EJP, there are many sources for bubble wrap insulation. Type foil bubble insulation into Google for example. I bought one roll from Greenhouse Mega Store and another damaged roll on eBay. The eBay roll was only bent up a bit so I got a deal there, but if it sticks to itself in wet (e.g. if you fold/store it wet like I did once) then it delaminates. So if I were to buy more I would go with the Greenhouse Mega store since I know their stuff is top quality. For ground staples type that into Google and get lotsa places. I got mine from Peaceful Valley. The sun doesn't heat up the interior because the outside is reflective as well as the inside: the sun hitting the cover is reflected off and does not heat up the cover and plant. That is one of the main advantages of my method, all of the other covers people use have a risk of overheating your plant. Also, the reflectivity on the inside will reflect the ground heat back onto the plant at night. Its a win-win. I came up with this idea because I bought some of this stuff to insulate my greenhouse and had half a roll left over so I decided to try it as a plant cover. Scott

Well, it’s not as much fun if you do the identifying for us :-)

I agree with both of you, but the state of CA (which these rules came from) seems to have a theory that fires will not leap from tree to tree if the trees are not touching each other. You and I know, and anyone who has seen strong winds knows, that this is nonsense. If it is bone dry and over 90 degrees F, and the hot wind is blowing very fast, dainty pruning around the garden will not stop a large fire, no matter how much you prune. It might stop a fire if it was, as you say, very small and very shy, or if the fire was actually a single house fire, not a wildfire, and was being fought by 5 fire engines all for that one house, which happened to our house once. We do have friends who have enormous properties of 5-10 acres, and do not have gardens at all, but rather acres of watered and mowed lawns with tiny low flower beds around their houses, and only a very few trees. That will help, of course, but we live in an old neighborhood with lots and lots of mature lovely trees, and mostly older, large and/or historic homes on quarter acre lots with lots of bushes, etc. (One of the "rules" is to remove ...this and that... "out to 100 ft away from your house" My comment to the fire person was that to follow that rule, I would have to knock down 3 of my neighbors nearby houses, and I think they would object). The written rules if actually enforced would make everyone have to bulldoze their properties and cover them with concrete, so they don't try to enforce them as written - the fire person told us that our local fire department decided what part to enforce - I am glad of this, but it is NOT good governance. (One town actually passed a law saying 100% of the homes in that town had to clear a space of 5' entirely around their houses, and pave it with concrete. They decided to rescind that law after the outraged residents circulated a petition to get a measure put on the ballot to recall the entire City Council (which you can do for any ror no reason in CA). I regard the exercise as mostly cosmetic, but so far it has made me get some work done which was needed in the garden any way, and that is OK. Jackie

Plants need to grow in order to maintain their vitality. Pruning is the best way to keep a plant compact. I have many very old woody plants that have tons of genetic vigor (natural fast growers), the size of which is maintained through judicious pruning. This mulberry was lifted from the landscape in 1980: This bittersweet vine came as a started cutting from a friend in 1993: This Korean hornbeam was started from a cutting in 1983. All the images were taken within the last 2 years. Al