Rainbow, if indeed the plant is a peony then do try to give the plant as much sun as you can. A south or west exposure is therefore, what it needs. Ideally, six hours is minimum...but the plant may do OK given less...say 5 hours of the best intensity of sun..the afternoon sun....the plant may just not perform as well as expected. Fertilizing and giving them a good enriched soil with some lime added in the spring can help. It is suggested that amending the soil with some compost (commercial well-composted cow manure)...never use fresh manure) or sheep manure, some soil from the vegetable garden if you have one, three or four shovelfuls of peat moss and a handful of bone meal.. well mixed with whatis there now will do fine. (do you have a wood burning fireplace....wood ashes spread in the mix too can help. (if this could be the case, then cut back on the amount of lime you apply since the ashes would supply some alkalinity) Water this in well. About peony; This plant is very pernicketty about what depth it is planted in so if the plant is blooming where it is and you wish to move it, be sure to put it at the exact same depth it was in its former home. Cant over-emphasize this requirement. The move: Again, peony has this thing about it...disturb it..it wont bloom...for a year...maybe two years. That is a definite. You may decide the place its in now might prove worthy if you wish to see bloom next spring. You might just remove any obstacles to it receiving more sunlight. With any move, you have to try to encompass the plant with as much root ball as possible. Hopefully, such amount of soil could influence the plant to not go into a tizzy and may indeed bloom next spring. (but don't count on it) Since you are giving the plant a whole new homesite...different soil, different sun, different air...many factors could influence it to react differently. A suggestion. One peony is hardly sufficient to bring to your bed as much color as this plant can do....so why not, buy some more tubers NOW....they should be in your garden centers and nurseries at this time. Mid September/October is the ideal time to plant peonies. The topmost nodules...the buds that begin next season's shoots, should not be any deeper than 2" below the surface of the soil. This is also A MUST. About future care: Peonies, by their nature, will stop blooming if they are planted too deep. So, in the spring, when you feel you wish to cultivate around your bed, be sure to NOT topdress your peonies. Putting soil ontop of a peony is effectively putting the plant deeper....and it wont bloom. They're really sons of guns......but hey, once you get them to bloom, they are well worth the aggravation. Oh, by the way, peony produces one of the largest blooms in plantdom...so before the plant emerges much from the ground, put some stakes, or a wire cone above it; let the plant grow up into the cone and when it is full-up, it will be supported. Otherwise the bloom's heaviness will bring it down.

Rox, Knowing that you said "named" plants kind of precludes the statement of window shopping trees in a neighborhood and asking the owner if you could purchase a cutting. The answer usually falls between "Go Away" and "take what you want." I would recommend talking with Kara G. (the operator of the Dole Plantaion Kiosk). I have had very good cuttings from Kara and from the Swap Meet sellers too. Kenny also posted about a grower on Oahu a while back. I think its a rare day for many of the "premium" sellers to allow guests to walk their tree farms. I can understand the apprehension to visitors from some of the experiences other have posted about in the forum. There is a place just southwest of Lihue called "Kauai Nursery and Landscaping" or something like that which has some plants and will ship to the mainland but frankly speaking I have been previously underwhelmed by local nurseries on all the islands as far as named plumeria. They are just pink, red, yellow, etc. There was a place in the Iao Valley on Maui but again a selection about the size of a picnic table. They had one plant named "Iao Valley" but the worker could tell me very little about it. The Big Island I havent been to since 2003 but some family friends in Wiamea (Kumuela) on the island have looked in the Kohala area for me as late as 2011 without much luck.

What kind of tomatoes? Certain varieties do well in different climates. Climate varies from year to year. Didn't tomatoes originally come from central and south america- peru? I bet they grow well there, anyone from there. I have grown many of the so called great toms from california in my midwest paradise and they do not perform well here. Get out your brix refractometer and report your fruits' sugar (solids level) and lets see where the sweetest fruit can be grown. I bet it all depends on the variety, the soil, the climate BLAH,BLAH,BLAH. Also, cool nights IMO do not favor the flavor.

The other crops are pretty boring like number one in beets, we have a sugar industry here. 6th in peaches I guess my point any place you live is what you make it. I have an orange tree, a black peppercorn plant, cacti, and fig trees. I can grow anything I want. I have a limited season, but the plants don't know that. Peppers and tomatoes are tropical plants yet grown everywhere. Both originating from South America. I hate our winters, but we don't have poisonous spiders or snakes, no hurricanes, or earthquakes, just an occasional tornado. Cost of living is really decent here too. I own waterfront property but am middle class, hard to do in CA or FL. Everyplace has it good points and bad, it is what you make of it. I have often thought of moving but many of the things mentioned changed my mind. I'm excited this week I have all kinds of new plants coming. Spring is at last here, and after the hard winter, the roses never smelled sweeter! I have Nadia the cherry-plum hybrid tree coming. It's like a huge cherry! Developed in Australia. You couldn't grow that in FL, not enough chill hours. Two elderberries new cultivars from the Netherlands that are pruned like raspberries, making management and harvest rather simple. Two new currants, a pink, and a red one. Again cannot be grown in CA or FL due to these cultivars not taking the heat. I picked up three more blackberry plants, and a tropical fruit tree, that produces the sherbert berry. I will have to overwinter inside. This cultivar is from India. I added two plum trees Satsuma, and a weeping Santa Rosa plum. Both are very good Japanese plums. My raspberry crop is going to be huge this year, as is my strawberry and blackberry crops. I have garlic, and onions planted out already and have 15 tomatoes, and 15 pepper plants ready to be planted out. My Spice Zee nectaplum has swollen blossoms, about ready to bloom, As does my pluot tree, and Indian Free and pf-Lucky 13 peach trees. Also my Arctic Glo nectarine is loaded with fruit buds. The blueberries are going to produce a large crop, as our my currants too. Getting ready to plant beans, cucumbers, melons and watermelons. I'm growing orange, yellow and red watermelons this year. Have a good spring everybody!