Here is my feelings on this. "We" are kings and queens! The "knowledge" we chose/not choose to take in is another "limiting factor" to the success of our plants or their eventual demise. It would be a major "limiting factor" if I did not come to this forum and thank God I did, years ago! :-) We have the power to control the way our plants grow, their destiny, if they succeed, thrive, survive and ect. I couldn't agree more about Al. I thank God for this forum and for the fact that they completely know that it is people like him that keep these forums alive accurate, and our plants healthy. I can't even imagine how much anyone would have to pay a "plant police" to monitor these forums to make sure that false , unreliable, unproven and bad information is dispensed to the eventual decline of our containerized plants. I am truly grateful for this. I have tried for YEARS to no avail, to get anyone knowledgable enough to help my plants thrive, let alone survive. There are many more people in my midst just waiting on the wings of to free their plants, bound by all the false narrow minded information, mis conceptions, commercialism, of thousands of hurtful ferlizers, crappy mixes, constant attack by pests, suffocation by salt and toxins, the bagged soils,greedy money making racketed plant industry and so on. The plant industry has no hold on me or many others at my expense to keep me replacing more and more. I am ever so grateful for anyone to whom takes the time to show me how to make good even better! Here are my two top teachers: Al and Rhizzo, since I take great respect in educated teachers, if one would take the time to read their profiles, in the plant/pest world of science very seriously. Then I follow, appreciate all my friends that support my decision based on science, positive feed back, results, and great ideas that I see work, to make my plants thrive to their best potential.. Marie: I am proud of you for staying focused on the issue at hand, and it is that of what concerns you most on this thread, "feeding your plants in the gritty mix"! All those that grow in this mix will be right here to help you and give you whatever you need to be successful at it. Mike

Hmmmm. Not sure what is going on. One of the 3 is excellent. Leafing out totally no prob (Marchessa Boccella). The 2nd (Paul Neyron) is okay, the majority is not suffering from dieback and is leafing out, but is having some dieback. Mind you - these were the 2 that got in the ground first. The last, Reine De Violettes, is really dying back. I've cut it all the way down with about an inch or two sticking out of the ground. Pure sticks. It seemed to happen very quickly by the way (that surprises me). It definitely took a turn for worst after planting in the ground. Weird. It was stressed or something. So I don't think it was underwatered. If anything it was wetter then - but I just don't think it was over or underwatered. I was watching my roses carefully. Perhaps too much rain. I will contact ARE but was hoping to give it some time. Maybe I'll give ARE a heads up so they know (so I don't miss the 6 month mark if too much more time passes, plus don't they stop sending roses soon?). The flowers did make the trip to CA from TX - maybe it got stressed? They had to go thru some plant immigration thing (as I call it) :-) Stasi

blue lyme grass! Blimey, that's brave. I grew this in my gravel beds for a year or so but then bottled out on realising I was actually growing a turbo-charged couch-grass. I did swap over to the (better behaved) leymus magellanica,,,,, but this was deeply unhappy and vanished quicksmart....but not before seeding everywhere). I first read about the leymus arenarius in one of Christopher Lloyd books and rushed out to buy....but then later read that he (Lloyd) employed his youthful gardener to dig it up annually, chopping into the ferocious rhizomes and replanting....which obviously, I did NOT do, only to freak out in season 2 when the clump tripled in size. The leymus magellanicus was a heartbreakingly lush powder blue (never attained with any number of heliotrichums or festucas).......so I may have to make another attempt and maybe protect a little better from winter wet. I have been sowing your seeds (the zephyranthes reminded me), especially the penstemons and callirhoes. I have a (tiny) packet ready to send your way.

Purchased at a grocery store, my money would be on "Stargazer", a very popular Oriental lily. The Orienpet hybrid type "Anastasia" could be what it is as the flowers do look somewhat similar - but without any identification tag included with it, it could be whatever the supplier wanted it to be??? However, the short and sweet - if you bought it in bloom, each bloom usually lasts for under a week and the petals simply fall off leaving what is called a "candelabra" of spent blooms. This candelabra can be cut off. The lily only blooms once per season, oftentimes for a long time as each individual bud opens in succession - no amount of care will give you a second bloom, however. Don't think you did much with the self-pollination idea. Need an expert, but I think most lily cultivars are self sterile - they can't use their own pollen. Lilies are self contained units growing up from a bulb - the bulb pretty much has what it needs to grow, bloom, set seeds (if you let it), and the main stem to turn yellow/brown and woody. This dying back process is needed to replenish the bulb for next season. Watering heavily and often will pretty well insure the potted bulb will rot - they like well drained soil. Unlike here in cold climates where lilies can be left in the ground year 'round, in southern Florida lilies would need to be given a cold period called vernalization if you don't get long periods of sustained cold temps. Probably dug up and refrigerated for a period of 6 weeks or so. Lots of info on the internet by searching Orienpet lily Anastasia or just simply how to grow lilies in southern Florida.