Hello Mary. I have used tea tree oil for several years, and, yes, in my experience it can work REALLY fast (from a few minutes to overnight for me). Especially if I catch the pimple early, it usually goes right down w/no trace at all. I use it on trouble spots (one drop straight from the bottle), not all over my face. I like mixing it with lavender essential oil which masks the herbal smell & also speeds healing of the skin. I suspect curlymom's daughter mixes it with moisturizer because it's a convenient way to get a small preventative dose each time you moisturize your face - which is good if you are having chronic breakouts (or know you've been hitting the chocolate or chips a little too much: usually the source of my outbreaks ;-P). Three to ten drops to each ounce of moisturizer is plenty. Theoretically, too much can be irritating. Also remember that lavender & tea tree are the only essential oils recommended for use "neat" (i.e., undiluted on the skin). Straight tea tree oil is powerful enough to stop cold sores dead in their tracks too (esp. good mixed w/lavender oil) if caught early. Keep it away from the tender eye area. The only thing that I've found that works nearly as well (or sometimes better) is propolis tincture from my local beekeeper. Green blessings, ~bushpoet

To the_morden_man: Not a silly question) probably it is just my luck of knowledge. I want a rose with strait stems, large blooms, compact and fragrant with lager petal count . Some other roses I have that fit this description are HT. This is why I am looking for HT. ) But I have no idea if there any others that fit as well. Please let me know if they do! As far as snow cover goes - almost every winter we have at least 2 weeks with temp below 15F without any amount of snow... So i guess it is enough to harm...

The tea is fairly popular among some people. I am disabled and peddling hard just to "stay behind" so to speak, and I can't take on something else. To respond to your questions: Yes, the leaves (which actually look like a fine ground bark or wood) are dry when I've added it to the plants or soil. However it is usually wet when I put it in the bowl and that's when I noted that the gnats avoided it in favor of the other teas and tisanes (herbals such as peppermint). I just tossed part of a cereal bowl full into some soil (soil-less actually) mix for some coleus cuttings and a sansevieria yesterday so I'll see if I get gnats. I didn't add a systemic. I never did the "mulch" with the AVs, just potted some small ones with the rooibos mixed in but didn't really keep track. It didn't kill the plants or I'd have noticed that :). I've had a lot of problems finding a consistent mix in the past years. Diana

I did a google search tea tree oil dog paws. There were several mentions of a tea tree oil salves that are good to use. I have some at home that I am using to treat a fungal thing on my son, 5 drops to a TBS of jojoba oil. Tea Tree oil was mentioned, but never straight.My dad used the stuff straight once (nail fungus) and actually got a chemical like burn. It is commonly used in ointments but really shouldn't be used straight. If they sold this to you straight with no further instructions that person was wrong, wrong, wrong. It probably would work to keep ant off, but mix with another oil. It is rather stinky http://www.examiner.com/x-11162-Phoenix-Animal-Care-Examiner~y2009m6d24-How-to-treat-a-dogs-sore-paw Here is a link that might be useful: tea tree oil