are you hoping for different answers in different forums ... i either dreamed i answered this.. or i did in fact do so elsewhere.. but i cant find it in the conifer forum ... try linking up all your posts.. and give us some answers to the questions i asked elsewhere .. ken

Clearly the tight balls on the Lake County web site are the result of close shearing and not how the plant grows on its own. Those I have seen here were fluffy pyramidal juvenile foliage forms; I am not surprised to hear about this falling over or splaying open, in the manner of similar forms of other species. That's too bad as it is rather appealing looking otherwise - in garden center sizes anyway. It isn't a matter of 'Bobazam' being a "correct" name and Mr. Bowling Ball then being therefore incorrect. The two names are instead two different things, Mr. Bowling Ball being a registered trademark used to sell the 'Bobazam' cultivar. During these days of large production nurseries in particular using trademarks and patents to assure profits being made on their plant introductions this combination of a memorable selling name (as these are called in Britain) and a jawbreaker cultivar name is common. Often the cultivar names in these instances are combinations of syllables that actually convey information, in this case the cultivar name surely stands for 'Bowling ball zam'pini - the last being the name of the principal of Lake County nursery. Here is a link that might be useful: [Mr. Bowling Ball] = 'Bobazam' Fact Sheet from Lake County nursery This post was edited by bboy on Fri, Aug 1, 14 at 22:34

Its a giant puffball mushroom and good to eat. Slice it up like a portobello and saute. msubevwsit gor confirmation from one more person so I wont be responsible if you end up like the old elephant in Babar:)

big city name ... is there landscape fabric under the mulch ... how do you water .... trees and conifers arent really a drip thing .... conifers are trees .. and ESTABLISHED trees should not need nutrients ... and your plants look old enough to be established ... but tell how long they have been there.. how they were planted.. etc ... a soil test would tell you if anything is deficient from your soil ... but frankly.. looking at the rest of the plants.. i doubt nutrients are the problem .... if the soil were that bad.. all your evergreens would be suffering .... your plants are stressed for some reason.. and fert is not really a response to stress.. what is your soil type ... is there any clay issue ... aka drainage .. or circling roots from improper planting ... ??? and last.. but not least.. the sidewalk looks brand new.. how long has it been there.. did it come after the plants... is it south of the plants.. meaning new reflected hot sun?? .. root injury due to install of cement??? welcome to the forums .. ken