Just wanted to pop in and say, no, I am not in hibernation. I actually check the forum at least every other day, there just hasn't been anything in which I could add my two cents. That and since around February my back has been giving me more fits than usual, so I haven't been able to spend as much time working the beds as I would have liked, but I do get out there when I can. It has been more or less dry around here with the storms going by us more than passing over us. When we do get rain, it is a quick downpour that doesn't do a lot in the way of hydrating the ground. On one hand, many of my plants were chosen to handle this type of weather and they are doing fine. On the other hand, some plants that could stand a bit more rain, bananas, tomatoes and other 'crop' plants, aren't performing as well as they could. The issues with my back means I haven't been lugging around the water cans like I have in the past and I sometimes wish I had set up automagic drip systems... though our water has had unusually high amounts of chlorine in it. I lost all the fish in my pond from a light topping off (that never before bothered them) and we even lost one of our cockatiels. We have a new park manager and I think he is overdoing the chlorine, but a recent water survey from the park owner says the chlorine is 'within norms'. We've installed water filters to remove the chlorine from our drinking water and I am thinking about adding a whole-house filter. So there you go, a quickish update from Waypoint.

Nice work Bill. Because its winter this bloom will mature at speeds reminiscent of Geologic Time. But I hope you post a picture when it does open. K.

Denise I have a covered deck area on the north side of the house that gets very little (or no if I choose) Direct sun. There’s normal airflow out there with good wind blocking and it gets A bit colder than the garage, but much more natural light. But I should emphasize it’s quite cold here in the winter and there’s no growing. It’s been an unusually cold winter, but it got down to -10 in my garden. I’m still unclear about citrus ripening in the cold. For example, I have a Natsu Mikan that completely stops growing by October, yet the Full sized unripe green fruit slowly ripen over the winter, and I was able to harvest one just now in good condition. Yet other fruit, like my kumquat, almost ripe in November, will not completely turn color and ends up rotting on the tree. Others like my Eureka lemon are too small to mature to full-size and wither up in the winter. So it appears some fruit may be able to handle hibernating and ripening fruit at the same time, while others will not. I’m not really sure which is which. I don’t want to waste space and time on trees that will require artificial heat and light to bare fruit. Another issue is when trees bear fruit. Many of my citrus only produce once a year, while some are supposed to bear continually. However, on these “continual“ fruits like my Eureka, I noticed only a couple of blossoms in the spring, and a huge rush right at the end of the summer (which never make it to maturity].

I would take out the plant, soak in in a bucket of water for at least one full day and then replant and make sure is does not dry out again. This will make some gardeners hair stand on end but.... it works. I have done it more than once and the plant will recover just fine. Don't worry about root rot - not an issue in water, Don't worry about damaging the roots - they need to be rehydrated to recover from the lack of water from the summer. To test the water retention of the old location, fill the hole where you dug the plant and see how long it takes to empty. If it does within a few minutes, then there is an issue with the location - Might be over a rodent tunnel or in a drainage ditch but the result will be that you will never be able to water adequately during the summer. The water should take about 30 minutes - to an hour or so to perk through the soil. Personally if it was my plant in my garden, once the plant has been in the bucket for a day - or even two or three - find a new spot for it and replant using native soil - not peat or any amendments. Adding amendments encourages the roots to circle around the new softer and moister soil and not grow down into the soil. The circling of the roots creates a 'pot' that will be even harder to keep deep watered. Replanting a couple of inches higher and spreading out the roots wider than it was in the old location will also help your plant.