Thank you, Kim, I'll debud her and move her to full-sun once the risk of frost is gone. I'll move my GRAFTED Pat Austin to that clay "swimming pool". I'll bury her 6" deep to ensure the death of Dr. Huey and the growth of own-root. I want to slow down her growth, so her thorns don't get larger. I already took pictures of Pat's thorns, to see if the future-own-root version would improve. Own-root chlorosis on alkaline clay doesn't inferfere with flowering. Christopher Marlowe will always be pale, but he has at least 20 buds compared to Grafted-Pat's 6 buds. He gets much less sun than Pat. Question: Once Pat is moved, I have a full sun, next to the house, southern exposure, sheltered from wind. Should I get own-root Yves Piaget this year for that spot, or should I wait until next year for a grafted Yves Piaget? I don't know how well Yves Piaget does as own-root in alkaline clay. He's low in thorns. Thank you for any info.

Pelargonium citronellum should have a distinctly citrus-y fragrance. The sense of scent is very subjective, so it may just be your nose rather than an issue with mislabeling :-)) But it could just as likely be a rose geranium as well.......Pelargonium graveolens looks quite similar both in leaf and flower to citronella and has a range of scents, including a lemony one. I'm no expert but I think they could be rather easily confused. Both can be used for culinary flavoring. Here is a link that might be useful: Pelargonium citronellum

It took me years to figure out that full sun really means half/part sun down here in Florida. I'm accustomed to gardening in a Virginia climate, which sure it can get extremely hot. But it only lasts a few weeks. Here it'll last several months. It's not so much the strength of the heat, but the length of it. A lot of plants can't handle it. If the plant is stressed or severely weakened, its then vulnerable to a host of all kinds of insect and disease problems, and they'll slowly croak. This is the first year I've actually experienced this pandemonium of sorts... trees I've planted in groupings where one or two get part shade are twice the size of the ones in full sun. Many plants die or perform poorly in the full sun but if they get a bit of shade they thrive. I have a few of the mosquito (shoo? citral?) geraniums. I planted them along with some irises (bearded and siberian), english roses and annuals in a 2ft by 15ft row. Half the row gets shade by 1-2pm during our long summer, and that side of the bed is thriving. The side that's in full sun looks very stressed, and even one of the roses kicked the bucket. Hopefully you've got enough partial shade in your yard, but if not, you can always plant small trees and foundation shrubs that can take the heat and sun, and then you're free to plant just about anything you want underneath of them, provided they're shaded by around 1-2pm. Not only will it be beautiful, but then everything will thrive and be much lower maintenance. :) Good luck!

depends on if you are doing melt & pour glycerin soap or if you are making cold proccess soap. If it's melt & pour, (M&P) it's easier to buy it already made into goatsmilk base....or you can ge plain & add your own goatsmilk powder to it. Then either fragrance/essential oil. This you can use immediately. If it's cold process you want to do, look on the web for recipies....it would involve palm, coconut, olive or vegetable oils (or a combination), lye, goatsmilk or goatsmilk poweder & fragrance/essential oil. THis has to age 4-6 weeks before using it. If you want to do cold process (CP) soap, it might be easier to start with a plain recpe first, then move to the more complicated ones. Good luck....both are fun to do. I'm just to impatient for the CP, so I went to the M&P. Plus the colors are brighter, & the scents can be made stronger in M&P...it's much more forgiving than CP. Hazel