Hi Jeelii..I'd love to come along on your tornado hunt. Cool. It'd be like the Wizard of Oz. Since we're inexperienced, (you too, Mike) would love hunting a 1 mile wind, though we'd probably end up in Oz..LOL. As for Walgreens, why in the world do they need so many stores? They're everywhere. And to knock down a sound building only to rebuild makes NO sense. I think they're trying to outdo CVS..I've heard CVS has numerous stores, too, but not many around here..there's two in a 30 mile radius. Walgreens, on the other hand, are located every mile..What's going to happen if people start shopping elsewhere? Especially when you hear there are inexpensive pharmacies. Because of our insurance, we haven't any choice but to use Walgreens for prescriptions, (HMO) but not all insurance companies are not like mine. What irks me is the old, family-owned pharmacies are gone..there were two in Brookfield, they'd been around forever. Once since the early 1900's. They had pics on the walls of their Grand Opening..newspaper articles regarding house-bound ppl who couldn't get out and had their meds delivered to their house..Can you imagine Walgreens doing that? NOT. I sympathize with you..They sure don't construct buildings like the old days..that had to hurt watching 100 yr old and older buildings being torn down. Sturdy old buildings to boot. That's horrible. Progress my a&&!! Sorry, but this topic upsets my stomach. At least they preserved some old buildings. A similar thing almost happened here..They were going to knock down the original RR building, but the community declined, voted against it, so they decided to keep it. Talk about historic. The RR building is a lovely, charming old place, though some say it's haunted. :) I'm like you..prefer old buildings to modern..in fact, I detest new office buildings that look like they reach the clouds, windows don't open, and buildings sometimes look like they're leaning..no way.. Same with old homes, big, old homes..they're charming and ornate. It seems since the 60's or 70's, modern buildings/homes popped up everywhere.. I surely hope you find the FE..HD used to sell it, but because of summer they're focusing on annuals/perrenials, have little indoor stuff. We went to 4 stores before finding Vermiculite, the last had 1 bag left.. Are u afraid to order online? There are several nurseries that sell FE..I used to fear providing info over the net, but w/Paypal, I feel safe. If you can't find it locally, try online..I'll help you look if you need assistance. If your citrus/plants have scale, the sooner you spray the better..plant bugs are like rabbits..LOL. They breed and before you know it, you have an infested plant/s. Hey Mike. I've been sooo busy working outside, between rain storms, lol. Many plants need repotting. Besides citrus, I'm also into AV's and succulents, and Palms..LOL.. I got a Travellers Palm on Ebay, going to plant in the garden. Though it's not a palm, it's related to Bird of Paradise. I think Musa, banana too, I'm curious what size it'll be by autumn. Hey know what I did? One of my citrus died over winter. I saved the rootstock which is quite healthy..then planted in the yard..going to mulch in autumn. I did this before and the stock lived more than 4 yrs..some idiot stepped and broke it one winter..after that it never grew. If you have room, why not try it? Mike, I agree about storms not destroying complete towns..You should have seen it here two Sundays ago..What a mess!! And we didnt have a tornado, so I can only imagine how it'd have been if we did. When I think of islands, my fantasy doesn't involve Super malls..That's horrible. Sure, ppl need shopping areas, but nowhere near as many that are being built. The only advantage is, more stores equal jobs. I'm sure there are many w/o work. Other than that I see no logical reason..in the meantime, trees are chopped, and wild life have no where to go.. Wow, you bred birds, too..Great..Did you hand-feed? My male, Mystic, a white-face pied, is 10 yrs old..This week alone, I discard 4 eggs..I hate doing it, feel guilty, but people aren't buying pets like they did. I have 4 birds now, don't need more. Also, more birds means less attention we pay to the parents. I'm quite fond of my birds, especially Mystic. He's jealous to begin with..LOL What sizse eggs do finches have? What color? I always wanted a canary, but never got one. The males, pure yellow, are gorgeous. Still, my male tiels sing Andy Griffith and Jingle Bells. They try talking..Mystic's son, Sparkle says HI..lol.. Before birds, I bred fish..all types, live and egg bearers..My favorite were Bettas..they're beautiful, especially males. Also bred Jack Dempseys, Angels, Guppies, and many others..After moving to the burbs, I lost contacts at pet stores, so gave it up..I kept the remaining fish till they went to fishy heaven. Including 2 huge Oscars and a 5lb cat fish..can't spell it, something like Pletcosomus. I only add Peat to plants that prefer acidic soil..but it's mix with other mediums. I remember about 10 yrs ago, when plants were sent through the mail or while shopping at local nurseries, all plants were potted in peat. Nurseries got away with it because they kept sprinkler systems running every 15-20 mins thoughout the day. (over tropicals, not succulents) Pots didn't have saucers and water dripped on the ground. All I know is, plants were beautiful. We who live in cold, dry climates can't get away with that. Then again, IMO, I honestly believe most plants need black soil for nutrients. I don't have the time to water 300 possibly 400 plants every 2-3 days. Not to mention fertilize more than I do now..It takes 3-4 days to fert, Superthrive and ES..forget it..LOL. It sounds like you saw some wonderful sites and nature on the islands..you are sooo lucky. It's ashame about the Palms though..maybe pollution is the problem. But why would islands like PR have polltion? Are there a lot of cars? Factories? Too bad you couldn't bring Coral home..LOL You saw nudiest? LOL..Where, walking down the street or at the beach? No, I can honestly say, I"M NO nudiest..LOL. In this day and age, w/all the perverts, I'm afraid to wear shorts and tank top. I dont know what you mean about the 1st grade thing? You've never beem to my website? My pics on there..you tell me how old I am..LOL..women do NOT reveal their ages.. Mike, don't toss your Clivias..you didn't, did you? Please tell me you didnt? Even if every leaf burned, and needs removing, with care they should produce new growth. When I first got the gh, I set my oldest clivia out there..one winter night, the coldest night of the year, the darn heater went out..Many Clivia leaves died. I brought in the house, vowed never to set outside..it's grown new leaves and huge. So, don't give up. Remove dead foliage, add Superthive..because it's stressed, add 10 drops per gallon of water..Keep in medium light the rest of the year. I guarantee it'll grow in.. I love talking to you too..We really have to hunt down tornados one day though..LOL.. Have you bought any new citrus? Binion, buy a Meyer's or Ponderosa..they're fairly easy to grow, and fruit year round. Especially Meyer's. These two are my favorites. I prefer standards to dwarfs, but confined to pots, it makes no difference as far as size..Kumquat is also another ever-blooming/fruiting plant.. Thank God your inlaws home wasn't hit by the storm..Wow..bet it was windy since the tornado was 4 miles away..did you get to see it? LOL Binion, what exactly is the US Green Building Council? It sounds like an environment program..yes, I agree it's going to be a long time before, like you say, things move in the right direction. The EPA's been around how many years, and although they've accomplished quite a bit, our air/water needs a LOT more work before it's breathable and drinkable. Trucks alone put out black, stinky smoke..not to mention all the vechicles on the roads. Stacks let out a good amount of smoke, too. Black is the worse. I attended an EPA test in Sprigfield. Got one wrong out of 50 questions. Not bad, huh? LOL More and more trees are being chopped down. Soon, it's going to be illegal to grow greenery the way things are heading..it seems that way. What many call progress, I call damnation. So much needs fixing..gas prices for one..I feel for the next president..he's got some job ahead of him, whomever he may be. We'll know soon enough. Maybe the Amish know something we don't..(S) I hope your agency rights the world again, though it's going to be rough. So many people are apathetic; they don't care about anything. How many times do you see ppl toss trash out of their cars? Or worse, people dumping car ashtrays in parking lots..that's disgusting!! Talking about this reminds me of an email I got yesterday. It regarded stopping dog fights. There are actual sites that discuss all the money that can be made by training dogs to fight. There was a picture of two dogs in battle..one dog had blood all over his face..Oh God, it was sad..The link led to a guy who is involved with dog fighting..he boasts about all the money he's made by raising vicious dogs..What the hell is wrong with people? Who wants to watch and bet on dogs ripping each other apart? Sorry, didnt mean to rant, especially since it's a citrus forum, but talking about the environment led me to think of the email. Let's stick with plants, maybe look for tornados..:) I think most plant people are compassionate and want to save the environemnt..Toni Let's get together..

