so you're saying it may look 'sad' as there isn't enough light? and yeah I am aware it gets huge! but I am prepares to have it against wall indoors with a more powerful growlight (300-600w dual spectrum the HPS bulb) and have it as a centre piece.! I ha e a coconut palm (seedling at moment 5'3") that grows same place as jacaranda. maybe once it gets to big I'll have to sell/donate leo

Hi! I think that when it was in the compostible pot, it was drying out too fast. You probably shocked it when you cut the roots, in a compostible pot, you don't have to remove the pot, just stick it in the new one, and the peat will just desintegrate. where I live, mint takes a LOT of water. But you are colder so you may not want as much water. Instead of a schedule, it's better to feel the soil, if it's drying, it needs more, but if there is no drainage hole at the bottom of the pot, the roots might rot. Mint spreads, it's what it does best, so continuing to pot in a bigger pot is usually necessary, but you can do other things, one is, mint roots very easily, so when the plant gets crowded, you can cut a branch and stick it in water until it gets roots, then pot that up. In my experience, you can't over water mint, but I live in a climate like Southern Italy, so I don't know about your climate. Never fear, as long as you cut branches and put them in water, you will never lose your dear mint plant. :o)

Jacaranda is semi-deciduous ie. it will drop a lot of its leaves, though not all, in the dry season. I have to say though, you are being terribly ambitious growing this plant in UK. It needs very warm temps throughout the year and extremely bright light to thrive. There are so many lovely temperate climate trees which make good bonsai.

Greetings jampack, Thank you for your generous comments. I absolutely, completely agree with you about "reinventing" ourselves. I call it creating a new life using the strengths from the "beloved life" or just simply "the past." We can view the beloved life but we cannot participate in it anymore, so take the strength of the beauty of the memories and the great love shared and heal the pain of grief and move into creating a new life. What really encouraged me in always moving forward in my healing from the pain of grief was to take care with my thoughts and my self-talk. What I think, I create. My thoughts become things. If I think something will be horrible........guess what, it WILL definitely be horrible!! Or, "I will never get through this, I am destined to suffer from now until I die." But, if my thoughts go like this: "This will be a difficult situation for me and I will experience deep pain (or agony, discomfort, embarrassment, fear, etc) but I know with great faith, I will get through this and be stronger for the journey." The situations and events that this can be applied to are endless. But it must be used fervently. It doesn't have to even be believed at first. But practice, practice, practice. Write the phrase down and carry it with you. Having been a consummate, professional horse trainer for over 30 yrs, I used those very skills to train myself to heal. In training horses, compassion, kindness and positivity are the greatest tools for success; and, the successes are measured in tiny increments....tiny steps. When one is in the throes of the most horribly, painful feelings of their entire life, DON'T STOPKEEP MOVING!!! I have heard countless times when I share my story at grief seminars, "When my spouse (child, parent, sibling) died, I died with them and my life has ended." Now, this is 100% true, but only to the extent that the life with the deceased has ended. Then, too, a large percentage of those folks refuse to/don't know how to create a new life. It is common for these folks and fellow grievers to feel that by torturing themselves with as much pain as they can inflict on themselves, they are honoring their beloved departed one. But, just sit back for a moment and do a "what if" scenario. What if you, yourself, died, was killed, committed suicide, or whatever, would you want your family and loved ones to stay in a painful, morose, joyless, depressed agony for the rest of their time on this earth; day after day, year after year???? I absolutely wouldn't. I would pray that they transplant themselves into a wonderful new life to experience once again joy, happiness and love. I have heard the cry, "Will I always feel this way?" or "Will the pain EVER go away?" My answer is a resounding, jubilant YES, YES, YES!!! The pain will recede when you choose to let go of it; but, only if you choose to heal the pain of grief. You must decide for yourself, "Am I clinging to the pain because if I let it go I will lose the love for my beloved or they will forget about me or I will forget about them?????" I can assure you with all of my heart that if you stop clinging and release the grip on what can never be, you will experience the closeness of what can be. (I feel such a warm, loving, close relationship with my Michael, now.) Do you always want to feel "this way?" It is your choice!! Everyone heals at their own pace. Consider it to be like planting a seed. It seems like forever before the little seedling pops through the soil and starts growing towards the energy of the sun, to blossom and grow to grandeur. But, we must keep watering it even if we don't see it yet. So goes our healing. The mind is critical and sharp, with a tendency to focus on what's wrong, rather than appreciating what's right. When you have gone SO far that you can't manage ONE MORE STEP!---------------------Remember, you have gone just half the distance you are capable of. Turquoise