Just a short follow up to the seed growing. I found the koreana species to be very challenged by overwatering. Just this weekend it occurred to me that bedding plants seem to do well in the smaller cell packs till they are larger. Less soil to hold water until the roots grow bigger would seem to be the key. I am going to try this as I have been using 3.5 pots and find now when I am transplanting that the centre of the pot has no roots and there is actually a dry spot there if I water lightly to prevent root rot. I have lost a few seedlings this spring and did not know why but I think they were in a dry zone in the middle of the pot or got over wet because the soil ball was too large. Here is a link that might be useful: My blog

I usually place mine about an inch away from the vine. That way, if by chance the base of the vine moves for any reason, it won't wear on the rock or the stepping stone. It isn't likely that the base of the vine will move that much if it clings to the support tightly enough, but cats, rodents, high wind, etc. might cause it to move a bit. Nice selection for surrounding plants, Fern. I've got mine against my fence surrounding my garden, so I've got my rhubarb in front. I've got 2 planted there. Then, I have a Clematis mandschurica planted in my main flower bed growing up a trellis. I had gaillardia in front of it but I just ripped most of that out yesterday. Not sure what I'm going to put in front of it yet. Shauna

Hey paperart, when you set the trap for the racoon, only leave one end open and then put the food in the middle (width wise) but further to the back of the shut end but not too close to the shut end. If you have the food in the middle where the bait tray is the racoons will just take the food and back out, if you shut one end and put the food all the way to that end they will open the shut end of the trap as much as they can and steal the food. They are very smart but if you put it where I stated and shut one end you should catch them. Oh and it helps to put stakes in, one on each side of the trap so when you do catch one they cannot tip it over. I learnd alot last year about trapping racoons. I also found that crackers with a little jelly spread on them was a big draw for them. We caught three and relocated them on a friends property about 40 miles from here. What kind of baffle are you using on the birdhouse out back? I have never known of a bird to be afraid of a baffle. The stovepipe baffle mentioned on the sialis site works perfect. Also if as you stated your house is on a post, wooden I presume, you are setting those birds up to be eaten by a racoon. At the very least put it on a slick metal pole, electrical conduit works best. We have several houses that the TRES use that don't have baffles (I know they should)that are on the conduit. Even though we normally have racoons around, one has never climbed the conduit they are mounted on. We put up several houses the year before last and add baffles as the Blues move into them, we never let the Blues nestbox go without a baffle. I am including a link to the baffle and proper mounting on the pole of the nestboxes. Donna Here is a link that might be useful: Proper nestbox setup

Debbie, you will know better the next time, so try not to feel too bad. Just about everyone here got into this not really knowing how involved it would become. As Jane said, some of us have learned the hard way and try to help others from making the same mistakes. I still feel bad about my first ever nest of bluebirds. I lost 9 day old babies to a raccoon -- every bluebird box I had ever seen was on a wood post, so that was what I put mine on. The owner of my local bird store even told me to do it that way! It was an awful lesson for me - I learned the hard way that raccoons can climb a wood post as easily as we walk on a sidewalk. Then I learned about poles and baffles and there have been no more raccoon losses. We probably all have failure stories to share. Let us know how the new nesting goes. Good luck ~ Malinda