How coincidental this thread has been revived...I picked up my first bag of "rocks" just this afternoon to try...Professor Al, if you are out there I am not *trash-talking* hehe...My new mix of the month is gonna be Turface MVP, bark and some perlite...will decide on the proportions when I actually run my paws thru the stuff, which is ETA approximately 2 hours from now...I am after NOT having to re-do this cr** for a long-a** time..having a bad day... Anyway, I think you gotta use what you gotta use...I still think that bagged potting soil is not the best thing for you to use in the long run, but your goals and my lazy goals may not be the same....thus I would amend heavily with perlite, which I like a lot. Some people hate it, ok fine; I like pistachio ice cream and some people hate that too, ok fine...However, I don't know where you are, but I can sorta suggest a brand of potting mix that I've seen hold up rather well for maybe a year or two: Last year my sister switched her pot-grown tomatoes (she is one of those people who can grow anything, anywhere without any trouble or thought) to a brand called Bandini that I actually liked b/c it isn't dirt and compost--it is mostly redwood bark fines/soil conditioner; she bought it at Home Depot. Great drainage, she has some filled pots left from last year, dumped it out, and it still is very light. I am starting to see what uses as a medium will be affected a good deal by climate, reference another post where Toni and I have had a little chitchat. I am beginning to hypothesize that perhaps you get quicker breakdown of potting mixes in areas where there is more exposure to the elements and higher average temperatures...yeah I know, that it is prolly obvious to most of you out there in TV land butI never really thought about it for potted plants (I know--->DUH! I think Sir Isaac Newton's apple just bonked me on the head)...which may be why some who do the potted thing in cooler climes may have a little more leeway...or maybe not, I've got no randomized double-blind placebo-controlled studies in the pipeline...which is why I am going largely *inorganic*...I expect my upcoming battles will be delivery of enough moisture and nutrients, espceially the micros...And when I really have my act together I am going with an automated drip system for the containers...but my act may never actually *be* together...Next stop, pending this failure (though I have complete faith in my mentor's advice :), is intermittent flood hydroponics...isn't it Friday yet??! HTH. I'm goin' to happy hour...

Hot Lips has wintered over very well for the last three years in my Shoreline garden. As for soil, large pieces in the mix. In the spring and summer don't water unless soil is really dry - about half way down the pot. Fast drainage is the key - even more important than full day sun. Fortunately, the plant is not very expensive so if it does freeze buy a new one in the spring. You can grow lots of different salvias if you consider them annuals. The hummers will thank you and give you hours of joy watching them. You could also try Grevilleas and fuschias.

Research suggests that shrubs adjust best if not planted in amended soil, that they should be just in native soil since then there aren't issues with texture changes causing problems with water movement in the soil. You can top dress or amend the entire planting bed if it seems needed, but just amending the planting hole isn't ideal. So I wouldn't worry about what the lady at the nursery said. Here are directions for planting trees, but the same things apply to shrubs.

You can pot up anytime, though very late spring to early summer would be ideal. I'd wait until mid-June to do a full repot, which includes bare-rooting and root pruning. Plants have natural rhythms (search Circadian and/or endogenous rhythm). Over the course of the plant's rhythmic growth cycle, their stored energy levels and their ability to create energy/food waxes and and wanes. In most cases, to repot (as opposed to just potting up) a plant when its energy stores and ability to create energy are both on the wane is to ensure a much longer recovery period. Repotting and root work is a heavy hit for the plant. It draws down the plant's energy reserves much faster than would occur if you repotted in June, when both energy stores and current photosynthesizing ability are reaching peak levels would be at peak. Since a plant's natural defenses are a byproduct of it's metabolic rate, it's not difficult to see how a significantly weakened plant with compromised ability to defend itself, combined with a longer recovery period work in concert to make the plant far more vulnerable than it would be if you were patient enough to sync with the plant. Ecclesiastes 3:1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: Your plants aren't in danger of serious decline due to root congestion, and they are small enough that, even if the soil they're in is VERY water-retentive, you can use a work-around that requires no special tools, materials, or knowledge, other than an understanding of how to put Newton's First Law of Motion to work on behalf of your self and plants, which I'm about to describe. When you water, water to beyond the point of saturation. The entire soil mass should be at maximum capacity and a good measure of the water used in your watering exercise (at least 15-20%) should have exited the drain hole. After the pot has stopped draining of its own accord, hold the recently watered planting over the sink and move it up and down. You'll soon see that on the reversal from downward to upward motion, quite a bit of water exits the drain hole, and the sharper the reversal, the more water exits the pot. An object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion [the water in the pot] stays in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force. When water ceases to exit through the drain hole, you'll have removed ALL perched water that has the potential to be of any consequence. Last, but not least, we all have a 'nurturing bone' - we like to take care of things. Knowing that you're planning for your plants' future in a way that allows you to take advantage of its strengths and make allowances for it's weaknesses for no reason other than it's in the best interest of the plant, offers the grower a much greater sense of personal gratification than an approach that lacks that planning. Al