Looks like a Valencia orange is declining, after bearing profusely for almost 10 or more years. Never at a lack of nice orange juice in the morning. The juice is still fine, but the peeling looks almost burned and hard. Not sure what it is. The new growth looks fine, but the fruit doesn't mature to full size. On the bright side, the grapes produced well, except for a Chardonnay wine grape - which doesn't seem to like the foggy humidity. I'll give it another year - it is growing on an arbor that gets lots of heat and reflected heat as well. This is the first summer for good tomato growth. We are in the midst of a heat wave now - and they are thriving. Sooo - you lose some, win some. The persimmon produced maybe one or two, whereas last year it gave a good bounty. Go figure! bejay

I still see the photos. Pretty incredible huh Karin? Almost as disgusting as an unruly parent screaming at little children when their curiousity is only peaking them to explore. Sure I understand discipline (don't bring a child into a pottery store and let them run loose, but who doesn't already know this??) My little kid happy place was kicked to the curb. Raw treatment! I think I can still see the pics because I haven't closed all my browers. That's why. And Ken, why remove the pics? Oh well, you must have your reason. My reason for writing above was to make sure that others don't do what I did and coincidentally, that email Larry got also had Bill Barger, Chub Harper, and a few others attached to it as well. And... I met Larry once but that was (at his nursery) in 2001 and neither here nor there truthfully. So....... man! That's all I can say. Bill Barger created the ACS website by the way, which could be the greatest resource for conifers since the 'invention' of the internet. It's a masterpiece because a click of a keystroke continues it's success. ladylotus, go to their website and check out how they sell quantity-wise and to order, you'll have to fill in a request to be a customer. I know being a conifer society member helps, but not in my case! You guys don't realize that after I got off the phone, my mind was mush for at least 2 minutes. I just stared at my moniter. I'm laughing now, but then I didn't have any emotion. Take care, cool Todd... Sorry if I came off a bit harsh but I've been mad at you for (unknown reasons) but I think we got that cleared up via email. Thanks everyone for listening, Dax

Heidi, I think Laurie gave you very good advice. Much of my yard is heavy clay where the top soil was removed when the house was built. I planted many of my irises on a steep bank that was cut for the driveway, but even with sharp slope the clay soil on the bank retains a lot of water once it gets wet. During periods of drought the clay hardens so much that the water runs right off except where it erodes. I've used products such as "Sofn' Soil". I think they are mostly gypsum. It does help to break up the clay, but I prefer to till in the more natural, organic materials that Laurie mentioned. I also tried adding sand, but it didn't seem to make that much difference in our clay. Last year I did have some top soil delivered, and that has seemed to help quite a bit. The ground in the beds where I worked in the new soil is still a lot more workable than in those that didn't get the new stuff. I'll be adding top soil to those beds this year. We have a terrible mole problem here. I haven't found a good solution since I have 2 dogs and refuse to use baits. Years ago at a previous house wtih a much smaller yard my husband sat in a lawn chair and watched the mole tunnels for any sign of movement and was able to spear the moles with a pitchfork. That seemed awfully cruel to me, but it did work. He also flushed them out with a garden hose, but often that just caused a very soggy yard. At our last house we had a fantastic mouser. The moles just never got a few feet past the property line with her around. She proudly lined up and displayed her catches at our back door. I've thought about getting another outdoor cat here, but the foxes, raccoons and occasional coyotes I don't feel this is a safe property for an outdoor cat. Shae

You are most likely on the cusp between Sunset zones 4&5, but I'm not sure I'd be too concerned one way or the other. Sunset is overly conservative in its hardiness ratings and while it can be a handy guide, it's hardly what I'd call a definitive resource :-) And the Sunset hardiness rating system tends to be far less widely accepted or acknowledged than the USDA zonal rating system. For one, very few growers bother to rate their plants with both zone systems.......the USDA info is predominate and is much more widely used and accepted. And remember that hardiness zones are just guidelines anyway - scores of local GW members have demonstrated the ability to grow plants here with great success that are generally considered outside of this zone. IMO, soil conditions and lack of summer heat play just as great a role in longterm plant success here as does winter cold. Unless you are up into the Cascade foothills (a bit of a stretch for the Maltby area) you are in USDA zone 8. And if you live on the lake (lakeshore property), that should have a moderating influence that will put you firmly into zone 8. Every garden has individual microclimates, so some protected areas may be warmer; others more exposed, colder. Deer problems seem to be an issue anywhere in a more suburban to rural setting, so planning ahead for that seems prudent. A gardening friend living in the Issaquah highlands also has to deal with elk wandering through her garden and while they may not do as much browsing damage as do the deer, their huge size and resultant trampling of plants has just as a great an impact. Even fencing doesn't seem to deter them much. Good luck!!