Brandon, before I invest time in trying to find the bits and pieces of information I've picked up over the years, such as that peaches have been shown to increase in actual size after more aggressive pruning compared to less (because of less energy invested in fruit production), I'd like you to steer me to a single piece of research based on cutting back bearing wood on mature plants at transplanting as opposed to immature plants. Not that I'd be convinced if you found the research that it holds true for all species, because I feel certain it doesn't, but it will motivate me to go to the effort. It doesn't matter if wood stores energy if it doesn't share it with the roots. Check the literature for what you do with a spur-bound apple or pear tree. You cut back the spurs (sexually mature wood) to encourage vegetative (sexually immature) growth. I have the benefit of watching the results of the removal of such wood on a regular basis and it is a routine treatment of some of the trees I manage. You remove enough of the spur wood and the trees start growing more vigorously. Trees that have been declining in size have started growing again. The reason immature fruit trees grow proportionately faster than mature trees is because juvenile wood doesn't spare energy for fruit and flowers which is very expensive and it is well known that regardless of rootstock you can greatly control the size of most species of fruit trees by accelerating the beginning of fruit production. The greatest managment risk in commercially growing fully dwarf apples is having them fruit excessively when they are too small- they often permanently runt out. Plants runt out when inadequate energy is being sent to the roots. Vegetative wood generously feeds the roots while fruiting wood is very stingy. I transplant hundreds of bearing age fruit trees on semi-dwarfing rootstock annually, and one of my biggest problems is having peaches runt out- the treatment- aggressive pruning. It is also the way to get them to avoid the problem in the first place. I know that all, and I mean all, of Carl Whitcomb's research was based on work with a few species of very young plants, so I can't go there for researched information. Show me where to go, Brandon, for some actual research on mature plants and I'll continue this discussion, but as it stands, I just have seen too many instances where pruning back has stimulated growth on mature trees. As far as blueberry plants, I'm not so sure one way or the other. When I got out of hort-school I had all the confidence as you in the research I'd been stuffing my head with (and a good thing- it helped me disguise my inexperience). Actual experience has made me much more skeptical of sweeping assumptions based on very limited research. Much more comprehensive medical research than research we are discussing here is often contradicted by subsequent research. I'm sure this would happen more with hort research if it was pursued with similar aggression and funding.

good morning! if you put some apple cider vinegar on the bite right away, it neutralizes it. i know this works...this is what we use. i keep bottles handy so we can just pour it because you won't get one bite, it's probably going to be 10 or 50 even; there's been cases of 100's of bites. they can kill you. think of it as being bit by a wasp, and you have an allergic reaction. down in the south where people may have livestock pastured, you can see the fire ant mounds coming up as high as 2 feet off the ground. you should know that the nest itself could be 2-5 feet underground. so it's possible to step in one and sink up to your hips, and it happens to cows all the time. by the time you get free, you could be in real danger! during floods or rivers going over the flood stage, i've seen whole mounds floating by! they might be on a small branch, and 1,00's of ants are drowning to keep the queen and eggs safe and they'll house back down where ever the river drops them off. lol.....the contents? i threw it out! Here is a link that might be useful: bug bite remedies-natural and household

Pam, the magnolia tree in the picture was the champ for MS before they found a tree in Jones County that got more points - it isn't as tall as the Benndale tree, but it has a considerably bigger spread, and is the national champion. I've seen the picture of the Jones County tree, and it looks to me like two mag grands that have merged, so, as far as I'm concerned, the Benndale tree is the national champion, at least it was before the hurricane, when it had a huge canopy. I took this picture of what was left of the canopy after the storm - pitiful! Once hunting season is over and it's been dry long enough that I won't bog down on the dirt roads you have to drive on to get to the tree, I'll go see how many and how big its new branches are. Another giant swallowtail has emerged today. I keep my chrysalids in my unheated guest bedroom with the door shut, and I think the very cold weather we had followed by this warm spell has made a few of them "think" it's spring! Giant swallowtails start off life as eggs on the leaf of a member of the citrus family, which can be cultivated fruit trees, or cold hardy host plants like hops tree/ptelea trifoliata, hercules club/zanthoxylum clava-herculis, prickly-ash/z. americanum, and rue/ruta graveolens. The egg hatches out a caterpillar, which eats the leaves of its host plant until it grows to a certain size, at which point it pupates and becomes a chrysalid. Caterpillars usually wander off the host plant to a nearby tree or shrub or other structure, so chrysalids are usually found in nature somewhere close to the host plant, but my chrysalids come from caterpillars I raise myself in ventilated cages on my porch to keep them safe from predators. When I find an early instar (very small) caterpillar on the host plant, I cut the leaf with the caterpillar off (or sometimes an entire small branch) and put it in a water pick, which is a little plastic thing that you put water in to keep the cuttings fresh, sort of like little "vases." They form their chrysalids on the inside of their roomy cages - outside, a big percentage of chrysalids are lost to the ravages of the weather and predators, so keeping them inside gives me plenty to release each spring, more than would naturally occur. By keeping them in a cool/cold but not freezing room, most of them don't emerge until late February, March or April, but there are always a few that emerge too soon, like these two. Here's a picture I made last year of some pupating giant swallowtail caterpillars - the first and third things from the right are giant swallowtail chrysalids, which is what the butterfly in the picture came out of. The brown and white scrunched up caterpillars are pupating, soon to become chrysalids. Once spring has set in for good, I'll be working outside a lot, but I'm sure I'll still post on the Butterfly AND Tree Forums. Hurricane Katrina really got me into the 'tree business' and I know I'll continue to want to ask questions and share my experiences with other tree lovers. Most butterfly host plants are trees, so the two go together. On another thread on this forum where elm trees are discussed, a poster asked me why I chose one type of American elm over another type - well, shape doesn't matter too much in the woods, but elms are a host plant for question marks and several other butterflies and moths, so shape was the last thing on my mind when I ordered mine! :) And I sure hope you'll keep us posted about your big tree project, Pam! Sherry

Peppi, this is such a tough time for you & your Dad. That first years goes by in a fog, one day tears, the next trying to be strong, then back to tears. Believe me, I understand & offer my empathy. My Mom's been gone for 39 years come September, an enternity. Dad left in '94 & my oldest sister in '04. We've lost both of DH's parents in the past 5 years. People here were so kind through that tough couple weeks, the trip to CO, hospice...yep, it's tough. Hugs to you, Peppi! /tricia