"Bonsai are such an unnatural plant"?? They're the same plants you find in the landscape. He told you to use/suggested MG because his concern is efficacy rather than ideology. It's very easy to use (practically idiot-proof - with no reference to you or anyone else), and soluble fertilizers are an excellent choice for plants in containers. I use soluble fertilizers in the 3:1:2 RATIO for almost everything I grow in containers, and the number of container plantings I tend, many of them bonsai in various stages of development, is rather large @ 300+. Al

Hi Scott. I'm happy for you that you got blooms. They are nice. Sorry to hear about the ants. Bugs are happening to alot of us right now. Mike started a thread on how do we each handle our bug problem. Hopefully many will reply and I can learn whats best to get rid of mine. I saw in your profile that your b-day was oct. 16th. Happy late Birthday. Yes ,I thought you were female. I set up hubbies account, then he had his stoke and he can't type, so I use it. I like your pics. Lonny (hubby) likes doubles, I like singles. I think they are prettier, I like the big blooms.Simpler and easyier to take care of. At least in my oppinion. Share all the pics you like. :) Kim

I've never taken formal gardening classes altho gardening has been a lifelong passion for well over 60 years and I've read a lot of books and magazines, picked a few brains, and more recently found so much info online. I used to want to do the Master Gardeners' course but it's not offered here in this backwoods area. I don't think it would benefit me much at this stage of my gardening life anyhow and I have so many other interests that take my time. I'm hoping to get my friends more excited about gardening, too Do you have a Garden Club in your area? IMO it can be a great learning experience for anyone, and especially for beginner gardeners. It might be a way to interest your friends if you all went together. Also for me was a good source of plants as everyone would freely give their extras. When we moved here from warmer zones it was a great help to me to learn which plants grew well here. Connecting with like-minded people is also great. I've finally gotten the solution to the deer problem and that is 7' tall fencing around my main garden. Nothing else worked well for me. As far as the yellow jackets I've never heard of anything that gets them in a 'better mood' LOL but seldom have a problem here. However I'm learning to place those plants that bees love away from my patio. Hated sitting there and having all that buzzing going on and wondering if I'd get stung.

I really enjoyed the class, but am not crazy about what I have produced so far, but there is always next weekend! It's funny about how people come to identify themselves as artists. If I thought I was an artist at age 18 and pursued it, would I now be an Artist? My parents always told me how artistic I was growing up, but the fact that I can't draw anything very realistically caused me to not pursue art as a vocation. I do enjoy the process of creating, but I've never wanted to create something just to create it. I've always needed that something to have a purpose. Like now, I feel I need more art on my walls, so my solution is to make it.