Carl, I share your interest in cidermaking at home. I have already done literally hundreds of hours of research on the web regarding good English cider apple varieties, and what it all has come down to for me is really just a small handful of options. If you are like me, I think what you'll really want is a bittersharp apple. I mean, with the Red Delicious and Golden Russet, you have three trees already with very sweet apples, which will provide all the sweetness you need for your cider. So I think what you'll want is a bittersharp, which can be made into excellent cider on its own, or blended with your sweeter apple cider for a sweeter, higher alcohol result. The most reknowned English cider apple is a bittersharp variety called Kingston Black. It is available from U.S. nurseries such as Maple Valley. So you might want to start there. I've never tasted it, but it is regarded as the very best for cider, although you wouldn't want to eat it fresh or in pies. Unfortunately, this one supposedly makes for a small, sickly sort of tree and is not a strong producer. But, they say it's the best if you can get it to grow. My grafts of it all died, unfortunately. Another good English bittersharp is Foxwhelp. This one is available from Fedco and others. I have successfully grafted it onto one of my trees, but no apples yet unfortunately -- probably next year. Fedco says it is primarily tart, not very bitter, so you can actually eat it and make pies with it if you want. But should be a great apple for cider. And that is basically all the options available here in the U.S. commercially as far as traditional bittersharps. You could also try various crabapples, which have tendencies of being more tart and astringent. Wild crabapples are great for cider. But of course you wouldn't want to eat these -- strictly for cidermaking. You could also go non-traditional, and try Jonathan, Golden Noble, or Liberty. These are tart varieties that juice well, and you can also eat them and cook with them if you wish. If you do want to try a bittersweet variety, there are dozens to choose from. The most popular and available ones include Dabinett and Yarlington Mill. I think Arkansas Black would also make an excellent cider, as it is slightly astringent, although I have not tried making cider with it yet. Mollies are also astringent but extremely sweet. I don't know if you'd agree, but I think you've got enough very sweet apples already, so you'll want to try something different. All this being said... you might seriously just want to plant some unknown crabapple. I know it might sound crazy, but random crabapples usually make some really great cider. Whatever tree you get, you'll most likely want to get it on dwarf rootstock, so that it will start to produce in 2-3 years. If you plant a tree on semi-dwarf or full-size rootstock, it could take 7-8 years to start producing fruit, and if you're like me, I doubt you'll want to wait even 2-3 years, much less almost a decade!! Best of luck to you. There's a few of us cider geeks hanging around if/when you have more questions.

Well I did a little research and here's what I came up with: You're right, scotjute, it's too cold here for Deodor Cedar, Arizona Cypress, and Cedrus Libani. But the Western Yew, and Black Hills Spruce would grow just fine...in fact almost everyone already has one in their yard. Although most people cringe at the thought of actually planting a juniper...I rather like some of them, and will incorporate a few of them into my landscape. But again, they are so common here, everyone has one or ten. I definately like the Burr Oak idea...wish they didn't grow so slowly. And I think I'm going to go for the Western Red Cedar, too. A large, un-pruned boxwood might prove interesting...don't those things grow on the moon, also? Still undecided about a Weeping Ginko. Any input?

proper watering is all i ever recommend for conifers ... or any plant.. never feed a stressed plant ... and i dont buy into all those homeopathic goos ... when all it needs is PROPER WATERING .... do not water a conifer.. in a pot.. like you water annuals or perennials.. they simply do not need that much water ... and potting media is different for conifers/trees ... as drainage is imperative ... you will never make the brown green again ... so its just an issue of getting the root working.. to avoid future damage ... and if that happens.. it will eventually outgrow the damage ... you must have a pretty big balcony.. my Holstrup is going on 10 feet tall .. in about 7 years ... ken

Could be carpenter ants, a rather interesting organism in that they farm fungus. So, bits of this fungal mycellium are carried to new areas of wet or partially-decayed wood, be it in a tree somewhere, somebody's house, etc. The ants don't eat the wood directly, preferring to allow the fungus to do most of the digestion, which is then consumed. I'm a big fan of eating mushrooms, so to my way of thinking, these ants have good taste. What's not so good is finding they've set up shop somewhere in your home. But short of that, they are doing you no harm. Very occasionally, carpenter ants can contribute to branch failure on a tree in which they've got a colony. But it is far more likely that they will go about their business without ever impacting you or your property. +oM