I have taken baby steps with propagation. I have successfully propagated a weigela and a forsythia. Of course, I had many failed attempts too, but I will keep trying. I think I'll leave the part out where successful seed sowing and propagating doesn't reduce the urge/need to purchase new plants!! My husband only tolerates all my pots (I've heard them referred to pot ghettos in this forum and mine certainly qualifies) because he thinks I'll stop having to buy new plants every year. Do you know what question I can't stand above all others?? It's "where are you going to put it? Hey, I don't know where I'll put it, I just know I have to have it!!! I have plenty of garden space left and plenty more areas that can use some color. BTW, my black-eyed susans are blooming to beat the band right now, and I'm just thrilled. Although on a down note, I saw my first JB this morning. It was on my petunia!! Never seen them there before. I can sacrifice some of them because I literally have about 100 of them that self-sowed themselves. If that's all I lose to these horrible insects, then I'll consider myself lucky.

Thank you for the offers and comments, everyone! Yesterday, I just happened to find Red Buttons for sale over at Joni's and listed on this month's sale no less. You can draw your own conclusions LOL. Klea, let me just pause for a moment and give you a warm welcome here to the forum! Gardening makes me happy in general :). Goddess, well hello there neighbor! ;). I hope your cutting roots for you! This is such a nice Hoya to have in your collection. Then again, the pubicalyxes are such a good Hoya to have period. What's not to like about these guys? Emt, I just LOVE giving rooted cuttings from my own plants away as presents. My eldest niece, who's 13 tomorrow, loves helping me in my garden and I gave her a couple plants for her windowsill. One of them was a small pot of some rooted plain green carnosa :). One of her presents I'm giving her are some pots and soil lol. Brad AKA Moonwolf

Thanks for helping me to feel more optimistic everyone. I had hoped to get a lot of planting done this year since the place looks pretty nekkid, being new and all. I guess this is just a metaphor for life (which growing a garden always is)...to be patient, work slow and do it right, and all that stuff. I do have a source for amendments -- local garden center -- but I will look further for manure, etc. My DIL has chickens. Not sure what she plans to do with the manure. I have composted before but am a bit worried about bears here. I don't want to attract attention to our yard. So, I have thought about vermicomposting inside the garage instead. It's not the same but better than nothing. Do I assume correctly that bears and compost piles are an issue? I eradicated a lot of lawn at my last house using lasagna gardening. I never really thought of doing that here...thanks for that suggestion. As for double dug, well...the thought of double-digging through the hardpan is what makes me want to cry. So, how do you dog-owners stay after the clean-up process without walking in the yard/goop? I thought the snow made it tough. Oh, and yes, the builder did plant a lawn and it took pretty well. I suppose I'll seed over it a bit in the Spring, just to fill it out. I have always been anti-lawn, preferring beds and ground cover. I suppose that I will just have to surrender to the lawn for a while.

Some info I found said Jackfruit soil should not be amended w/fertilizer until 3 months or established. When grown from seed, checking the roots each time it is repotted. If the tap root is bent, cut just above the bend, or the root system will be compromised, and a weak , non fruiting tree will be the result. Once sprouted, they are grown in the greenhouse for about 30 more days. Then, they are transplanted in a deep 4"by 4" by 14" deep nursery pots with standard nursery mix, same as what they are sowed in. 40% peat, 30% coarse sand, 20% cypress sawdust, and 10% perlite. 100 days in 50% shade house, with overhead irrigation for 12 minutes a day. At this time of transplanting, they get a slow release fertilizer (18-6-8 nutricote), a drench of liquid fertilizer (20-20-20) and chelated iron(sequestrene) at recommended rates. At about 100 days they are the diameter of a pencil, perfect for grafting. Those that are not grafted are checked for tap root restriction, and cut if necessary, then transplanted into a 7" by 7" by 14" nursery pot. They are then given another dose of the same fertilizer treatment as the first transplant. Temperatures are about 82-89 and 77 at night, fahrenheit. Ph is 6-7.5