I have some wonderful Top-Setting Garlic, planted last March that I brought from my parents' garden in Idaho, Zone 4. They grow tiny bulbs on the flower and many of those sprout and make flowers of their own..some of which make a 3rd sprout. All without ever touching the ground. Hopefully I will have some of the tiny bulbs available on the Seed Trading Forum this fall.Read up on them a bit and found out they were considered extinct for a few decades so I want to do my part to help spread them out to as many gardeners nationwide as possible so that never happens again. They also set normal-sized underground bulbs that can be dug and used or divided after the 2nd Fall. Only place they don't seem to thrive is zones 9,10, and 2.

skunk cabbage is an amazing plant. one of the most advanced wildflowers on earth. it can live for over 2000 years!!! The Eastern Skunk Cabbage (Symplocarpus Foetidus) this plant is usually treated like trash bacause of many lies. but in reality when you get to know them these plants will facinate you, most likely more than any other plant. the skunk cabbage is a very advanced creature, even for a plant. it can manipulate heat. it uses this heat to melt through the snow and bloom very early in the season. i have watched this plant abused ever since i was a child. it is always been one of my favorite plants and i have always ttried in vain to protect them... but to no avail. swamps are filled, millions of skunk cabbage smothered and ripped apart by bulldozers and excavators... hated literally to death by farmers and gardeners alike. they kick over the flowers. they chop the plants down and put systematic herbacide on the wound causing massive chemical burns which slowly and agonizingly kill the plant. people stomp on them and blugeon them and no one seems to care. what these humans don't understand is how intelligent and amazing these creatures truly are. they just can't comrehend that anything is abl to feel without a human brain... but the skunk cabbage has a brain. its called a caudex. it is a cental nervous system located at the base of the thick subterranian stem. it looks like a spine. with a woody calloused exterior replacing bone. and inside is a soft starchy tissue containing a vascular structure. in the middle is something that looks like a spinal cord. and it may as well be. this caudex is the plants brain. and like it or not we have to accept it. the caudex has many sockets and countless long thick roots emanate from them. inside each root is a nerve connecting back to the caudexal ensemble. these roots are even mobile. the can pull the plant where it wants to go. or if the plant is in pain it can clench them. the skunk cabbage is capable of feeling pain a reasoning as are all plants. something our hardened hearts refuse to accept. skunk cabbages are especially intelligent. they can not reproduce asexually and the push their seeds away from themselves so they should all be evenly spaced. but they are not... some skunk cabbages are som intertwined that you cannot pull them apart even though they are two seperate caudices. skunk cabbage will pull themselves toward a loved one and will embrace eachother for life. whn they flower the flowers will be one male and one female and the sexual componants will actually face each other. to ensure that only his/her mate can pollinate ot have sex with him or her. this shows that they feel love. they even have preferences to whom they want to spend their lives with. skunk cabbages can live very long lives. some entities are believed to be thousands of years old. but most modern skunk cabbage never will see that lifespan because now we are encroaching upon their sacred homes. skunk cabbages grow in colonies, formed of concentric rings. they are all one family. each ring of parents has a ring of children encircling it so that the children will be watched over and have room to grow and procreate. if one is hurt of if one dies they all know and they all weep. the elder(s) are located directly in the middle of the colony. like a king and queen, but so far away from the ruthless kings of humanity. they love their subjects. if the colony is unable to expand due to deforestation or habitat loss, the colony will began to suffocate. the elders will commit and altruistic suicide. they will let go and push their vulnerable caudices from the earth... and they will die... this is to ensure that their children have room to grow. this selfless act will continue until enough room has been created. the elders are always the first to do this. this is how a human leader should feel. we could learn a lot from the skunk cabbage. in this dying world their is little left of nature... throughout my painful and agonizing existence i have been comforted by these forest sentinels. I cannot bear the thought of losing them. and i would gladly lay down my own life to ensure that their species endures humanity's biological holocaust. skunk cabbage are very artistic. each one has its own artistic style. even though the flowers die back every year they always look the same on an individual plant. the variations are such that they look like different species even though they are all one genus. this shows that they can identify themselves and have artistic preferences.

