Marie- thank you :). Yes- about 3 inches is right! I thought for a minute I raised them too much. Lol Lady- thank you!! I was surprised with the size of those caudex too under the soil! Lol. Very pleased with the potting I might add :). No, I don't know the name of the Adenium unfortunately- they were a gift :) Carol- thank you! Yes- fun to see what they're gonna look like!! Love them very much :-) Chuy

Sometimes time is not an issue on threads as researching plants goes, I was grateful to read from experiences and settings esp micro zones of ones landscape needs .. So Love Your Purple Queen, Thomas too! I have an orange Boug that is a bright deep orange, Im in a 10a micro setting for it, as afternoon intensity suddenly upon it then later day til sundown fully in west blazing heat and the soil is sandy sortv a clay as is close enough to foundation, the only saving grace for it is that being morning condensation likely gives it some sustainance of moisture. It became a forgotten experimented twiggy thing lol after planting about say 2yrs of season cycles. Well, we had a drought as well during this time and we too had had some happenstance excess water there on it during the spring timing accumulate from a nearby piece of plastic just one certain weeks worth. IT WAS BLOOMING more Bolder than When we bought it!!! Discovering it still alive, we gave it some surrounding soil help/ breakup some hardness and watered with a barely noticeable vinegar amount solution of water with drops of white vinegar. Its going to be possible to be our privacy fence we needed Badly. We had a purple queen with no activity as well along a south fence, left it alone, not blooming we feel too low to get enough sun, then planted another PQ boug near but in more sun, it's fine and watering it in as well w one weak tweek of the white vinegar drops in water. The fuscia bougainvilea are almost invasive BUT MOST DEPENDABLE !!! The power company trimmed our fuscia HALF to death, it came back with a bloomimg Vengance LL!!! Good for it, though it's the one of the colors that's most thorny, only use it for keeping a kind of security placement plant away from people or where they shouldn't go. It seems too that planting depth is a sneaky seemingly adapted issue But one that is how success is acheived overall. We have planted Tibuchinas (Princess Bush an Asian/India tree that has african violet soft leaves and deep purple blooms/ isn't hard on allergies! and is semi-decidious) it is fussy only how planted /different situations and with tests came to realize how much it as with any plant any where how much you need to adjust the root ball as plant so it's in the right height/depth from the soil surface, it's immediate drainage-retainage for the plant's life and seems to help some doubtful plants cheat problems. It's an adjustment to watch for if failing in first weeks, a chance to replant it quick could help, as we did with these Tibuchina trees saved within a month, became showplants of neighborhood. Bougainvilea as attested, have determined tap root systems so reach down below the heat and make it so well without us understanding how, thus, in a planter I Would Never put a fuscia hot pink one against a house (again L! it's far too big anyway), the purple one grows smaller lesser thorn-harming secondary to it in activity plus will obey better, and very much can trust the deeper orange one to cooperate as well less and shorter thorns yet like PQ than the fuscia monsters!L/ LOVE THEM THOUGH as they can protect property and the Most beautifying even in drought!! ... These boug's petals are the solid colors, the boug with pastels petals of pinks and the gold ones are not much help coloring landscape or even bloom or height and tho have lesser thorns and train easier, I'd rather have that coloring and believe in the deep purple such as Purple Queen if want height almost the small tree size or the deep orange for sure it is workable and both bloom magnificently almost as much as the fuscia, if have a little nudge of help that you'll likely learn more as time goes with them. Bougainvilea are so rewarding they are addictive, help make the deep orange ones more prominent! I too relate with finding west faced plants and slender trees in narrow spaces in hot climate too, so yes, keep thread going. THANKS!!

Hi Lucidity: I had a passiflora caerrula(sp?) a few years ago, that I cut back and brought into my unheated garage to store (dark and dormant). In late February or early March, I put it under shop lights in the garage, and it started to put on new growth. It is fairly hardy, and so could be put out quite early in spring to harden off, but brought in if freeze was forecast. Late april, early May it went out for good. You could move it out permanently earlier if you throw some of that shrub protector fabric or row cloth around it if the temps drop suddenly. I have to say even though the foliage was lovely draped over an arbour, mine wasn't too successful with flowering - I only got a few blooms in August/September, but they were stunning. Unfortunately, I lost it by trying to overwinter it outside (as an experiment) in a protected corner, raised and buried in bags of leaves and insulation. It was a very cold winter that year and my experiment failed - too bad I hadn't waited 'till last year, when it was so mild. Good luck with yours. Judith

marshgirl, Mandevilla are easy to overwinter. There are two methods. Both work. In both cases place plant in a good sized pot with good draining soil. Then.... 1. Cut the vine back to within 12' inches of the soil line. Place pot in a bright, sunny window and be patient. Or.... 2. Before potting cut back the vine so that it is about 4' to 6' long. Now work along the length of the vine cutting off every side branch to within 4" of the stem. This is called 'saddle pruning'. Now, pot the vine and jam some sort of support for the vine in the pot. I loop a long, fresh cut piece of bamboo in an arch form which works well. Again place in a sunny window. Don't be surprised if your vine is grumpy over the winter and looks dead. As spring approaches it will spring to life. When you return it to the outdoors remember to give it a hardening off period to adjust.