Melissa, broom is a pain in the neck. I used to love seeing it by the roadsides driving through the Italian landscape; so bright, so perfumed! But I think that is the only good context for it, in a way. It would be OK where it is on my property, if it didn't attract those effing beetles so wildly; in fact, IMO, the beetles exist precisely to keep the broom from taking over the entire world, since they suck the flowers and render them infertile. But the beetles are engineered to be wildly attracted to the colour yelow; that is, the stamens of ALL flowers,and due to the geography (or morphology???) of my land (sharply sloping down from the rose garden into the broom field and below that, oak woods,with a south-west orientation),having broom down there is like rolling out the red carpet for the beetles (well, the yellow carpet). Broom has strong, fibrous tap roots that can push their way through/ between rocks, etc. I think the only way I can do anything with this area is by hacking up the ground with my pick; I can't see just planting baby trees amongst that thuggish broom and hoping them to survive.Also, I'd have to water the babies in their first year, and I think the broom would just flourish all the more. Probably I'll try a mix of things and see what works best,but it will be necessary to work the soil before I plant anything. I probably should saw down all the broom in the area I wish to start cultivating, and maybe put black plastic bags over the stumps of the ones that are too deep rooted to dig up; for shade it might be better to rig up something artificial. I don't think your land was as abused as mine was; this area in question has been so badly eroded; I have to hunt out spots where it will be possible to dig down deep enough to start stuff. The rose garden area was similar when I started about 15 years ago,but I am not going to lug all this heavy clay, etc. all the way down there. To plant the first Leylandii I prepared an area,digging out rocks, putting in organic matter and kitty litter, etc. I'll certainly be watering it in it's first year at least! but the thing about Leylandii is that it was cheap; it's as tall as me and cost me all of 13 euros. So, if with some effort I can get it to establish,I might have a nice start.The thing is, even on the subject of drought resistance, people's experiences and opinions vary greatly with ALL plants, as far as I can see. To me,for example, roses are very drought-resistant once established, but many, many people heartily disagree with this opinion. So I will see what this Leylandii does before I make any decisions. Criteria for a nurse crop would have to be : economic ,(not to say, cheap) and fast-growing. But even for that, I will absolutely have to work on that soil ; as it is now, nothing new can start growing there, I think,except baby broom and maybe brambles (if they manage to compete with the broom)...bart

Drumroll, please... You have to remember I have been emailing people about plants for over 15 years now. There are a lot of people in my address book. I emailed Robert Redmon and he says UAH still has _3_, and the largest is 20 ft. tall and is coning! I just noticed something interesting about the MOBOT trees. Notice the only ones still alive were directly from Japanese scions or seed. This could confirm my suspicion that part of the problem is most seed stocks in the US have inbreeding depression because they came via a few trees in western Europe. BTW - I last emailed him in the late 1990s, but also via gardenweb. I think he used to participate here. The funny thing is I can't even remember what my user ID was back then. I started reusing gardenweb with this account when I lived near Rt. 28 in Fairfax Co. (That was my 2nd garden after my parents sold their house) He bravely tried a few experimental things there that people said wouldn't grow well in Alabama. Well, this proves sometimes those people are wrong. Although I don't know that anyone told him Larix wouldn't grow. BTW - no, I hadn't clicked on the link! It just said Trees. But by the time I posted what I posted in response to Betsy, I had already emailed Mr. Redmon. This post was edited by davidrt28 on Thu, Apr 24, 14 at 17:19