Not sure it anyone still looks back at this section of the forum, but I found it extremely interesting. The question I have is more of a top-down question. I currently grow blue spruce, in multiple numbers (hundreds/maybe a thousand potted up now, and maybe another thousand almost ready to pot ). Mine are 2-3 years old, so early stage. Grown from seed. Some from "majestica" blue spruce seed which seem to grow quite eratically to be honest. In any case, I read of blue spruce cultivars like Hoopsi, and Fat Albert. I believe they are grafted onto Norway Spruce understock. What I don't understand is how the colour (very vibrant blue) is common to all grafted stock. I assume that "they" (whoever "they" are) select specific/specimin adult trees and take scions exclusively from that tree? Who would maintain the Hoopsi "trademark" i.e. select consistent adult trees? I assume certain of the "progeny" may then be a source of scions, thus improving the variety? Also, I know I can buy grafted Hoopsi grafted stock (a year or two old) but if I wanted to graft my own Hoopsi, how would one proceed (and is this type of activity monitored? i.e. purchase a Hoopsi adult tree and presumably take my "scions" from that tree??) Alternatively, if one of my current trees grew with a vibrant blue colour (I seem to have a few out of a thousand) could I then use that tree for scions, a number of years from now? (provided I obtained or grew Norway Spruce or some other suitable understock). Sorry, you can tell I'm very new to this. But any information will be helpful.

bump! ready to post some pictures, woohoo!

So there's no label or other confirmation, it just looks similar. Some - if not many - named conifer selections are representatives of variations that occur repeatedly, within the normal parameters of species. A recurring habit for Serbian spruce here is a narrow spire with very short branches, like a pagoda but tapering toward the top. https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=omorika&qpvt=omorika&qpvt=omorika&qpvt=omorika&FORM=IGRE Same general appearance is often produced in time by 'Nana' - although this tends to be more dense in the upper part. https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=omorika+nana&FORM=HDRSC2