Oh my. What is a passionate rose lover like you doing in that glacial hell hole? Reading about your endeavors has exhausted me and I haven't even lifted a shovel. I admire your grit and determination, but would love to see you rewarded with thousands of blooms on your rose bushes for all your hard work. I bet they could use engineers in zones 7 to 10!

Luis, Thanks for your thoughtful reply. Altho I don't know the name of the camellia, it is a very common type, that's been around a long time. A pale pink rosette, remeniscent of a mandala in petal placement, symmetrical, and fairly flat. It has no cluster of stamens or pistil showing, even when fully open. The tree grows fairly quickly, because it has grown from below the eaves to a foot at least, maybe two feet above the eves in the almost 2 years I've been here, and I haven't fed it, and it gets very little water except that which get gets from rain. I don't want them to get any bigger, they have already outgrown their spots! I see your point tho, so if it grew 18 in two years, then if I prune it 9 inches to a foot below the eaves, that should keep it below the eaves for one year! Thanks, Luis! Or, If I were to be more conservative, prune to 4.5 or 6 inches below the eaves, and then, possibly again in 6 months. Since I wrote the first post, earlier today, I found a link to the American Camellia Society, which encourages severe pruning, even of an old bush, saying it will in fact stimulate the bush. It also says that pruning before bloom and cutting away the flower buds, allows the bush to put more energy into other things than flowering, resulting in a healthier plant, more vigorous growth, and a better bloom cycle the following year. They define severe pruning as removing one third to one half of the existing plant, but say that pruning can be even more drastic than that, and suggest doing drastic pruning in February and sparing the plant the stress of blooming, if I understood it correctly. This article reassures me that it would be fine to prune my camellia bushes at this time. Would you mind taking a look at the article and tell me if you agree? It seems to say that I could safely prune away half of the bush, especially if before the bloom-time. Maybe if I prune it now, it would bloom in winter next year. I'd like that, because that's when the roses are dormant. http://www.camellias-acs.org/display.aspx?catid=3,9,109&pageid=7 Yes, I'll be glad to post photos. and...don't worry about my trees, Luis. I make happy plants around me. Just be specific. -Gala

Hello Necro, As I stated, I thought you were intelligent. I did not say you were stupid or an idiot, I said you were ignorant as hell....which you are. ('Ignorant' means, "lacking information".) If you were to become more informed, I am certain that your views of the world would change in a dramatic way....which was my whole point in my response to you. What you refer to as my "intelligence" is my knowledge about things. I'm an old fart who's been around a lot longer than you. I use my intelligence to learn things for myself and I do not pay any attention to people with political agendas, such as the major news media. I search for my own answers to things in which I'm interested but it often times takes some work. You seem rather energetic, so that's what I suggest that you do....learn your own truths and don't get it from a bunch of Kool-aid drinkers. I did not see your posts refering to your ideas about humidity, but from what you say, this is exactly what I am talking about that you should do to learn your own truths. Grammar is important, Necro, it gives you credibility. We all make mistakes and it takes work to get it right. (I can tell you, there's nothing worse than seeing something you've written and published that is a mistake!) By the way, businesses are run by honest people who have risked their life's savings and those of friend's to take a chance at that 'dream of success'. Corporations are the same, only bigger. But there are crooks and dishonest people in all walks of life, so don't besmirch everyone else just because of a few rotten apples in the barrel. If you don't like oil companies, well....the rest of the world depends upon oil, just like you do. They have paid for the right to develop their product, just like logging and mining companies. Someone has to provide these materials, our modern life depends on them. I agree that some things can be improved upon, but I suggest that you be constructive about your criticism rather than so destructive. My criticisms of you are meant to be positive, and they could be if you viewed them as such. I don't have the time to educate you about all the things I've criticised you about....I'm a busy person and you need to do these things for yourself in order for them to be meaningful to you. Don't be angry or insulted by my comments, learn from them. I hope you will. Lance

I didn't think anyone could beat sguanzon but I got sunnysmiles51 seeds today 105 wants sent wow and she also sent seeds for everyone. I also got three shy acres seeds today everyones bags are bursting I am only waiting on 3 more queen of diamonds ilovefarac mkruby I'm not sure whats up with mkruby I'm going to try e-mailing her one more time before we get all the seeds in if I don't hear from her I will cross reference her seeds to everones lists like I'm doing with gardenwitches seeds.Patty