don't want it sopping wet, only moist). Plant your seeds in the individual cells, labeling each cell as you go. I also draw a "map" of the flat on graph paper and label each cell on the map so that if disaster strikes (at my house, most seedling disasters are caused by cats), I can replace the labels in the proper cells. (My cats like to pull out plastic plant labels and bat them around on the floor.) After planting your seeds in each cell, labeling, and then watering gently, you cover the flat with the germination dome that came with it, put it on the shelf under the lights and check daily. Water lighting as needed to ensure the soilless mix never dries out completely. You will have seedlings in a few days. When the seedlings sprout, remove the dome. Leaving the dome on holds in moisture and humidity which can lead to damping off. It is possible to raise seedlings indoors without a light suspended above them, but even in a bright room with lots of windows, the winter sun is not as intense as they need and the seedlings quickly will become too leggy. Legginess is bad as it gives you week plants that tend to fall over prostrate on the flat and surrounding plants. I've linked a previous thread from a few days back where we discussed many aspects of seed-starting and various methods we use with various types of seeds. Good luck, Dawn Here is a link that might be useful: Previous Thread on Seed Starting Issues

Hello Everyone!!! That's the show that i am planning to attend...(I can hardly wait!!!) : ) The South Coast Plaza Garden Show...APril 28- May 1st.... Sunseeker....I just checked my email....i will respond to you shortly!!! But I will say that I use Photobucket... if this is the same format...then i hope this helps...I know that you said that you use imageshack...probably the smae...so here it goes...sorry to try and explain...but i am going to tell you everything that i do and show you the pic that i am using as your example...hope this helps!!!! have your window open for the garden P forum...open another window for your imageshack..or photobucket....find the pic that you want to post..on PB once you place your cursor on the pic...it shows four boxes under the pic....select the HTML CODE with (left click) and mine says "copied" then go back to the forum window....have your thread ready...then make sure the return key is at the left hand side margin under the paragraph that you wanted to say...(Hit the return key) then place the cursor on the left line...right click and paste...you will see all kinds of letters (numbers) about five lines worth...that will be your pic...if you want to post mutliple pics...thenjusut hit the return key at the end and start the routine again....after you have finished...you preview your posting...it should show your pictures there before you finalize your posting...here goes my pic...i hope this helps....i will email you later..!! This is a pic of one of my favortie Plumeria... ( Daisy WIlcox) it was so fragrant and beautiful last summer...ahhhh to smell these again will be heaven!!! : ) Just something extra..to show everyone the snow that we had this Januuary...Ugggggg!!! Take care everyone....Sunseeker..i hope this helps... I would really like to meet everyone as well at the show...Sounds like alot of fun!!! Laura in VB