Yes, any one can grow figs in ground in a zone 5, in the north. We have been able to grow them. We have been growing and testing for figs that can be grown in our zone 5b/6a location, for around ten years. We have in test plots or pots around 26 different figs, that are suppose to be cold hardy and or rare. After ten years of testing we found 3 figs that do very well in our zone 5b/6a Connecticut location, grown outside, in ground. In order to grow figs in a cold climate, you need more then just a fig that is cold hardy. You also need a fig that is rain resistant, when the fig is ripening. If not you will end up with all the ripening fruit exploding, just before they are ready to be picked A fig that is late winter/early spring, sun resistant. Your cold hardy fig might make it through the winter, only to be killed by late winter sun. A fig that will ripen early enough to beat your first frost. If it does not, you will end up with a lot of green figs, that never ripen. A fig that produces more then just a hand full of figs. That is if you want enough figs for fresh eating, fig wine, preserves, and so many you can share with your friends. A fig that is FMV resistant. Or at least a fig that can over come the disease if and when it is infected. If not the fig will never be cold hardy. A fig that can produce sweet figs even in cold northern soils. I can send to any one who request it, a list of northern climate, cold hardy figs we are testing, and the results of our testing. Along with the names of the only three figs that we recommend for main crop figs, for northern gardeners. We are still working on the best breba crop figs for the north. We have several that are showing a lot of promise. These three main crop figs, make growing figs in ground easy, and enjoyable in cold climates. We feel these three figs are more cold hardy then Hardy Chicago. If interested, send request for list to robertcharper@gmail.com Bob Harper zone 5b/6a - Conneticut

Granite....beautiful picture, BTW. How inspired to use fresh herbs in your bouquet, corsages and headdress. There is a lot of folklore that goes along with rosemary, and it was an herb traditionally given on the wedding day for remembrance. Not to be morbid, but also rosemary was buried with the dead so as not to be forgotten by the the living. As far as I know, talking with my neighbor who has the beautiful rosemary bush in-ground, he did nothing special to his plant. When I asked him about the snow (not a lot) we had that past winter, he said he just went out and brushed the snow off the plant. Like it was no big deal. Judging from the look of his plant and it's sturdy wooden, bushy stalks, he's growing the "BBQ" variety. Right now, still, all my rosemary is in containers and doing very well and do have excellent drainage. They are the least watered of all my herbs, and seem to like it that way. I have Miss Jessup, Gorizia, Arp, the "BBQ" type (my oldest) and one I'm not sure of. It's the one you find in grocery stores around the beginning of the growing season....has the shape of a Christmas tree. That type of rosemary turned out to be the most difficult one for me and I will never buy another one of them. They look so beautiful in the store...healthy, tall, lush and green. But they're so root bound. After getting it home and removing it from it's little 8" pot that I knew it wouldn't survive in, I really had to work at the root system to free up the roots. Hard as a rock. I replanted it, and it did well for a short time, but soon started giving me problems. Part of it dying out, other parts yellowing. It always looked like a sick rosemary plant. I thought it never stood a chance. But right now, after last year, it's finally taken hold and it growing beautifully, with new and long healthy resinous shoots everywhere. I couldn't be happier that it ended up surviving. I actually had to, at one point, snip it off at the top, as it was "dead" at it's tip. So needless to say, it no longer has the Christmas tree shape. I have to say, I never expected it to survive but refused to chuck it and just adopted a "wait and see" attitude. I'm glad I did. It's been mentioned here on the GW, and I believe it to be true, that rosemary does thrive on a certain amount of neglect. It just needs to do it's thing. It needs lots of sunlight, and good drainage. The soil NEVER needs to dry out, but (for me, container-wise), when it gets to feeling like it's getting close to being "dry", I will give it water enough to just slightly drip out the bottom, and that's it. And then I leave it alone. And depending on the heat and the rain, it may be a week before I get back to giving it more water. Seems to be the way for my rosemary, as they're all doing wonderfully. And, I do harvest from all of them all the time. I do agree that not all Zone 7's are created equal. Here, snow may or may not come in winter. The ground may never even freeze. It's rare it does, but it does happen. And yes, all rosemary's aren't created equal either. Some are hardier than others. I think they types I have chosen are the best for my zone. But again, the Christmas tree type....never again. They look beautiful in the store, but are the touchiest and hardest to keep alive, IMHO. I would really love to plant all of them outside in-ground, but I have to admit, I love having them indoors during the winter and they seem to love the spot I have chosen for them. And even given the fact that they're all in the biggest pots imaginable, I know they'll never reach their full potential in containers. But that's OK. They provide me with a bounty of rosemary to cook with and even enough (along with my cilantro, thymes, mints and basils) to sell at the Farmer's Market if I wanted. LOL. But I'm happiest when I give them away to neighbors.