FINALLY Nic! I was waiting for you to stop being so nice and speak up to Mr. Bigshot over here with his PhD in bonsai growing. He's only on here to belittle others. ALL the posts I've read from him are to tell you what you're doing WRONG....in a demeaning way. Never to just chat or write a friendly comment. Oh, wait...he does occasionally post to show off his bonsai jades, which would "end up in the compost pile" if they were mine (sound familiar??)....and by the way, I wasn't asking your opinion in that post....I could care less what your aesthetic preference is. Don't worry, you're the bonsai master and all the beginner members on here have NO place here. How dare they ask questions??? And then they don't get YOUR point? Oh my, the audacity. You're doing all the beginners a favor with your negative remarks...I'm sure that's why they posted in the first place, to be made to feel small. P.S. putting a smiley face after a snide comment doesn't make it any less snide. Gabi Here is a link that might be useful: Thread I referred to (

You were given good advice by both people who replied so far. It is all about the soil. I would think an Ace Hardware would carry a reliable line of planting soils. The reason that a cactus mix soil was suggested is that it is fast draining and you can lighten it up even more by buying a bag of perlite and adding that in also. I have come to realize that most potting soils really are too heavy and do hold too much water for too long. Of course then the plant goes into root rot and dies. I would bet that more houseplants die due to overwatering than to underwatering. Remember also after winter to fertilize regularly but use about half of whatever fertilizer that you use. That is another area that is commonly overdone. The fertilizer, if put on too heavily will burn your roots and again another dead plant. You can improve your soil each year by adding in some compost that will renew the soil. All houseplants need this. When I have done any cutting back on my ficus, it never showed any signs of decline. The tree really didn't react at all except that it continued to put out branches and leaves. If you need to do a bit of shaping up, I wouldn't be overly concerned about doing it. I would suggest buying a book on houseplants or looking through several books to get the idea of what an ideal ficus should look like. Then you can trim your trees appropriately. Do some heavy duty searching on line for info on the plant also, then you will know exactly what it's needs are. Mine sits in front of a southwest facing window so it gets lots of sun. I don't have any window coverings or blinds on that window either. My ficus seems to love it. In fact my whole house has huge windows that have virtually no coverings and my houseplants absolutely thrive. I don't believe most people who keep houseplants truly understand what low, medium, or sunny light is in their homes. I feel that most people don't have enough light to support many houseplants. A really handy tool to have is a moisture sensor, light sensor, ph sensor all in one. I'm sure Ace would have one and they are not expensive. With this device you will know if your light is adequate for your ficus, if the soil is dry or overly damp, and of course the ph level which should be between 6-7 for most plants. Choosing the proper fertilizer is important because it determines if your soil stays neutral, or acidic, whether it promotes green growth or flower growth. This is why I suggest people pick up a SIMPLE book on houseplants or outside gardening. You should take a look in your phonebook under nurseries, or garden to see if another source exists other than what you have mentioned. Feed stores surprise me with the wide variety of goods they carry. Perhaps one by you will have a wide variety of goods also. It isn't a sin to shop at WalMart for gardening and houseplant needs but with some knowledge from your houseplant book you will know precisely what you are looking for. I think the trick in the garden dept. is to stick to big brand names and not the WalMart brand or an off brand. This is one area that generics just don't work very well. So get yourself some knowledge from a book, the internet, or find some people in the area who have success with their houseplants and you will have all you need to grow plants well.

We have a very similar privacy fence up against a large shade tree. Putting in the fence (it replaced a chain link) plunged the area right up against the fence into deep shade. And the white bleeding heart seemed to revive in this situation. So, it's not a great foundation planting because you'll probably want something taller along the fence, but I think it would be happy there, and it's so nice in the blazing sun of mid-day to look into that dark area of my yard. In that light, practically all I can see are the white bleeding hearts against the green and the darkness. It's almost the same effect as putting in a a white night-flowering plant. Just a thought.

I love this blog on the Christmas tree debate. Well, I will be 80 this September and I never put up a Christmas tree last year because my beloved Westie passed away around last Thanksgiving, then this year there was a family issue which has not been resolved and also lost our beloved Scottie; therefore, I feel like Christmas has never really happened yet. I have a beautiful tree in my dining room with children's vintage toys under it and a beautiful flocked tree, more formal, in my living room, both decorated with 60 years of collectible beautiful ornaments. I don't light them unless for a special occasion, but they give me inner peace, comfort, and helps me de-stress. I know that some people think this is strange, but I remember reading when Carrie Fisher passed away, she always had a tree up year round. At my age, I think everyone should do what makes them happy!