The carpathian bellflowers will flower fairly continuously, from early July till Aug/Sept....as long as you continue to deadhead. The Birch hybrid has C.portenschlagiana in its lineage and will flower earlier than the Blue Clips. After blooming, you can shear back the straggly growth for another blooming in September (a bit of liquid fertiliser helps to pump out more flowering growth). Birch hybrid tends to be much smaller, only reaching around 6inches, whereas the Carpathian campanula will make a 1foot high and wide cushion. Birch Hybrid tends to have a much deeper and more saturated blue - the carpathians tend to be slightly more pastel in colour. As you may have guessed, Campanulas have always been a favourite for me, although I favour the taller perennials such as C.persicifolia, C,trachelium and C.latiloba. An easy and cheerful genus.

"Husband says it just needs a good pruning. Do you know if this will stress the tree even more?? " Yes, it will. Except for removing anything which is definitely dead (dry, brittle, leafless), pruning won't help. Southeast AK should be a very good climate for European Beech, probably better than almost anywhere in the lower 48. Cool, damp summers are good for it - in Europe, the best growth is in planted trees north of its native range, and it is one of the trees likely to suffer most from global warming. Resin

There is one important rule for growing tillandsias, especially indoors: after watering they must get dry fast (within 3-4 hours recommended). For that they need comfortable room temperature, some light and most importantly fresh air. Never close them inside glass orbs or mini greenhouses. If they stay there damp for too long, they will rot. Watering frequency depends on conditons/weather. Misting them 2-3x per week is enough during winter. Fertilizer very diluted, once per month. If your other plants look bad, there is very high chance that they are already infected by rot and will soon die too.

That PLs are usually found in riparian settings (streamside or in boggy environments) where they naturally occur is absolutely no cause to believe they will do well in boggy soils. They adapt well to various types of water culture, and perform very well in fast-draining, well-aerated soils, but should be expected to perform poorly when asked to make the transition in soils from lengthy periods of significant saturation to times when the soil has dried down and become reasonably well-aerated and more hospitable to the plant. The reason, as has been pointed out, is the fact that the plant will grow roots structured to allow the plant to deal with one or the other set of conditions, but not both in a cycle that starts with a long period of saturation transitioning to the more appropriate moist (rather than wet or soggy) medium. How well a soil drains is determined almost exclusively by the size of the particles it is comprised of. While the arrangement you have with the pot sitting above the effluent in the collection saucer is commendable, it has no impact on how well the soil drains or its level of aeration. 1. How often should I water? Intervals will vary with season, light load, amount of air movement, ....... Unless you use a soil that allows watering on a schedule as opposed to on an 'as needed' basis, and yours doesn't, you should absolutely stick to watering only when the plant gets dry to the point it needs water. In fact, in spite of the stress it would create, it would actually be better if you waited for this plant to exhibit signs of the first stage of wilt before you water than to water before the plant need it. I'm not advocating using drought stress indicators to signal the plants need for water - just trying to establish a feel for the idea that a little under-watering is less limiting than over-watering. For this plant, marking your watering date on the calendar and OCCASIONALLY waiting for the first signs of wilt to establish appropriate intervals between waterings is a reasonable strategy. If you'd rather, buy a wooden birch dowel rod (1/4 or 5/16") from a hardware or big box store. Cut into appropriate length pieces for your plants, sharpen the ends with a pencil sharpener, and use the pieces stuck deep into the pot as 'tells' that will let you know the moisture conditions deep in the pot. If they come out wet or stained dark from wet soil, withhold water until they come out clean. MUCH better than "watering gauges/meters". 2. What else can I do for this plant? The answer to that could easily fill a book. You could try reading this (click on link). I read someplace that liquid fertilizer once a month is good too. Yay or nay on that? To be meaningful, any advice regarding frequency of fertilizer applications has to take into consideration your soil choice and watering habits. For example, if you water in small sips to avoid your MG soil remaining soggy too long, a one month interval at the regular rate is an automatic problem for more than one reason, and the type of fertilizer as well as its NPK %s both play a part in determining the criticality of the issue. If you're using a soil that allows you to water at will w/o the need to fear consequences centering on the fact the soil will be saturated for a length of time measured in weeks, you can actually fertilize at low doses every time you water, which is how I choose to fertilize all my plants during the winter. One type of soil (those that are very water-retentive, like yours) make it almost impossible to maintain control over effective nutritional supplementation; other types of soil that support little or no saturation make establishing and maintaining a sound supplementation program monkey easy. Al