Finally the pics I promised of the native cherries with the nice fall foliage: Prunus serotina leaves & bark, the prettiest: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fredandcharlie/4040294155/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/fredandcharlie/4040295387/ Prunus pensylvanica (pin cherry)??? (my guess): http://www.flickr.com/photos/fredandcharlie/4040297969/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/fredandcharlie/4041044270/ Here is the Prunus serotina I transplanted yesterday: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fredandcharlie/4041053806/ It was located on a 60 degree slope (not much flat land around here) and excrutiatingly diffult to dig. I didn't not get as much root as in Ken's pic, but I got a lot more than I did when digging trees last year. There weren't as many lateral roots as Ken's tree. The thickest one was central & taproot-like, anchoring the tree into the hillside. I went down as deep as I could and got quite a bit. Farmer Anne

Alexa, Thanks for the expanded explanation -- makes sense and there is no question that Mr. Leafmold is an excellent source for any seedling advice. I am just about to upcup and will use your method. Thanx!

well... i try NOT to make it all up ... lol i would have filled the bottom of the box with soil .... and 'considered' them planted... rotf... now.. the other truism ... if they had paid $100 for them.. they would have committed suicide on the way home.... were they undulata???? ken

I agree with Pieter that using a color chart or a grey card in a photo would be a way to really establish a more true color value - especially if the photograph is out of context. Color balance in digital media (and even for print labs) is still a floating target. I suppose why Pantone is still a major company in industry/production - different companies look at their physical samples for comparison. As for a grouping of photos, I try to make everything look similar to each other (within reason). As for the challenges regarding color: Auto white balance on a camera can meter incorrectly. Most computer screens aren't color calibrated (and even if they were, they fall out of calibration often). Some people use a ColorMunki or a Spyder. The human eye - as we age, yellows. So, an older person's color perception will lean yellow. Also, even if someone does has a perfect color perception score, our eyes tend to adjust to colors to try to 'normalize' the situation (like how our nose adjusts to a smell & then the smell 'disappears'.) --- But, if you want to have a good, middle of the day 5500 kelvin (aka daylight value) photograph, that is evenly lit - use a diffuser. Seriously, it's almost like cheating in photography. It makes everything look great. They are not that expensive and you can probably still use your camera/iphone in auto mode if you'd like. Why use a diffuser? A diffuser evens out the light - it essentially makes shade. However, the difference here is that it is still true color value from the sun whereas shade from trees tends to look blue. See how harsh the light is on Spencer & the couple's legs, while the couple's faces are evenly lit? So, when photographing hostas, I would suggest using a diffuser when full sun is on the plant. This would even out the lighting, give you a good kelvin value (true color), and make the resulting image look great. (Now, we could also go into setting a custom kelvin value to get accurate color - but, that's a whole other topic and much more in-depth). In the shade from trees, the subject will photograph blue, but you could still use a diffuser to even out dappled lighting.