I never thought about having to look up any research. Many years ago, I reasoned through the physiology part, then looking at the results of the thousands of plants I've root pruned in containers and in the ground confirmed how it all works. This is on a smaller scale, but here's a plant I initially air layered off a trident maple: Getting into the root pruning here Root pruning complete Top quality trees for bonsai require a perfect root base. We either have to graft roots onto the plant or create a perfect root base some other way or the tree is just 'eh'. Note the tourniquet, which blocks the downward movement of auxin and photosynthate through phloem tissues where it accumulates in the tissue above the tourniquet. I drilled 7 holes through the phloem and vascular cambium, filled the holes with rooting gel, repotted the plant. You can see the result. Trees in the ground are no different than trees in pots. I manipulate them in the same fashion, but rather than using a root cutter I'll use a lopper or very sharp spade to sever roots in fall & lift the tree in the spring. Of course, there is an advantage in the timing I use, seldom going longer than 2 years w/o root pruning trees in the ground, which helps to keep fine rootage close to the trunk. I also collect (from the wild) yamadori, which are specimens taken to be trained as bonsai. Often, you'll find a specimen with only 1 primary root, and no fine roots for many feet from the trunk, especially in rocky terrain. If you want to collect those trees, you need to be inventive in forcing the tree to produce roots close enough to the trunk that you can collect the tree. Sometimes it's a process that takes up to 3 years to get the tree to where it's collectable. I don't want to jinx myself by saying it, but I haven't lost a wild tree yet. I guess the whole point is, this in-ground root pruning stuff is a valuable aid when it comes to easing the plant's transition to a transplant site. An interesting aside: I at a dinner 2 weeks ago with a past president of the Michigan Nurseryman's Association. We were talking about "something new", I don't even remember what it was. He said, "You know, Al, we don't do ANYTHING (his emphasis) the same way that we did 30 years ago. Everything has changed, and we had to relearn everything we thought we knew along the way". The man is almost 90 years old, and I was surprised that what he attributes the largest change of all to is the advent of plastic. Anyway, the point is, what was considered a good and reasonable practice in 1987 has probably been improved upon considerably since. Take care. Al

Actually, they never really left. Robins and bluebirds both are kind of adapting to suburbia much like Canada geese did 30-40 years ago, and many of them have stopped migrating because they find food all year round. I'm in central Oakland County in the Bloomfield Township/West Bloomfield area near Orchard Lake/Keego Harbor/Sylvan Lake, and I've seen flocks of both robins and bluebirds here all fall and winter. They've been eating the berries on various trees and shrubs in my yard, such as mountain ash, crabapples, and earlier in the fall dogwood and viburnum. Robins were quite busy yesterday morning ahead of the storm picking up the fallen berries under my mountain ash, and picking through the compost pile area where I had discarded various fruit residue. They always look so pathetic all puffed up and sullen when there is a big snow or cold snap. But, they chose to stay. If it were an option, I'd be somewhere much warmer than this.

I have had good luck with MB (and the associated companies) also in the past few years, receiving healthy, well packaged plants that have for the most part done well. Some losses were due to my ignorance, or unsuitable growing conditions (took me a long time to realize that my yard is too wet in late winter/early spring for many things). I can't think of anything that was in poor condition, unlike my experience with Wayside. Maybe my luck is due to my location, only 100 miles from their headquarters. I usually buy things at end of season clearance or with their best specials, so I don't expect the best stock, yet have been just fine. I know that some of their products are obtained from the same suppliers as better rated nurseries -- you can tell by the packaging and labeling. for example, I got a bulb mix once that was supposed to be purple-- and bloomed orange -- was the same bulb mix sold by several other unrelated nurseries, so I couldn't blame MB, but they sent me a new package no questions asked. However, they seem to operate "close to the bone" and do run out of stock and/or don't get new supplies of an item, especially if it isn't one of their mainstays. This fall it seemed that they are doing a little bit better at showing what is out of stock on their site. They have definitely had issues with the outsourced customer service, hopefully those issues have been resolved.

I've bought on ebay in the past many times & have not been unhappy with my purchases...however, sellers often sell plants on the decline. I got suckered once or twice because I'm attracted to older, more mature specimens. It's definitely more expensive & if I can help it, I prefer to prowl the big box stores. I got lucky at Walmart just today, but I'm sure it's because I'm in Daytona Beach at the moment. I live in NY & the few Adenium I've found were pitiful, infested with mealies & on the decline. I think it might be the area. They were very very difficult to come by in NY & I searched high and low. I did end up buying online to start my collection and I think I may have finally lucked in to ONE locally, which I proudly chose from a whopping stock of about 3 =x OP, wishing you the best in your search, don't give up & unless you dream of a particular style, keep searching locally. I've noticed the forms found in big box stores are more reminiscent of the ones I used to covet online but found too rich for my blood. You could try to follow the supplier chain....I'm assuming my walmart plants came from http://www.costafarms.com/collections/desert-escape because the plastic pots say 'desert escape'...don't know if this will help or not, but you could look them up and maybe track down a retailer in your area. Hope this helps you find what you're looking for =)