i am one to usually suggest that shrubs rarely .... if ever need fert ... but you are undergoing extreme rejuvenation pruning.. reducing canopy .. with absolutely NO INSULT to the root mass.. and then equate all success to increased fert ... i am sure it didnt hurt.. but i would suggest that the plants VIGOR is as much.. if not more affected.. by the rejuvenation.. as your feeding it ... there is no answer to who is right.. i just didnt want you ruling out one for the other ... you are basically turning grandpa into a teenage stud.. and it may not have anything to do with what he eats ... its vigor ... the ability to have so much energy.. that he WANTS to go run that mile.. not whether his bones will crack if he hoiks himself off the lazyboy.. lol ... what did you use for fert??? and how heavy ... ekn

What beautiful close-up pictures, Stan! I, too, work on the NY Times crossword every Sunday - I haven't done much on it today, because I've been busy with other things, but I really enjoy it. I can't tell how big the cocoon of the parasitic wasp is, but if it's real tiny, it may be the same !%#!%* insect that parasitizes red admiral cats. I think KC let one live and got a picture of the wasp, which is, not surprisingly, very tiny. I'm presently raising two red admirals from eggs, and both of them are continuing to grow and thrive, so I guess the wasp gets into the nest and injects its egg into the tiny caterpillar - they apparently do this early on, so yours were undoubtedly parasitized when you got them. It's interesting that your butterfly didn't have the white spot in the orange field on top and the pink on the underside. I vaguely remember a poster from Wisconsin saying once that not all American ladies had the white dot - all mine have it, so maybe it's a northern characteristic? I agree that American ladies have some of the most beautiful colors and underside patterns of any butterfly - how many butterflies do we have with pink? And I, too, call them "she" - they are ladies, aren't they? :) Sherry

It's not at all uncommon for a cat to become resentful and reclusive under the conditions you have described. It's altogether possible that Annie is perfectly healthy but is avoiding you outside because she: 1) doesn't want to be "imprisoned" in your bedroom (esp. with a kitten she is trying to wean), or 2) HATES being medicated. When I have to give one of my cats medicine, (s)he will avoid me like the plague for a significant period of time even after the medicine is no longer being given. If that's the case with Annie, she'll forgive you in time and return to her normally happy, loving self. It's also very common for queens to reject their kittens once weaning age has been reached. Sometimes the queens are hateful (perhaps even violently so) for a while and then relax and accept the presence of their kitten after weaning is complete, but sometimes they never accept the kitten's presence again. You'll just need to wait it out and see if Annie will ever tolerate Pogo again. There's certainly also the possibility that Annie still isn't feeling 100% healthy, and that could easily explain her current behavior. Your vet will be able to tell you if Annie has any continuing medical concerns. As with all things feline, patience is called for. Annie's been through a lot of changes lately, and cats tend to be easily stressed by change. If the vet gives her a clean bill of health, get her spayed immediately (which will also put her in a lousy mood for a while), and then just give her time away from Pogo to regain her equilibrium. I wish you and Annie all the best, Laurie

Bboy - if your reply was in response to my comment above, I was just mentioning that they survived -10F which is a cold winter for my area. We rarely go below -5F. I wasn't calling myself zone 6 because this year or last lined up with the range of average lows for zone 6. I completely understand the averaging of annual extreme minimum temperature readings over many years being the basis for the USDA zone system. I reviewed 60+ years of temperature data from my local weather station (I'll be surprised if the monkey puzzle trees survive long term for me though because I don't see them tolerating 4-6 weeks of temps in the teens and 20's F with overnight lows dipping into the single digits or occasionally below 0F, which is pretty typical for us. They would probably have a much better chance if we hovered in the high 20's to low 30's with less often and less severe dips in temperature. We'll see how they fair!