My tree is the same. I cut four inches off the top, and below the bark, it was still green and alive. I was hoping to grow the European plums in pots for a while, moving the pots around to find the right micro climate in my yard. The north side of my house stays much cooler during the winter, and would be a good place to over-winter pots. A cherry tree fruits there. My five pluot trees and six Japanese plums are doing great in the ground on the south side of the house. IÂve read about how wonderful the greengage plums were; I had to try to grow a variety of greengage culivars and see if any will produce here, with a little fuss. They are supposed to stay small, so might do okay with pot culture. Raintree sends you such large, healthy trees, if they don't make it, it can't be done. The Bavay's was from a local nursery. None of Raintree's gages are on Citation rootstock, and are advertised as being good climate zones 5-9. Could the problem be with the rootstock, and not the chill factor? The greengage whip Greenmantle Nursery sent me on myrobalan has doubled in size, has large roots escaping from it's five gallon pot, and is ready to settle into its location, whether I want it there or not. I wish I were better with grafting, and could try some grafts on different root stocks. All my apple grafts lived. All my plum grafts died.

Kitty, I got more than 300 bulbs, and I went to the Contractors' Warehouse and bought two "damaged" standing refridgerators that had the freezer part separated on the top. The two standing fridges are about a person height, the one that you usually build in the kitchens. I should correct myself though: One of the same kind came with the house that we just bought a year and some ago, so I actually only had to buy one fridge... Since it had some surface scratches or slightly dented side panel, the fridge was less than $200. When I have my bulbs out in the garden, the cleaned out fridges can store food items, drinks, water bottles, and the two freezer parts, of course, hold the kind of stuff you put in freezers... But when I start buying the bulbs in September, one of the fridges is cleaned out of EVERYTHING, and bulbs start to fill it up. I keep it a steady 47F, and never put anything else in the same space with them. Then now, that I just lifted the bulbs that were out in the garden, fattening up, I clean out the other fridge from everything, and these bulbs will go to sleep there. First, I lift them, then I hint them with some Captan as soon as I can figure out where to get some. So far nobody's got any in the stores I went to, then after about a week of drying out in the garage, in they go to the fridge, same conditions as the new bulbs. Then in 6 weeks, on February 24th, I will take out my first bulb and plant it in a pot, so I can enjoy its flower inside. Then when they stopped flowering and giving me the seed pods, I will just stick them out in the bed again for another season of California Summer outside... Sunscreen and topless girls are provided, so they are happy like a puppy... So that's all. And the two fridges fit comfortably on the two sides of the entry to the house in the garage... It is a blessing to have an empty fridge in California during summer. You can stuff it full of liquid, then you are never without water and refreshments. It is actually very helpful when you are in the middle of construction. Water is like a commodity in the heat. I just wonder what I will do if I buy the same amount of new bulbs next year as I did every year so far... Would I have to go and buy another fridge? It is actually funny...

Dormancy for Sarracenia is a relative thing. Many hold their leaves all winter. It isn't something to worry about. You may also notice your pitcher plants making curved flat leaves instead of pitchers. This is a typical behaivor in the winter. In fact, many CPs including VFTs will still photosysthesize during the winter on days when it gets warm enough. That's why I also don't recommend cutting your plants back until late winter, and to reserve mulching with pine needles for only the coldest parts of winter.

Paul it's good that it's the end of the season! Fortunately for me there are no deer in my neighborhood,even though there are white-tailed deer in our region,we just don't have any here where I live. As for your original question,I never cut back my hosta leaves,just leave them until they go dormant. Even those "stubs" are green enough to provide hostas with food until dormancy. I know your humor was an attempt to hide your disappointment,about deer eating your hostas. My brother-in-law lives in western KY,and deer eat his hosta to the ground every year also. He had a Sunflower by his house one year,and your could see where deer ate every leaf up the stem,and there was this sunflower way up at the end of the long stem,untouched! Lol1 Phil