Please forgive me, I think it's spoken for, however, if that falls through, then it's yours, I promise. Traci Traciwilcox@rocketmail.com

So far I think it's a mimosa but it hasn't bloomed. I understand that's expected since the tree popped up only last summer. So now the bottom branches are falling off. Is that normal for this time of year? If so, does anyone know how far up the branches will off? If they all do then it's going to look very odd in the winter. Simply a "Y" of a tree. So far about half have fallen off.

Yes, you can achieve trunk development quite readily in a tub specimen. One to three inches per year in good growing conditions, after an initial establishing season or two - ie, semi-bright, sheltered, cool and damp conditions. So much so, in fact, that you'll wish you'd chosen a bigger planting vessel in the first place. Even the largest size of trash can - bottom drilled for drainage - will be outgrown in less than ten years and the organic matter in the compost chewed to virtually dust. And stability is severely compromised in small pots - wind will blow them over, or the trunk will grow with a leaning angle and over-balance it that way. An unstable angled trunk is guaranteed when growing under an opaque porch roof, as the light is not coming down vertically. All tree ferns 'reach' for the light unless it diffuses naturally from directly overhead. My advice would be to go with a big, heavy tub right now, filled with enriched, moisture-retentive compost. And plan for very regular watering, maybe supplemented with an auto system - you'll need a daily soaking during your fierce summers. But nothing during frosty periods. And with so much watering needed, the compost is leached quite quickly and will need regular topping up and enriching. Spent compost loses moisture too quickly for such damp loving ferns, so re-mulching is important. You'll find that fronds arrive in two seasonal flushes - the bulk in spring, followed by a late summer secondary burst that might not quite have time to fully harden off before the cold weather arrives. But that's okay. Within a season or two your 'baby' will have fronds so long that the fern's 'wingspan' may be problematically wide for your porch setting. Jammed up against a wall, these two-metre long fronds will not look their best or give you a 360 degree symetrically formed canopy - so think longer term about where the tree fern is going to live. You'll be fine for this season, and maybe next - but eventually this tree fern is going to need more headroom and an enormous lateral spread. To summarise: more growth is best accelerated by masses of watering together with regular topping up of the compost. If you really HAVE to get busy with the fertiliser, just go with a VERY overdiluted soak with the Miracle-gro - make it extremely weak and disregard the instructions. Weak, weak, weak. Steve - Brighton, Sussex Coast, UK

I'd agree, ot doesn't quite have that fern look to it. Do you have photos of the under side of the leaves? Also where the stems arise from the ground. New leaves in ferns unfurl, giving them the name "crozier", after a bishop's staff.