In our area here in SW Michigan Box Elders grow like weeds-disturbed or undisturbed alike. They can survive in a wide range of soils/soil conditions. When the soil ph ranges between 5-5.5 they grow their best, but can tolerate ph as high as 7. They are very common here and most consider them a weed. Their branches are brittle and become wind damaged easily. As they get older they drop a lot of small dead branches. They attract a lot of 'Box Elder Bugs' (Boisea trivittatus) that seem able to get into even the tightest built home. For most this is the biggest negative when it comes to having them. My Grandma use to tap them for their sap to mix with maple tree sap to make syrup from. You can not taste the difference. If you find one that has been allowed to grow undisturbed out in a field with no other trees near they have a very rustic look about them-almost artistic with their broken and fallen limbs hanging down combining with their natural shape when viewed from afar. Even this "dandelion" has its beauty! As most have said they survived pre-man and will probably survive post-man (not to be confused with your letter carrier).

WOW WOW WOW!!! Thanks so much Chanin! Steve and Dr Larry were so lucky to be given personal tours by you. I am also envious! Excellent photos as usual. Also looking forward to Part 2. I can't work out whether that last appetiser photo for Part 2, with the boys in foreground, shows a miniature garden in background, or the boys are very high up? Sorry, I'm impatient. No doubt all will be revealed in Part 2. Cheers, Kerry

"It's unfortunate that many hybridizer intro pictures do not show what the flower truely looks like. I've passed on a number I thought I had to have just by going to Tinker's database and checking the photo's there." Linda, it's interesting that you say that. And talk about timing....I've literally just sent an email to a hybridizer I've ordered from this spring. One of the topics we were discussing was which intros were sold out already, what people were ordering -- and how, in his opinion, some daylilies have a garden presence that pictures cannot convey. I totally agree with that. In fact, I'd commented to him that I've wanted daylilies I've seen in gardens that I'd have passed on if their photos were my only source of info on them. Of course you're right that that goes the other way as well. If you can't see a daylily in a garden that's like yours, the next-best thing is a photo of it in such a garden.... BEAR CLAWS looks stupendous in one of Tinker's photos; so-so in the other. Someone commented to me that it can be splotchy. Happily, a friend sent me a piece last fall, so I'll be able to see for myself. I may find out that the photo showing a gorgeous BC is not what one ordinarily would see in gardens in my area.... I recall a photo from a Massachusetts garden of EIGHT MILES HIGH. I gave a huge sigh of relief....because I had not ordered it! Maybe it was a poorly grown plant, but what I saw was muddy, splotchy, and with unimpressive teeth.

Vern, If you know that you are going to eventually have to transplant from your tupperware container, why not just start the sideways fig cuttings in the pot or barrel in the first place? Saves a ton of fussing around with tender shoots and roots. I like to start them in the ground where they are to grow, so they never have to be transplanted. Easier on both you and the plant. Maybe you could line your tupperware with the bottom end of a cereal box before you add dirt, then you could lift the rooted cutting out in one piece. Theoretically, the box would eventually rot away and you would be happy. The cuttings that I carefully dusted with Rootone are the ones that usually don't do as well, for some reason. So now I don't try to dust them or soak them in anything. Just straight into the potting soil or dirt, and inch or so deep. Works best in spring when the ground is heating up yet there is plenty of moisture available from melted snow or the incessant rains. I find Elders method of leaving 1/3 of the entire sideways branch exposed to be interesting. I suppose that works well if you keep the environment very humid, as these cuttings cannot tolerate much drying and still be viable. My method of burying them completely in soil helps ensure they don't dry out as well. Humidity and heat are the two things needed to root fig cuttings. It is getting kind of late to be propagating figs in some areas of the US. Unless you are doing it indoors or in a greenhouse.