Laura- I think in Florida, with all the summer rains here, especially in central Florida which is not as dry as extreme South Florida and the Keys, wicking is a good thing. I don't mind watering them, the problem is the heat on the roots in black pots and getting waterlogged when it rains for 3-4 days straight with no chance at all to remotely dry out. In the Keys, there is less rain and after the rains, the sun comes out plus it's almost always breezy. In central Florida that isn't the case. It's MUCH hotter, very little breeze and after it rains there's never much of a breeze and it can stay cloudy and damp for a good period of time. The weather in the Keys is far superior than central Florida for growing Plumerias and all of the huge, old trees there is proof of that. The Gritty mix was not the cause of the winter losses for sure. They were not in the Gritty, none of them. I re-potted them all in the Gritty this spring. I put my 5 new ones from JJ in the Gritty. I have not put the Kapalua or the Toba's Fire aka Embers in it yet. I'm going to let them get their 2nd summer of roots before I disturb them. I want them to be well rooted and strong when I re-pot them. Jandey- I think some the so called compact single tips that get so tall are just not well cared for when they were little. Perhaps the mother tree wasn't well cared for, who knows. ALL of my JJ compact trees have done very well and they came with several tips. Perhaps the need to be forced to bloom early so they don't grow too tall before they bloom and put out more tips. The Safari has 8 tips I believe. John at JJ's has always sent such nice trees. He's really good at picking out what you want if you carefully describe what you want. if he doesn't have it, he says so and doesn't send less just to make a sale. At least that is my experience with him. When he sent my Divine, Thumbelina, J105, Sangria, Delightful order 2 years ago it took 2 huge boxes because I had him ship in pot. They weren't rooted cuttings, they were small trees with many tips and they were gorgeous! He also packs them very well. They lost a couple of leaves then took off and bloomed a couple of months later. Sangria is one I really love. It is a blooming machine and the last so long. It bloomed on one tip for months, well into late fall, early winter(In the Keys). I'm over Lurline. I am beyond caring what she does at this point. For all I know she is rotting inside but I'm just leaving it alone. She will either get leaves or die. I really don't like grafts. I have about 4 of them that I got from Brad's before he when he used to sell mostly grafted. I just don't like the way they look, they aren't good grafts and are noticeable.The grafted are Mardi Gras, Salmon Pink, Duvachelle and Musk Rainbow. Of those 4, 3 of them have yet to really leaf out. Salmon has bloomed and it got leaves early, the other 3 are just now getting them. The top of my wish list was Kapalua and Toba's Fire, plus to replace my Golden Pagoda that I lost this winter. It seems Golden Pagoda is going to be very hard to find. Matt doesn't sell JL trees anymore so have no clue where to get one. I looked, with no success. Kapalua I paid dearly for, but at least I can cross that one off of my list and it is a nice one!

So glad your having good luck with the Green Works Larsi. I didn't get mine yet but had to inform hubs about it because carrying it out of the store in my purse while he waits won't work, the jugs too big and will look weighted in my purse, pulling my arm down lol..it went like this...hon there's a new product on the market, Clorox Green Works and its specially formulated to keep cheap black work jeans from ever fading which means these jeans you insist on buying at walmart will stay black forever..he said..finially a detergent I approve of, next trip to the store can you remember to buy it.....LMAO of course I'll remember. ..haha.

Layering is often the most successful method of propagation for many types of plants. Ever try to root a juniper? Layering is such an easy way, the blamed things do it themselves. Trying to root juniper cuttings without using mist is far less than "hit and miss". As with any propagation method, some genetic types are always going to be much more successful than others. Some types simply root more easily than others, period. Some types have thicker, more developed cambium layers than others. Multiflora and Wichurana types are always going to be easier to root than many others. Chinas are often not that difficult, as are minis, which are supposed to be based heavily on "China" types. Teas, in my experience, even under ideal conditions and regular mist, have traditionally been the more hit and miss type to propagate. They are also the type which for many, have been the slowest to establish themselves and mature, as well as the type most resistant to hard pruning, compared to many more modern roses as well as a great many older "classes". Layering, or "air propagation" can work quite well, as long as it's done properly and nothing disturbs the process while it is being done. In many gardens, it just isn't as easy to deal with as removing the cutting and putting it where it can more easily be dealt with.

Thanks, dinie - clematis can get addictive :-) They seem to like the conditions here and most do well. I tend to not follow the standard pruning advice for most, especially the Group 3 ones - I rarely prune them as hard as recommended.... I'm not familiar with the Amethyst Beauty you mentioned so I look it up on COTW - confusingly there are two by that name! A spring-flowering Group 1 and a summer-flowering Group 3. Which did you get? I have a couple of Group 1 - which rarely get the chance to flower! DH seems to have never absorbed the pruning information or remember where the spring ones are. He has a tendency to go on a neat-spree in spring and rip them back, thinking they are dead....! He did that to a bunch this spring that had finally got big again *sigh* Today seemed more like a normal hot summer day here, with an undertone of cooler-by-the-lake. We actually got an hour or two of garden work done this morning - cut back the big lilac 'tree' on the south side of the house; removed about 60% of the old mockorange beside it; shortened up the beautybush in the backyard (the one where the robins had nested in 2016 & 2017); pruned off a lot of excess growth on one of the redbuds that was starting to block a path - and shade the beautybush. Not the ideal time to prune some of those things but it needed to be done - DH was concerned that some of the shrubs were going to provide access routes for raccoons to get on or into the roof..... Plus they are old enough plantings that they are starting to fit the 'overgrown' category of things! I sure hope were're back to more normal summer temperatures! Now we just need some rain too....