I broke a fork last year trying to get a tree out of a hole... After that, I gave up on the idea of "Digging" with forks... Just too many rocks around here.... My usual practice is to slam the spade/shovel into the ground... Watch for any fires that were started by the sparks... Pry out the 1st rock.. See if the hole is big enough for the plant Pry out a couple more rocks.. Check if the hole is big enough yet.... Lather, rinse, repeat I was digging yesterday evening - and it was getting dark... Oooohhh.. Look at all those sparks, and the nice pile of baseball sized rocks.... (I got most of the big ones in the last 2 years...) I did admire the dirt that came out, though... The 3 years of trying to improve soil health are paying off - the dirt was much darker and richer.. Actually quite a bit easier to dig than when I first moved in... which was like trying to stick a shovel into the middle of a cement driveway.... The soil was so bad that not even WEEDS would grow when I moved in... Literally - it was just bare dirt that stayed bare.... Now .... weeds will grow... Thanks

Ficus are a long-time favorite of mine. I have successfully germinated nine Ficus religiosa seeds and am loving watching them grow!! A stunning plant with an amazing history. I also enjoy the many, many cultivars of Ficus benjamina. Philodendrons are also a favorite (hence my user name). None specific, I love all of them - vining, self-heading. Still have lots on my wanted list, but I need a bigger house first!! For the great outdoors here in Missouri, coleus are amazing. So many colors and patterns. Can anyone not love them?

here are the top 5 tropical fruit trees i would like to successfully grow and try, not necessarily taste wise as they are so rare i have yet to try them, but would excite me to see all the names are linked to relevant articles Lodoicea maldivica Coco De Mar "Densuke" black Watermelon Levins Black Pomegranate (not sure if the pic is accurate) Musa Kluay Namwah Nuan Jan (they are the white ones) Garcinia mangostana Durio Dulcis

Here I am! I've been catching up on my repotting. I'm going to have to invest in a machine to mix up my soil. The ol "fill up the wheel barrow and mix with a hoe" is killing me! I'm buying spag peat several bales at a time now. Here's my list...if I can remember them all: Growing: Garcinia Livingstonei(Imbe(5)), Mangosteens(9), Garcinia Madrono(2), Garcinia Brasiliensis(Achachairú), cacao, pineapple(2), Feijoa(pineapple guava(12)), dragon fruit(red and white fleshed), papaya(dwarf and full(2 each), sugar apples(2), grumichama(cherry of rio grande), Jit Lee Rambutan, rambutan root stock(rongrien graft died), staghorn fern, maprang(mayong chid), miracle fruit(always blooming, always dropping), carambola, bananas(nam wa, super drarf cavendish), plumeria, passiflora, longan(kohala), tamarind, lychee(sweetheart), mango(nam doc mai-fruiting and loaded right now), sapodilla(alano-blooming for first time), orange, lemon, lime, key lime. Native grown: apples, pear, cherry(5 grafted varieties on one tree!), paw paws, peach(currently hit with a nasty fungal disease. Will probably yank it.) That's it! Can ya tell I'm partial to the Garcinias/Rheedia's?? Obviously in the future, this list will need trimmed down quite a bit keeping only the highly desirable. I wanted a jaboticaba and jak fruit but it just doesn't make sense right now. Besides, my wife won't let me..... :(