DEFINITELY mulch them. And yes, heat-stress. Remember -- we have had record-setting heat for weeks now. I know it's worrying to water water water, when everything you read urges you to save water, BUT there are things you can do. When I wash dishes, I use a dishpan. I use a very mild dish detergent -- "Eco-sensitive" brands. The RINSE water from all pots and bottles goes to the nearest roses outside the door. When I'm done washing, DH carries the dishpan out into the garden, and empties it onto our less-sensitive plants. Not one bit of it goes to waste -- or goes down the drain. If you boil corn-on-the cob (or other vegetables) let the water cool, and then give it to your plants. That's exactly the way my Great-Step-Grandmother watered the roses in her farmhouse garden in rural Texas of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The minutes I spend outside, dumping rinse water gives me a quiet early-morning garden visit that's priceless. I'm sure it was the same for Grandma Mintice Cain. Any roses that come up with spider mites or aphids get the dishwater tossed directly at them.

Thanks for the compliments and identification. :D I guess I have to wait for the plants to bloom to finally identify them. Dutchman,s Breeches, Squirrel Corn, Fringed Bleeding Heart. All look extremely similar. And now I am in the hunt for my pictures of the trillium and bloodroot when they were in bloom. So, I'll be posting more pictures soon! And more when I visit the park which I got my inspiration from.

Talk about an eeeeerie feeling! *insert Twilight Zone theme music here* Had dinner, settled in front of the computer with my coffee and after reading email I clicked into Decor Forum....WOW....I've never seen that happen before. Two topics and the rest is a long, white, blank page. Is this a somewhat semi-regular occurance on the decor forum? Just last night I posted on the Computer Forum to ask about the really frustrating Macy's Pop-up Ads on the Deco Forum (and a few other sites) every time I click my mouse. Great big Red Macy's Ad smack dab in the middle of the main forum page and then with every click of the mouse the same Ad every time I click. I noticed today the pop-ups have calmed down on all the other sites except here at GW. Maybe it's not my computer after all? Oh well. I'll hang out here with y'all if you don't mind until the problem is resolved. *smile*

If it is dormant prune it right before it comes out of dormancy. Maybe February where you're at. To leave a lot of nodes on it, maybe prune high say at 4 feet. It will still be a small tree, and you can prune it however you want after that. A note on my photos, my tree was a troubled tree. I pruned it down and only one branch came back. So I made that a new central leader, headed it etc. Well this cold winter killed that central leader and I was back to ground zero. 4 branches sprouted just above the graft. I decided to leave them as low scaffolds and that is what you see now. the tree has been planted for 2 years now. A major difference I see is the new scaffolds are a lot thicker than the first year. As the roots were fine. So developing a root system for a year made a huge difference in caliper of branches. Here is a photo at the end of the first year. Notice the new central leader is smaller than this years scaffolds. This year's scaffolds are twice as thick! Developing a root system first is a major, major good idea! So if all goes well you will have much better scaffolds than you do now. they will be thick and strong! Here is direct evidence of what developing the roots can do for you. Again compare branches here in the first year, to those in the 2nd year. All branches in 2nd year were started in 2nd year. So twice now I have had to redelop this tree's structure. If I get dieback this winter, it will be less. The scaffolds are way too thick to dieback.