Polemonium caeruleum and polemonium pauciflorum did great at first, and then they started to gradually die off one at a time. There are only two plants left. One caeruleum that's knocking on death's door and a pauciflorum that's starting to look sickly. Of all the varieties of columbine (over 6) not a single one survived. Less than half the seeds sprouted and refused to grow more than an inch at most. I don't know what happened there. Peat pellets worked before. Will have to try again. Bells of Ireland did great at first but grew far too fast and started to fall over before they could be transplanted. They did bloom, but it wasn't anything of interest. Did manage to collect a few seeds. Carnations: all of them became leggy (in the sun) and the majority died. Dianthus "Sooty": a handful survived, but now random branches are starting to wither. Didn't bloom. Liatris: never germinated. Clematis: no germination. Dicentra: two varieties did not germinate. Gaillardia: all but two from two varieties bit the dust Asclepias: some varieties refused to germinate Blackberry Lily: not quite disappointing, but now I have far too many of these and no idea what to do with them! Poppies: several varieties. Never have any luck with these. They sprouted and that's that. Japanese Barberry: not a thing. Disappointing. Hosta: very disappointing. Germinated and then sat there- wouldn't grow at all... and then I forgot about them and they dried up.

Humic acid (HA) is formed during the humification process (decaying/composting) as plant and animal matter break down. The main source of HA is lignin, which is the most common bio-compound on earth next to cellulose - it's what makes plants stiff. As the organic matter breaks down, it forms several acids called carboxylates and phenoxides. While there are several acids formed during the breakdown of organic matter, they are all pretty much the same. It's probably easy to envision why that is true when we consider that all plants are made up of the same building blocks (nutrients/elements) in almost exactly the same ratio. IOW, there is little difference, chemically speaking, between sequoias and snapdragons. Also important to consider is that peat moss is made up of a combination of cellulose, lignins, and humic acids. This fact is probably what would allow any/all container media producers to lay claim to the fact that their product contains HA. As I mentioned upthread - advertisers often lay claim to things their research shows the general public might consider a huge plus, when it's an intrinsic part of all similar products. Shell Oil used to advertise that their gasoline contained lead to guard against spark knock, when in fact all gasolines used to contain lead. If I thought a little, I'm sure I could quickly come up with another dozen examples more current. I'll leave an answer I posted to a thread on the container forum back in Nov '08. The question posed was, "Does humic acid serve any purpose for container plants?" I drew a delineation between mineral soils and container media primarily because the immense volume of organic matter in almost all container media. This would even include the gritty mix, which has a 1/3 organic component - roughly 6-10 times what you would find in most natural and garden soils. Hopefully, we have built or are using container media with a suitable structure, but even if we were not, the type of structural improvements usually associated with the use of HA in mineral soils do not apply to container media. Where container media is concerned, if the structure is not there from the beginning, the only way you can add it is by adding enough soil particles of the size required to physically achieve your objective, You cannot change container media structure by adding HA or its associates. The reply to the question (about plants in containers) I mentioned a little upthread: "Humic acid (and its accompanying fulvic acid) are most often used as an amendment to improve the quality of clay soils, sandy soils, and/or other soils organically deficient. The primary value of adding humic acid to clay or other compacted soils comes from the resulting structural break-up (increase in friability) of these soils. Obviously, this should not be an issue in the soils you are using. In sandy soils, humic acid's value is in its addition of organic material to soils, which would also in the end improved water retention and root function, neither of which are anything you would be lacking in the soils you use. In some soils, humic acid can also play another role in facilitating a plant's ability to assimilate nutrients. Humic acid can lower pH and help unlock otherwise bound nutrients in the soil that might not be unavailable under conditions of higher pH. Again, this should not be an issue for you, given the fertilizer regimen you use and a known favorable pH. Finally, humic acid can stimulate soil micro-biology in some soils, increasing the numbers and activity levels of soil micro-populations, the primary function of which are to make available minerals and nutrients which could be stored within the humic acid complex and hopefully available on an 'as needed' basis. Again, not much of a benefit when you consider you're supplying a full compliment of nutrients in a readily available form on a regular and 'as needed' basis. I suppose if I was to sum it up, I would say that a build-up or adequate measures of humic acid in garden soils is to be desired & most effectively accomplished by the regular addition of organic materials to the soil. How valuable wholesale applications of humic acid are to garden soils is probably highly variable by soil type, soil composition, and the intrinsic quality/value of the individual product at hand. It's value in containers would probably be extremely marginal at best or go completely unnoticed (as it did when I tried the product for my container plantings several years ago) but there's nothing to stop you from trying it." Al

Hi Al, Sorry for the late reply. I forgot about this thread and I guess it dropped to page 2 or 3 where it wasn't very visable. I do recall reading something that cats are attracted to kiwi vines. Not sure, but do they just roll in it, or did the cat actually eat it? If so, I guess they must like the taste? For winter I really don't do anything special to my vine, but I do pile fresh newly fallen snow around and over the vine, then cover with a box, then pile more snow on that. You probably can forget the box thing, it's just me thinking to eliminate some of the wind around the vine, but if it's under snow there shouldn't be any wind. I did some research so sort of answered my own question. One source said the vine is only a moderate growing, to about 10 feet tall. Not the huge monster I thought, but still should fill in the area nicely. It also answered my pruning question, saying in the second or third year, to prune it and allow it to develop one main 'trunk'. Anyways, I am including a link to a website about growing the Arctic Beauty Kiwi. There are a few sites on the web, but this one's unique in that it covers growing it in a northern climate. As it's fairly new in cold climates it's good to see some information on how it might perform. Regards, Glenn Here is a link that might be useful: Growing Kiwi in MN

Isn't it amazing how different people have problems with different plants? How can that be? I have to agree with whoever was having difficulty with marigolds. And I find that embarrassing! Those are supposed to be easy enough for small children to raise! No problems with gaura - which I adore - and my roses are amazingly stubborn in spite of a bit of neglect. My stokesia is utterly gorgeous and just divided it early this spring so I can have even more of it! Even my lamb's ear is doing o.k. Not as big and wooly as I'd like but it made it through a deadly summer and a winter so far and is actually growing. Black eyed susans have refused to thrive since we moved to this dry place in the country. They were EVERYWHERE in the bog we lived in before. Do they really need THAT much water? Oh...and my blueberries are acting sickly. What's up with THAT?