Hi, Donn. The consensus among the veterans at the bamboo forum seems to be that rhizome barriers offer a false sense of security. Apparantly, rhizomes can puncture with some forcefullness and work there way out into the surrounding landscape. Also, the containment effect, disruption of ground moisture etc, apparantly leads to the ultimate decline of the plants health and vigor. Don't want to come across as an expert when I've only very recently been converted, but this is the viewpoint I've come to accept. But as to the temp- I'm not concerned at all!! I've seen it listed as -10, but even at -5, I'll probably not see that temperature too soon. Anyway, with minimum temps for bamboo what you will usually find is the temperature at which foliage is killed. For culms (canes) you have to go colder still and to kill the plant so that it will never come back again, you have to go SIGNIFICANTLY colder. The great thing with bamboo is the remarkable growth you get in just one season, so even if things were to die back to the ground, you get a quick recovery. I grew Bambusa Multiplex 'Golden Goddess' for 6 years until it got bulldozed this winter by a careless contractor. You'll probably find a minimum temp in the 20's on that one. Granted I was left with a clump of dead stems EVERY spring and therefore it never attained nearly the height that you'll read about, but I GREW IT!!!!! Glad you approve of the Temple Bamboo. I did go ahead and place an order today with bamboogardens.com for 15 divisions. Can't testify to quality as this is my first order with them, but I was ecstatic that I was able to verify availability and get assurance of a next business day shipment in a personalized phone call since I will soon be moving and want to plant within days of getting to the new house. They didn't have the straight species which gets the nice maroonish cast in stock, but I was able to get the cultivar 'Viridis' which retains a solid green coloration and since its the structure/form of the plant that I love most and everything else seemed right, I went for it! If you are not already, I encourage you to try some bamboo if you are up to the maintenance. Or, experiment with one of the subtropical clumpers as a dieback shrub! There are hardy clumpers too but unfortunately, they don't seem to be reliable in the hot, humid SE. Sorry if I'm preaching to the choir!

Jan, looking back to your first pics of this topic, I see that most of the Picea abies witches' brooms are having another colour than the tree they're hanging in. Their colour is more blue-ish instead of green, I've seen this before at other brooms of this species as well. Do you know why this is? I hope you're not going to tell me that they're blue-ish to make it much easier on you to find them :0)

Nice pics of a variety of brooms. Even with tiny brooms, it seems like the communal thing to do to: 1. share scion wood with other broomers 2. leave the existing broom in the tree where it is available for others on future scion-quests also, so it has the chance to set more cones in future years. Is collecting the whole broom analogous to killing the chicken to get the egg, or perhaps the goose to get the golden egg? ....not to mention leaving evidence for future researchers. Brooming is great sport, isn't it? If you do decide to get a haircut, please don't cut off your whole head. Cheers, Charley

Drive around and look at different property line plantings to get an idea of what you like. A hedge of all one kind of plant tends to look a bit more formal, expecially if trimmed. My personal preference is for a mix of several kinds so there is a variety of textures and flowering times to increase interest, but it may not be yours. If you want flowers, you'll get some bees, but unless the girls are actually playing in the shrubs while they are blooming, it shouldn't be a problem. I'd guess that they are old enough to remember to stay out of the shrubs while they are blooming. Diggingthedirt has made some nice suggestions. Hydrangeas, especially H. paniculatas like Tardiva, Pinky Winky, Limelight, Pink Diamond, etc, or H. arborescens, like Annabelle, are pretty trouble free and they bloom for long periods. Kousa dogwoods are just starting to bloom here now. I've got 2 that I got cheaply at a big box store three years ago. I wasn't sure if they'd be hardy, so didn't want to spend too much on them, but they have done well and have bloomed for two years now. They are about 10 feet tall, and were maybe 5 or 6 feet when I got them. Forsythia is nice for the early color, but also because the branches if untrimmed grow up and arch down, and can be trimmed from below if needed to make a nice play space underneath for the kids. Blueberries have bright red fall color, white spring flowers, and the kids can compete with the birds to get the berries unless you put nets over the shrubs. I love many of the Viburnums, but until I know whether or not they will go the way of chestnuts and elms, I'm not spending any money on them. I'm hoping that the viburnum beetle gets under control before it gets to NH because the genus provides an nice range of shrubs, many offering nice flowers (some with scent), berries, and fall color. There are native and imported varieties. If you have deer, I'd not suggest yews; they are the one plant that regularly got completely denuded, nibbled down to stubs at my previous house. Needless to say, I haven't planted any where I live now. Some of the hardy deciduous azaleas or rhododendrons, like the Lights series ('Northern Highlights', 'Rosy Lights', 'Golden Lights', etc.) have lovely, scented flowers, colorful fall foliage, and will look nice against your neighbor's trees. Between the wind and the sun, you probably don't want evergreen rhodies, though I love them and have a number along my woods edges. The one exception might be some of the PJM series, which are rock hardy and don't seem to mind winter sun. They have reddish to olive colored winter foliage that greens up again in the spring. There are also some summer blooming deciduous rhodies - if you want info on them, I'll look some up and add them - just let me know. One of my favorite native small trees, also a dogwood, is Pagoda dogwood (Cornus alternifolia). It's blooming now, but doesn't have typical dogwood flowers. There are creamy clusters which turn into berries that eventually are almost black on bright red stems which the birds love. Fall color is nice also, mostly pastel shades. Farther south it needs some shade, but it does fine in full sun to full shade in NH. If you have some areas of wetter soil (anywhere from average to soggy) a native deciduous holly, winterberry holly (Ilex verticillata) is nice. It's a plain green in the summer with nonprickly leaves that drop in the fall, but has stunning red berries that last until the birds eat them either in the late autumn or early spring. You may have noticed them growing wild in wet areas. You'd need one male plant (unless you have wild ones nearby) for every 6 or so female plants - the females won't fruit without a male, but I've found I have male plants growing in a nearby wetland, so I didn't have to buy a male. Magnolias don't grow fast, but if you choose a variety with later flowers (to escape late frost damage) they can be pretty stunning small to medium trees. They grow slowly, so wouldn't be really tree sized for a number of years. If you check frequently, especially early in the season when the care (or lack of care) won't have influenced plant health, you may find some of these at Home Depot or other big box stores to help stretch your budget, or you can get small starter plants at Bluestone Perennials (http://www.bluestoneperennials.com). (I think they may have some of them on sale now for something like $5 each, but they are tiny!) If you want a whole hedge of something, a nursery that sells liners ( basically rooted cuttings) by the flat is Western Maine Nurseries. They do have a minimum order, I think 2 flats (the two flats don't have to both be the same kind of plant) or $100, but if you are doing a long hedge on a small budget that may work out for you in the long run. They would need good soil prep and mulch along with regular watering for the first year, but I've had good success with their plants. Here is a link that might be useful: Western Maine Nurseries