They are very hardy once you get them going. I like to get them planted in the ground as soon as possible after they root even if the location is temporary. I find the survival rate is much better than if I keep them in pots. If the plants are still very small and the root systems not well developed, plant pot and all in the ground, mulch well and cover with a gallon nusery pot when it goes dormant for winter. (I have to put a brick on top of the pot to keep it from blowing away) You probably get more winter weather than I do, so your plant is likely to go completely dormant in winter. Snow will actually insulate your pot and plant. I may try a few cuttings and will post here when I have some if you think you might like to give it a try. Frances.

Dear HeartSong, I am new at pressing flowers also......I had some of my whites to turn tan......but, I figured out, I can put them in a box on a paper towel and spray Design Master spray on them for pretty colors....... the thing that stays white for me is crepe myrtle....the White "Natchez" kind..... Also, some Queen Anne's Lace stays white also, as well as works for spraying..... the Design Master comes in different colors. Still trying new things.....

If I lived in a warmer climate I'd have a dogwood tree. Early and prolific flowers and so beautiful - one of my favs. Our spring is very late here in zone 3 but my first perennial to bloom (probably late April, early May) is always Leopard's Bane, then Siberian Iris, and Johnny Jump-ups, by then I usually have a few annuals in the ground for color, then in June the early summer perennials (bleeding heart, bearded iris, lady's mantle, peony, mountain bluet, columbine, Jacob's ladder, poppies, etc. finally start blooming. So my favs are *anything* that's blooming! ;-) Almost all hardy plants are favs here. I really should plant some bulbs and may in my new garden altho have a lot of squirrels and chipmunks so that eliminates a few even if I go to the trouble of covering them with mesh. I have a few lilac bushes which have never flowered as the deer always "prune" them but we put mesh around them last fall so hopefully I'll see some blooms either this year or next depending on how much they were "pruned" last summer. *rolleyes* I love watching the deer but they are not my friends when they jump the fence into my house yard and eat my plants.

Yes they hit my honeysuckle every year. If you can get to them early before they get a big hold on the vine it will help. You can take a hose and blast some of them off but I also use a product called neem oil. It is an oil that smothers them and does other things to them . They dont die right away but they forget to eat and breed . They also like to hide in the closed cluster leaves. Heres another story. A few years ago I had salvia subrotunda that was infested with aphids and it was a pathetic looking thing hanging all limp. When I went to pull it out of ground I saw this ladybug on it, so I decided to leave alone for a few days and each day I would go out and watch her work. I had heard people say what this bug can do. She was one busy bug over and under each leaf. Anyway that plant turned out to be the largest and healthiest plant in my garden.