Littlebird, Unfortunately, I lose all my beautiful colors on my Hummel's sunset starting around early May through late November. For me it doesn't make any difference whether I let it go bone dry, put it in the sun 8 hours a day and NO fertilizer...once my weather starts to get mid 80's and my nights stay at 70° or warmer consistantly , I start losing my beautiful colors. Too hot and humid...mine pretty much goes dormant this time of year too. At least for me in FL, I need the combination of cold nights and full sun in conjunction to get my Hummel's sunset reach its gorgeous colors, at least that's been my experience with mine. This was taken in end of February... This was taken today...

I believe the process time is about 15-20 minutes for pints, provided they were filled with the boiling jelly. Most BWB processing or even slightly over processing in a water bath will not usually 'break' the pectins' abilty to set. For a no pectin apple jelly however, I believe it would be OK, due to the natural pectin. Here, I use a bit of nutmeg and ginger along with cinnamon in my apple pie filling and jam. Another spice thats great with apples is ground cardamom. The low/no sugar pectins are very sensitive to overcooking, but that is not the case with the Pomona product. Here, most of my canning jars are regular mouth, as its easier to screw on and off the rings with my arthritic hands. I don't usually use allspice in an apple recipe, but that taste is fine with many other things.

Hello Everyone, Thanks everyone for the nice compilments!!! Springpaintings...it usually takes a couple of years for the cuttings to be able to produce an inflo sometimes longer. That is why some of us buy a rooting tree, that helps the tree be established earlier for us to possibly see blooms. These trees and different varieties all have different personalities....so they will flower when they are ready, providing we give them the right amt of sunlight, mix and fertilizer... Thats why its so much fun to see all of us arounf the country grow these exotic beauties. The rewards of having them bloom are so exciting!!! Good Luck!!! Bill, Thank you!!! My Psycho is about to open, ill be gone out on a trip..so hopefully ill be home to see the beauty of the show!!! Cant wait!!! Lani is ready too! Jen, My leaf problems have slowed down, i know it was mostly my fault in that i sprayed them when it was so hot outside. Even though i sprayed them in the early hours, i still think that i should have waited. Oh well, they are coming back and look pretty healthy! Those small pointed seedlings are Oleander seedlings. I have large Oleanders at the back of my pool and these seedlings grow like weeds. So, i out some in pots to give to friends. They are Watermelon in color. Ill post a pic if you have not seen Oleander before. Let me know!!! Hi Peg, Yes, those seedlinga look familiar because you gave them to me!!! LOL..The Strp. seedlings and the DR seedlings are all doing great. I have them under a tree to protect them from the scorching heat! Thanks for the kind comments!!! Kwan, Thank you as weel for the kind words...it is a wall of Plumeria!!! LOL...Josh named this and it has stuck for the "wall" LOL YOuu are right about that little Dr having such a unique personality!!! IT does have an attitude!! LOL Kandhi, Thanks!!! IT does take time to care for the trees, but sa you all know, we love to tend to these little trees!!! I love to come home and see what has changed and what might be changing on my trees! Quite relaxing for me!!! The fragrance to me from my GS is floral..but some might smell something different! MY sniffer isnt what it used to be, so i do enjoy the fragrance of this beauty!! Maybe someone can give you the correct fragrance of the Guillots Sunset!! I lose the fragrance, but like i said, it smells floral to me!!! James, Cheers!!! MY friend!!! Nice to see you!!! Thank you for all of the nice compliments on my trees! IT is a full time job taking care of the trees, but i enjoy it so much. Ii even work full time, so when i home, this is where i come to relax!!! YOu know what im talking about!!! Most Plumeria addicts understand...LOL I love my Guillots Sunset...it is one of my favorites too! You did post a pic of your Leela, and a very generous person sent it to me!!! I cant wait to see the blooms on this beauty!!! Now..the J105...WOW Im go excited on this tree! The size of the blooms and the thickness of the blooms are so unique. I love the coloraion in the blooms as well! I did place an order on Ebay for a Cerise...it has been 2 mts...i contacted them three times to no avail..Im not a happy camper...i dont buy to much on ebay...and they say that i waited to long to get my $ back, since it was over 45 days... : ( ANy how...nice to see you and i hope that u are having a great summer with lots of blooms on your trees!!! Im sure you have a wonderful looking collection!!! I just wish we could have met when ii came out to Costa Mesa...next time!!! Dave, LOL...Yes, Imm insane!!! LMAO you did see the new cutting that are growing!!! Oh, well.. what to do? as far as mixes.. I use Fir bark, perlite, Turface, Pumice, some gran i grit and some Ocean Forest with bat guano with worm castings. We have a hard time finding the ing thst they use out in Ca. I also do have some of my trees in the Gritty mix, and they seem to love it!!! ALl of my new trees go into the gritty mix. We can chat about that too! Chuy, HI!! Thanks you for the kind comments!!! All of my Desert rzoses are in "Al's Gritty Mix" thy really love it and they seem to respong to being in fukk sun too! They are all in terra cotta pots!! Alex, Thanks for the nice compliments...i love your plants and trees too! YOu have a great collection...gald to see your Scott Pratt and CA Sunset coming along!!! WOOHOO! Take care everyone.. Laura in VB

rcnaylor, I remember a lot of days like your photo when we lived in Plainview from 1974-1980. But then, it was the farmers and the plowing in the spring for the crops they planted. I grew up in Pampa and while the wind blew, we didn't have as much dust as Plainview and Lubbock because it was mostly wheat farming, cattle, and oil wells. Very little spring plowing. What I also remember from the Plainview days was that the farmers burned off their stubble in the fall and the town was covered with a layer of smoke then. We had whole house evaporative a/c and I hated to turn it on when on those dusty and smoky days. I remember driving to Lubbock once when the dirt was blowing so bad I could barely see 10 feet in front of me. Really scary. My mom, who has never really paid attention to water conservation, was here for the last few days, and I showed her all my native plants, mulching, and how I seldom water. She collected seeds and marked plants she wants me to pot up for her. Today, when she got off the plane in Amarillo, she went straight to a few nurseries and bought some native plants so she can start changing her landscape. I think the more we practice what we preach, the more it will influence others. And I totally agree that we need to do something about greenhouse gasses, and not just industry. We need to make some energy concessions easier and cheaper for ordinary people. It is great to say we need to quit driving, or quit driving as much. But how many people live within walking distance to work, shopping, or a bus stop? Sometimes I feel so powerless sometimes because I drive to town nearly every day, I keep the temperature cool enough to keep from sweating in the house, and I wash my clothes after wearing one time, at least in summer. I'd like to have solar panels, solar water heater, and a hybrid car, but I just can't afford them.