I have a Black Willow (Salix nigra) in about a 15 gallon pot, that I intend to pot up to a 25 gallon next year. So far, it has done well. I did forget to water it at one time in early summer and it dropped all of its leaves. I thought it was a gonner. I scratched the stem to see if the cambium layer was still okay, and it appeared to be. I resumed watering it, trimmed off the dead portion of the stems, and it grew back just fine. Willow is extremely easy to root. If you can find some close by, you can cut a few 3' stems, and stick them in some dirt, watering them daily, you will probably have roots in no time. Willow contains a chemical that promotes rooting and is often used as a "rooting" agent when attempting to root difficult plants. So, it has an unabashed desire to perpetuate. For me, I only grow the one because these trees are dioecious. I don't want to end up with a male and a female that produce seeds. I don't have enough room. Willows are also know for their need for water because it is not recommended that they be planted near sewer and/or water lines. The roots will more than likely seek out these lines, get into them, and can cause a lot of headaches and damage. I think the Blue Arctic Willow is supposed to be hardy thru zone 7, but it still may be too hot in Missouri to grow them well, or for any length of time. Probably would do fine in the Northwest's zone 7 - very different from Missouri, though. I know I wouldn't attempt it in my zone 7a because we just get too hot on a consistent basis. Good luck! Susan

Try some type of Pyrethroids. Check this site out if you aren't aware of it already. Good luck. Its depressing to loose crops. http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/vh021

I found a lot of them interesting, but #7 was particularly interesting to me as I have an interest in what names come from and in the case of France surprising to me. We have an office in France and about half of my team is there and I don't think any of them are named Martin. Might be an anomaly though. Oh and my guess about the guy with the map is that he is from the Americas as if he was from Europe he would have been to other areas there and Africa as well. I would venture to guess Northern America too but only based on statistics of how common his skin color is. This post was edited by lyfia on Thu, Jan 9, 14 at 15:00

I agree they look like pepper plants or four-o-clocks. I can't think of any fruit that grows on a plant like that, but I don't know them all. What fruit were you thinking it might be ?