Remember all the theories you come across in rose books about how Tea roses got their name? 1) Because they smell like tea. I think this was the earliest explanation. 2) Because they were first tranported to Europe on "Tea Ships". 3) Because early British traders obtained them from the Fa Tee nursery in China, hence, "Tee Roses". If dimethoxytoluene is responsible for the aroma of tea, and if dimethoxytoluene was originally present only in tea roses, I would think the original explanation has to be the best one, hands down.

I think I agree with John - and my one calycanthus is too little to have flowered yet, so I don't have that to wish for, yet - but it will be almost impossible to keep weeds, including new calycanthus, from sprouting. I have had relatively good luck with laying down cardboard or 4-6 sheets of newspaper, and mulching over that 4-6 in. of shredded wood mulch. BUT, it wasn't much of a hill, and I planted shrubs or established plants in it, not seeds. Can you use the above ideas for winter-sowing and bottom-less boxes to start seeds for the initial spreading of the "wildflowers", and then transplant individual plantlets from the 'bunches', come spring? As John said, you will have job security - no-one else would want it! And, you do, I know have to show willing to follow her desires, and and have something to show for your efforts come the spring. You would almost have to use a Bobcat to even make a token clearing out of the hill, and it will make an awful mess! I would think doing it by hand would take a couple of weeks..., and also make a mess, half of which would probably wash down the hill into the lake, and get the HOA mad at them, even if you put up silt fences.... Opting for the best of bad choices, if it were me, I would try for the "spotty" smaller swathes of flowers, and not for the massive sweep that the client may have had in her mind's eye.... If for no other reason, that it ain't gonna happen, unless you go for all-out chemical warfare, and mess up the lake and do major damage to YOUR sensibilities! Not to mention what it might do to your license, if you used the heavy guns near water, and it came out.... I think the herbicide for near water works, just not quite as well or as quickly as Round-Up. Anyway, good luck, and let us know what you are able to persuade your client into.

I purchased the jasmine about 6 years ago. It has never been repotted. It is still growing on its original trellis (which you can't see because of the thick growth), so it is only slightly larger than when I bought it. In winter, it sits in front of a large patio door that faces south, so it receives abundant afternoon sun. By early spring, it has already started to push new foliage and blossoms indoors. In early May, I put it back out on the patio (full sun). I prune it hard--almost to the point where very little foliage remains. I then fertilize it liberally with osmocote and give it plently of water. In about 4 weeks, it comes back beautifully with much thicker foliage and denser blossoms than it had before I pruned it. I usually bring it back indoors in October just before the first frost. Again, this procedure has worked for me for 6 years. The southern magnolia is Magnolia Grandiflora, variety Braken Brown Beauty (BBB). There are only two varieties that can grow in southern New England. The BBB and another one called "Edith Bogue". I prefer the more dense habit of the BBB. The only problem is that the branches are a bit floppy and can break with heavy snow. Edith Bogue has a more open habit and a much more stiff branching habit. So, I keep my BBB tightly pruned to achieve the dense and narrow habit shown in the pic. This prevents snow damage, and also constrains the tree to the relatively small space I have to grow it. It is about 15 feet tall. The two varieties I mentioned above are hardy to zone 6. But, if you want it to thrive (not just survive), I would try to pick a spot that is sheltered from strong NW winds in winter. Mine is well sheltered in that way, but it does receive FULL winter sun, which can be damaging to broadleaved evergreens during tough winters. So, I do give it a coating of wilt-pruf in early winter to help prevent that. Last winter, I only had a few slightly burned leaves. The coldest temperature that my tree has experienced is -7 degrees during that horrible/bitter January of 2004. There was some leaf damage/loss after that winter, but not much.

This is such a great vine if you have the space for it, and it's not invasive in your area. I had one for years and years and never had a single seedling. Late one summer there were seedlings everywhere! Next spring.....it was dead. It was such a huge reliable vine, I was pretty surprised when it just up and died for no apparent reason. Our winters up here are always awful and it had always survived before. Didn't like the smell on that one, and we were installing a new fence, so it was going to have to go anyway. Made my job easy! I wasn't looking forward to digging that beast out. I have not had seedlings from this one at all. It is a younger vine, so I'm curious to see if it follows the same pattern as the other. Hope not. Chelone mingles with it and there is anemone robustissima in another border close by, so this is a major feeding station for the bees. Just today they are crazy on it and the sound is soooooo loud. They moved from the heptacodium out back (some stragglers still there) to this SAC. There used to be a bridal wreath and anthony waterer spirea, and a deutzia all planted in this area. They would make a nice support for the vine, but they just had to go. The only thing I have holding it up in the garden are a few of those small trellis supports. This one used to smell very sweet, but now it is more a vanilla scent with hints of sweetness underneath. It's interesting because my other one had changed its scent as it aged, which was disappointing to me because I much prefer the super-sweet smell over the vanilla scent. Mine dies back each year. I too am so surprised about no reseeding in PNW. Wow. I planted a SSL clematis last year. It was doing quite well but all of a sudden this summer it just gave up. It's not entirely dead, but it all browned and died back. New growth is coming out. Not sure what happened as the cottage area gets supplemental watering. My local nursery planted a few in their display beds and the flowers really are beautiful.