I am in zone 6 and I've seen the new growth buds appearing on the clematis already (group 3 and 2). We've had unusually warm temps here so I think they are a bit ahead of schedule. All of mine are in full sun. Julia

Ken, I beg to differ; most blues don't show up as blue immediately even when they unfurl in spring. Neither do blue seedlings. If the plant emerges yellow, it'll be yellow from "birth" but some plants only turn yellow after they've gotten some light. Likewise, some red pets don't show up until they've been exposed to light for a while. Maya Kingsnake throws amazing red petioles in her seedlings, but they commonly don't show up until they are at the 4-leaf stage. Streaks shuld be immediately apparent. Ripples and serrations take time. Years, sometimes, although usually there'll be some kind of waviness to the leaf edge when they're tiny, although some seedlings come up rippled and lose serrations. If you're going for color, first cull the shiny greens. The bloomy/matte greens might go blue when they get bigger, especially if they're dark. Don't cull unless and until you have to. Also, yellow is dominant over blue; you'll get mostly green seedlings, then yellow, fewer blues.

I may be wrong, but I think anything growing in your bin is good with 2 exceptions. Anaerobic bacteria and things that fly and take their nutrients away with them. I'm thinking the mites are just a lot more noticeable on cardboard, at least that was my experience. The bugs, mold, mushrooms etc. speed up the break down of the food. The all 3 of the above problems freaked me out the first time they occurred, but now I just ignore them. (The first mushrooms were a fluorescent looking yellow with a green tinge. Very spectacular. I killed them all. Now I'd like to have them back but I have boring small tan colored ones now.) Other than flying things (fruit flies and fungus gnats), I haven't ever had any bugs leave the bin. jasdip just said 'the little buggers are relentless. I cannot keep them away.' Does anyone know if there is a good reason to keep them out?

I went back to mixing Fresh Step, the old litter, with Tidy cat. ItÂs only been 3 days. I will have to check with my husband to see if he has picked up any "deposits" lately. I have not found any. She does not seem to be constipated. I bought some new hairball medicine, which is an oil I have been mixing with her wet food. Unlike all the others I have tried so far, she likes this one. I have been wondering if the oil will make her stool softer too. I started using that maybe 2 weeks ago. The hairballs have now stopped. The floor pooping predates the hairballs (which show up every year in the spring); but IÂm wondering if having hairballs could have caused the uptick in incidence I noticed. The newspaper mostly makes it easier to clean the box. When I dump it, it all slides easily into the garbage. But I have noticed (maybe this is me speculating) that she does not like the feeling of the plastic under the litter on her toes. When I have run out of paper she has objected (donÂt ask me how I know, she just comes to me with this lookÂ). I usually put a heavy sprinkle of baking soda under the paper. I find the paper, which goes up the sides too, wicks the moisture away from just the one spot and makes it dry faster. She does not cover what she does in the box and never has. Just does it and leaves. If IÂm nearby and smell it, I do it!