Because this is denning time, reputable wildlife removal services will ask you to wait until the kits are grown. Since your porch allows access to the animals, it is only fair to let it finish its business of raising young. After they are evicted, the access area must be closed off or they (or other animals) will return to use it. hsus.org has very good articles outlining how to deal with wildlife. Their website is abysmally slow. But patience is a good thing. Here is the hsus information on skunks: Solving Problems with Skunks Skunk By Laura Simon Occasional skunk sightings in a neighborhood need not be cause for alarm. Preventative measures such as covering garbage cans and not leaving pet food out will help discourage their presence. Also, covering openings under patios, porches, and crawl spaces will prevent occupancy. Always make sure no animal is denning there first. If a skunk wanders into your garage, don't panic. Just open the garage door before dusk, and wait until the skunk exits for nightly foraging. Sprinkle a wide band of white flour across the threshold, so you can see evidence of exiting footprints. For obvious reasons, keep all domestic animals away from the area. Once the visitor has left, close the door and make sure it stays closed. Evicting Skunks Because skunks are nomadic, their residence under your shed, porch or outbuilding will resolve itself in due time: They'll just move on. However, if you must evict skunks from under a building, try spraying a mixture of eight ounces of dish detergent, eight ounces of castor oil, and one gallon of water around the area where the skunks reside. To determine if the den has been vacated, stuff newspaper in the entry hole; if animals are still present, the paper will be pushed out within 24 hours. The only way to keep skunks permanently out from under a building is to seal the structure off with chicken wire or hardware cloth. It's important to sink the wire down a few inches into the ground, bend it at a 45 angle, and then run at least 12 inches of wire out away from the building in a reverse "L" shape, so a false bottom is createdÂfoiling any skunk who tries to dig back in. A note of caution: Be sure that all animals are out from under a structure before sealing it off; otherwise, the remaining skunks will starve to death. Windows Because of their natural nearsightedness and poor climbing ability, skunks often tumble into window wells and are unable to climb out. If the window well is shallow (under two feet), place a piece of wood in the well at less than a 45° angle to serve as a ramp. Make sure the board has a towel or chicken wire tacked to it for traction. If the window well is any deeper, put on heavy gloves, place smelly cheese in the far corner of an animal carrier or plastic rectangular garbage can tipped on its side, and slowly lower it into the window well. The skunk will be enticed by the cheese and should walk right into the container. Slowly raise the can or carrier, elevator style, to ground level, keeping your hands on the outside so you don't risk being bitten. Leave the area. The skunk will soon amble out. It's essential to then purchase or make a window well cover out of heavy wire mesh fencing, or this situation will recur. If you hire professionals to help remove the skunk, make sure they release the skunk on site. Trapping Although people's initial reaction may be to get rid of skunks, trapping will not solve the problem, because skunks from the surrounding area will quickly replace those removed. As long as an inviting habitat (brush or rock piles, elevated sheds, and openings under porches or house foundations) exists, skunks will use it. Trapping merely creates turnover in the population; in springtime, this can result in orphaned, starving skunks wandering around neighborhoods. Rabies People often have exaggerated fears about rabies and skunks. In the central United States, skunks may contract their own strain of rabies or serve as a "spillover" species for the raccoon variant that is currently present in the mid-Atlantic and Northeastern states. However, since 1980, only one human death has been attributed to the skunk strain of rabies in the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, the few human deaths from rabiesÂon average two to three a year, nationwideÂhave largely been due to the bat strain or canine strains contracted overseas. The bottom line is that people stand a far greater risk of dying from a falling brick or bad hamburger than from skunk rabies. Nonetheless, it's important to take proper precautions by calling your local animal control officer if you observe a sick, disoriented skunk in areas where rabies occurs. What's That Smell? Skunks use their strong-smelling spray to defend themselvesÂin fact they don't have any other form of defense. The spray is composed of sulfuric acid that can be "fired" from either of two independently operating anal glands. Skunks stamp their front feet as a warning when threatened, giving you a chance to back off. Dogs, however, tend to ignore this warning. That's why it's hard to find a human who has been sprayed, but easy to find a dog who has. Skunk odor on wayward pets may be neutralized with liberal amounts of vinegar or tomato juice. This will make the odor tolerableÂonly time will eliminate it. A reported deodorant recipe for skunk spray that can be used on animals and clothes includes these ingredients: 1 quart 3% hydrogen peroxide 1/4 cup baking soda 1 teaspoon Dawn® liquid dish soap Apply liberally and hold your nose! Chlorine bleach, ammonia, or commercial products containing neutroleum alpha may be used on inanimate objectsÂdo not use these on any living thing. Carbolic soap and water are safe to use on skin. Liberal flushing with cold water will ease the discomfort of skunk spray in the eyes. ÂLaura Simon is Urban Wildlife director for The Fund for Animals, New York City ÂSome information in this page was adapted from Wild Neighbors: The Humane Approach to Living with Wildlife, available from The HSUS.

ophoenix, I didn't mean that they started to look worse after I cut them. They were already looking worse without me doing anything. So I cleaned the shears and cut the leaves. Now I'll wait and see what happens. I left the little leaves (new growth) on top alone. The azaelas and sedum seem to be doing great, so it seems endless summer hydrangeas are pretty picky compared to them. I'm not too worried about the azaela or sedum though. Azaelas are everywhere and I only took the sedum because my neighbor offered it. I mostly want a purple hydra. I can always buy one in the spring but its fun to experiment with cuttings. Its funny how each plant acts differently. I turned 1 rose of sharon into 10 just by cutting off a branch and plopping it into the ground. No help whatsoever. Just put a dead stick next to it and roped it for the 1st year to keep it upright. 5 years later and they are all still alive, very bushy, and blooming like crazy. That's the easiest plant ever to propagate. I wish they were all that easy lol.