I believed thet traditional wisdom that junipers can't be kept indoors untill I met a woman at my bonsai supply they has never lost one in 15 years, always indoors! I have since tried a couple but only for two years. Jumipers grow in Florida and far north, so the definition of dormancy is very varied. One other source that had success defined junper dormancy as a reduction of at least 20 F less in temperature for a sustained period. No feeding but care they don't dry out and misting to cope with dry indoor air. The two I am tyring this way get set on a window sill, not southern facing for the winter. It gets quite cool near the glass and they seem to stop everything -that seems to be a form of dormancy. Don't feed or overwater. Do mist occasionally. Never let them dry out completely, easy in he winter. That sure seems to emmulate Florida in the winter! In spring give them a nice warm window and trat them for growth. So far it is working for me and the woman I refered to. gerry

Your roots are to the stage that potting up to a larger pot would be appropriate. The roots are not pot bound yet but I would cut through them vertically from top to bottom in several places about 2 inches deep when potting up. I would not consider bare rooting them. Orchid mixes are usually mostly fir bark and come in large size pieces or small. The smaller size I think would be OK for your tree. Most houses in the winter with the heat on become very dry and tend to draw the moisture out of the foliage. Do what you can to keep a reasonable humidity and rotate the containers to equalize the light. You will need to water about once a week with enough water that about 20% drains freely from the container. If your trees show signs of wilting between watering, shorten up the watering frequency slightly. If available locally look for citrus labeled fertilizer that lists the minors on the label. Watch for aphids or scale and if found take the containers outside, and spray thoroughly with Neem or horticultural oil. Al

I have had a totally different weather pattern so my observations aren't pertinent to your question, but perhaps they'll be interesting in themselves. It looks as though we're going to have a third drought year after a second year of Zone 9 winter temperatures. I'm looking at my garden and wondering what qualities are due to the heavy soil, what to the lack of water, what to the inherent character of the roses growing there, what to the difference between grafted and non-grafted varieties. The Teas and Chinas on the Rose Road, planted at the beginning of 2005, are mostly 3'-5' high, but perfectly healthy and sturdy looking. The one year they grew significantly was the first year they were in the ground, when we had a decent amount of rain. The Gallicas are mostly unhappy roses, in very heavy clay and (unfortunately) full sun; they're grafted, unlike the Teas and Chinas, which may make a difference; and they've never had a good year of rainfall. The grafted Teas also are less thriving than the own-root Teas, though that may be due to other factors (drought and soil). I'm just going to have to see how the roses behave when we get another year of good rain, and heaven knows when that will be. Also, I'm forced to buy most of my roses grafted (on Laxa, I think), and have to propagate them from cuttings and grow the offspring to see what the difference is between grafted and ownroot rose behavior. Most of our roses planted 2002-beginning 2006 went into poor ground, while the last two years we plowed beds in moister and more fertile soil, which all the roses except the Teas and Chinas like better. I made large orders of once-blooming old roses last year and am looking forward to seeing how they do in the new beds. Possibly my most interesting discovery is how many old roses react to poor soil and drought: not with weakness and death, but by staying relatively small but healthy and floriferous. This is true not only of the Teas and Chinas, but also of 'Alberic Barbier' and of the Bourbons. The latter ('Variegata di Bologna', 'Zephirine Drouhin', 'Honorine de Brabant', 'Gros Choux de Hollande') are in a sunny, windy, dry area, and while they aren't large, they're sturdy and healthy. My impression is that they're just waiting for a wet year to get bigger. They're also more or less once-blooming in a dry year, though rain in August or September would probably induce a fall flowering. While I've said my roses are generally healthy, last year for the first time I had several roses suffer dieback from disease, and this may have been the result of drought-induced stress, as I hadn't seen it in earlier years. The traditional weather pattern here, unlike in the eastern U.S., is wet weather from mid-fall to mid-spring, with a period of dry cold in the middle of winter, and dry summers. Roses like this just fine. Two years ago (?) we got an unusual strong rain in June, and 'Golden Celebration' was just covered with blackspot, normally a problem I see on the DA roses only in later fall. Lately it has been too dry: four months without rain in 2007 and 'Safrano' actually lost some growth; but a couple of dry, hot, sunny months would, I think, be perfectly satisfactory to my roses. I have no problems with a period of rest. It becomes part of the natural cycle of the garden and it's pleasant in its own way to see the roses shut down and then come into flower again with the fall rains. But the last few years have been too dry. Melissa

I'm assuming they're outside now. If they canes are healthy looking and there are good red bud eyes on them I'd wait. It's still been really cold for spring and they may just be slow starters or prefer warmer weather. Keep them watered (not a problem with all the rain we've had) and in a sunny spot and they'll wake up. Maybe if you have a warmer more sheltered spot (south side?) put them there and see if that helps.