Hey everyone.. I wish I could of got a couple of better shots than that, but I think you all get the point. Josh, thanks pal! I do love the looks of the mix. I can tell you that anytime I ever transplant out of this mix, the roots to my plants always look clean and bright white. For anyone that thinks a mix like this might dry out too fast, not so. It does dry out a bit faster than most mixes with peat, but I have also learned that watering my plants more frequently happens to encourage better growth as a whole. What I did notice too was that once water touches the bark, immediately it starts to decompose as anything would, which doesn't require as much frequent watering as I first started out with. In fact, here is what the mix looks like after sitting in just two days of water. But, it does break down a lot slower than a mix with small fine particles and dries out so evenly. The key is to soak it first before use. Greendale, for me this mix is just as good as the gritty one because I am not using any peat fraction at all. The Pumice and Perlite do not breakdown at all while the bark breaks down just as slow as the one I use in the gritty. What I like about it is, it is much lighter than the gritty, although the gritty certainly has its place in my world. Happy New Year to you all...Josh, Purple and Greendale! Silientsurfer, A special hello to you Silent surfer! Where have you been these days? I missed you around these parts. Great to see you using the same method. Nice. I'll bet your plants are loving it. Hi Yield? What;s that? I think Super thrive is loaded with B's. At least that is what is says. It was good to see you stop by. Don't be a stranger. Enjoy this day. It's going to get frigid today! 35 was like a heatwave this morning and 8 tomorrow morning will feel like Siberia. I am not looking forward to that. I can hear the 50 mile per hour wind gusts moving in.. Um, love the edit feature. I almost forgot the pic of the mix after two days of being soaked. This post was edited by meyermike_1micha on Tue, Jan 1, 13 at 8:50

im thinking the first one is propbably Lilium longiflorum or type of lilly

Interesting, Jackie. After I burrito'd the dozens of Mme Abel Chatenay cuttings I had one left that was overlooked. So I stuck it in my favorite semi-shady spot with a bell-shaped vase over it like a cloche. The squirrels and such like to chew on things and dig them up so I thought this would protect it and since we were in a drought, I thought it would be good for moisture retention as well. Well, it is doing wonderfully. The two calloused-but-no-roots cuttings that came out of the burritos and were potted up went brown within a day or two for me, too. I was able to root one of two Le Vesuve cuttings last year just by sticking it in a band pot and leaving it in a saucer of water in the shade. I guess our humidity is good for something. I potted it up and gave it to a friend. I'm excited about this Mme Abel Chatenay cutting doing so well. I will love having another one of her. Sherry Here is a link that might be useful: If only sweat were irrigation...

Seniorita Rosalita is a Proven Winner cultivar. I think you have to buy the plants each year. But one plant becomes a nice clump. Salvia farinacea Victoria beside it. The other dwarf cleome are also Proven Winners. They were also striking, though not as dense a clump (slightly larger flowers). As I noted, someone thought it would be a good idea to pick them. While the taller cleome can be nice, they take much more room and, in my experience, soon become seedy. Seniorita has been blooming three months and is more beautiful than ever at about 26 inches.