jumpin4joy, don't fertilize them any more until spring (for zone 8 mid to late March) We give half strenght then before shoving them out the door close to the house due to our frost date is April 15 but we have seen frost later in April. To me do fertilize in the winter month is a waste, sorry. You strip off to ship this time of year but again we won't start shipping until the end of April or later to the northern parts of the states.

Uuhhh . . . a man here . . . and this thread's title was just too tempting. Coming from all of you it was just what I expected, clean and entertaining. Especially funny for me because people hardly ever say "dang" around here, and the last time I heard it was from a Mormon Elder. Need I say more?

In answer to using old plush toys filled with soil? Why Not? Plants are rather adaptive and you will find something willing to take over and be cut back regularly, returning with a vengeance to cover that toy completely. I make topiary for a living and have used alot of drainage pipe for letters like a billboard I did in SF for garden.com that was completely planted with ficus vine for a years' contract. I secured the black plastic 4" tubing to the billboard forming letters along the way, forty feet up...filled with soil, made plant holes 1 per foot,covered in sphagnum moss secured with fishing line, made a solar powered drip system with 50 gallon drum water reservoir (remote location) pumped it 40' up, another pump for 40' across...The new disney retail headquarters in Pasadena, CA has an 18' Mickey Mouse Archway at the entrance...it has alot of spare space inside and is filled with refuse plastic. the plants dont mind as long as they have soil and water to grow in. The 15' ABSOLUT bottle I did in St Thomas has basically a teddy bear lining inside to hold plants and soils in, come to think of it. 3 months later the ficus vine had fully taken over, no doubt it did not hurt using grey water for conservation methods...dark green plants after that!

Thanks, I needed one to send to my cousin and this one came in handy!