ok, here is an update. I was able to find the ingredients for the mix and since i live in the desert south west i am mixing the recipie for the high desert heat as follows: 4 parts turface 3 parts bark 2 parts crushed granite but i completly overlooked the 1 part vermiculite and did not noticed until i had already root pruned and repoted one of my citrus trees. I won't be able to buy the vermiculite until next payday (this friday). should i mix it in once i get it or will it be too much stress on my tree to be repoted in a few days again. I almost prefer to leave it alone until next spring, the area where i live is a good citrus growing area so i think it may just be fine. I will wait until i get the vermiculite to do the rest of the trees. what are your thoughts on that? has anyone kept tropical fruit trees in the gritty mix? i am trying to grow mexican papaya. I have read they don't get very big so i can kep them in containers but they don't like too much water because they can have root problems. I do have the seeds of a papaya i ate and i can experiment with a few different mixes combinations. Any ideas/sugestions for me? thanks for reading

Cardinal Flower - Lobelia cardinalis - is a nice, smaller perennial that is native here are there in CA and attract hummingbirds. Great in a moist, sunny or shady area. I am also growing Satureja mimuloides, which is a native mint with red flowers. Mine is in a bed with average moisture, but they are supposed to do well with lots of water, and it is another good hummingbird plant.

Hey Barb! There's a lot of good info on natives available. Have you tried Sally Wasowskis's book "Gardening with Native Plants of the South"? The Virginia Native Plant Society has an excellent brochure titled "Native Plants for Conservation, Restoration and Landscaping". Our MG definition of a native plant is any plant that was on this continent before Europeans arrived, easy to say but can at times be hard to determine. Lots of plants have been naturilized so long they seem native. Then there are the plants that collectors took back to Europe and played with genetically and they have been reintroduced here. Many of these reintroduced plants are now too aggressive, the Rudbeckia cultivar "Goldsturm" comes to mind. I guess technically you could call it a native but it's over aggressive and often doesn't bear the seeds that are one of the drawing points of the native plant. Native plants are often crucial host plants for butterflies and moths. These insects need specific plants in order to complete their life cycle, some are very specific such as the Monarch. Without native host or nectar plants many insects can't survive. Too often nectar plants such as Butterfly bush (Buddelia) or Lantana are planted without consideration of the caterpillars. Be aware that putting in plants that" attracts butterflies" or is a "butterfly magnet" should be offset by ensuring that host plants are also located nearby. Unfortunately the host plants are often not as showy or pretty as the nectar plants and are not planted as much as they should be.Try to plant more host plants than nectar plants, those caterpillars are hungry! Mixing native plants in with nonnatives and keeping a garden attractive to the average eye can usually be done with the 60-40 rule. Use 60% natives and 40% other, hopefully well mannered nonnatives. You may find that eventually the non's give up the ghost and the natives just get better looking. When buying plants at the big box stores keep in mind that they contract their plants from all over. They're looking for the best deals not necessarily the best plants. Although if you're fortunate you'll find one that actually has a knowledgeable person running the plant department. Try submitting requests, one of our local big boxes is starting to respond to our MG's asking for better plants and pointing out the problems with some that they bring in. So don't give up on them, just be wary. Good grief. I guess I got on a roll here!

Long day. Its finally stopped about 11PM. 12" here, and probably very close to that at National Airport. Still lots of wind and blowing and drifting, but the skies are now clear. Yesterday, up until about 4am it was a "warm storm" with temps around 32. Its been below 20F since about 8am here. The snow held and held and held on for longer than expected. This was definitely the storm of a lifetime, EVEN IF we had not had the 2 feet here last weekend, just the sheer conditions this storm produced, especially the whiteouts, and the near hurricane force winds along with 4-6 foot drifts, countless downed trees...etc. etc. etc. was a once in a lifetime event here in the Mid Atlantic. However, since we did have 2 feet on the ground already, it was just all the more historic. TZ7, Be safe! I hope you guys dont get it as bad as we did here, especially in terms of the winds. Many of our streets look like the photos you posted, and some were with downed traffic signals. Post more pics if you can! Suffice it to say, all of my palms, including the large trachy in the pot wrapped in plactic and xmas lights, are buried. The in ground palms were buried as of last saturday, and now they are under 3 feet. My smaller trachy unfortunately had spear pull, although that may be more attributed to the fact I left the xmas lights on it one day when we hit 49, and the palm cooked to well over 100F im sure. It somewhat dessicated after that, and has not looked good since. I think these storms just pushed it over the edge. Well see if I cant get it to come back. Ok Im going to bed. Ill post more photos tomorrow. Night all! Be safe.