I'm assuming maples don't drop a lot of junk other than in the fall? ===>>> you almost made me cry on that one .. i was laughing so hard .... seed drop in spring.. the dam-ned helicopters ... is a curse worthy of an 8th plague.. not to mention the 8 or 10 billion seedlings ... i suppose it might matter what kind of maple.. but all the generic ones i have dealt with are problematic at best .... maybe if you find a sterile one .... then you said: This patch of yard gets sun from about 10 am to 7pm and it so hot and dry that I have a hard time getting grass to live through the summer. again.. based on those i have dealt with ... most maple will not support vigorous grass under them .... and the pic below shows why.. they are extremely shallow rooted ... and in 20 years or so.. you will be bouncing over those roots with the lawn mower ... it is an understatement to say I HATE MAPLES ... lol.. like most peeps here will testify .. can i have an amen.. lol ... but that is because i garden under trees ... and maples and a few others are the bane of growing just about anything ... now.. whether or not these things will happen in your lifetime.. is the key ... as most of my problems are from mature trees that were on the property when i moved in .... whether you will be there is 20 to 40 years.. when the real problems start .... well that is for you to answer ... my fallback.. in the choice of trees... is ALWAYS oak ... once they get going.. they can grow 3 to 5 feet per year... just under what a maple can do .... and frankly.. no matter what tree you opt for.. there will be a downside ... acorns.. helicopters.. fruit.. nuts .... barren soil underneath .. etc .... so it will all come down to simply your best choice... as i doubt you will ever find the 'perfect' tree ... IMHO ... the key to clay is simply the planting procedure.. allowing them to get established.. and once they do. they are fully capable of putting their roots where they want them ... for the most part ... good luck ken

I just asked my former greenhouse employer this question, taking some examples along to demonstrate, and she explained that plants in smaller pots-their roots will actually dry out before roots in the larger pots will (whether I realize it or not)and when the roots begin to dry like that, the plant will stop growing. Whereas, the larger potted plant has not dried out, and continues to grow. Apparantly, it takes some time for the smaller plant to begin growing again, after it has had this "dry spell"?? Okay, now I make sure my plants are watered when they need it, but apparantly, it must begin to dry out all around the edges of that pot, just as terra cotta pots dry out very quickly. This would make sense to me. I mean, the plants look perfectly fine, but there is some drying going on inside the pot, around the edges. Can anyone elaborate on this?? I would think this knowledge would be vital to anyone growing plants, to know exactly what size pots to use for what plants. However, you see the exact same size plant growing in all different size pots for sale in nurseries, and apparantly will reach different size growth based upon their conditions when being transplanted. I mean, if you choose to put all seedlings directly into cell packs, from my observation, the plants will grow tall, upright, and rather skinny. I have grown cell plants forYEARS, and used them in all my gardening needs, and they have been fine. This year, I started taking some of those cells plants, transplanting them again into 4 inch pots once they got so big, and the leaves were touching. BUT, what I am examining is, putting them into the cell packs rather than the larger pots causes an entirely different kind of growth. Wouldnt this difference in growth cause the plant to continue growing "differently"??? I mean, a tall skinny transplant is not getting as filled out as the transplants in larger pots; wouldnt this cause an irreversable difference in the two plants?? I know that plant get pinched to cause them to get busy. I pinch the center stems at a certain height. But on the plants in the larger pots, this doesnt even seem necessary, they appear to bush out on their own. I am also curious what effect using a way too big of a pot will do for a seedling. I mean, will it just continue to grow and grow uninterrupted? I would think too large of a pot compared to a tiny seedling would have major moisture fluctuations in the pot. But I am no expert, that is why I am here asking you! I would like to understand this from a scientific perspective, like how the roots function in this. I think it is valuable information. Thank you!

"Inflorescence" refers to the flowering structure of a plant, which may contain many individual flowers, as is generally the case with gingers. Hedychium greenei is usually olive green on the upper side of the leaves and deep burgundy on the underside and stem. Offhand, I can't think of anything that matches your description that is equally bronzey on both top and bottom, unless that could just be the result of somewhat stressful growing conditions: low nitrogen, low temperatures, or something like that. I'll wait for a picture to know for sure. If it is greenei, you shouldn't have to do any cutting to remove the plantlets-- they'll pop off real easy in your hand when they're ready.

I have seen these 'tubers" on this plant and a few others. I leave them on the plants when I transplant. The plant seemed to slow down growth when they are removed. Nothing grew for us from them when they were removed and planted, but I read somewhere that they will make new plants. -Gwenn