Update. I was able to dig a few holes myself to about 6" and 24"+ wide and then I filled them with water and let them drain a few times. They drain within 3-10 hours. After a couple soaks, I was able to get one of these holes to 15", others to 10". Where I want to put dwarf Reed and Fuerte avocados I could only get 3" down. An asphalt driveway was here before which probably compacted things. I had a landscaper use a breaker hammer to dig large holes (~18" deep, ~36" D). Here's where my problem is. I filled these with 12" of water and two days later the water has only drained a couple inches. This surprised me because all other holes I've dug into the DG have drained well even though they seem like the same material. I'm thinking I should build up the ground and plant them above grade. I know avos have most of their roots within the top 6" and the area has a few inches of existing soil, plus a thin layer of leaves and then 3" of fine bark mulch I put down. The hard DG also softens over time with water and organic matter, right? Is this a good plan? I have broken concrete available for back fill. I think I should layer it with soil to eliminate air pockets instead of making a dry well which I don't think will drain. Lastly, is this a good idea or am I fighting a losing battle? I chose avocados because avos are evergreen, this is an ornamental part of my property and we love and eat them every day. However, I don't want to kill two expensive trees. One hole has the wheelbarrow over it. The other hole has some rubble in it (an attempt to raise the water level to possibly more porous soil. Proposed plan:

jsvand, All I got was an eggplant tree(eggplant grafted onto potato tree), rookman malay apple budwood (which reminds me, I have to go graft it now), papaya seeds, and lalee jewo budwood. The lalee jewo budwood looked great. Jeff had a bunch of extra mango seedlings so he grafted them for me last night and we divided up the trees. Hopefully they all survive so I can send you a tree.

Hello Mango kush, I grew marang from seed. I thought they were very easy to germinate. The seeds came from Puerto Rico but not exactly sure where. Bo sent them to me to germinate for her. I now have 2 that are a few inches tall. For me, there slow growers. Sheehan, That sucks about the maprang. I wanted to order one this summer. I wonder how long it will be before they have more. Did they say anything about there trip to Vietnam? They told me a while back they were going there to bring back other tropical fruits. I am going to have to check and see what they have this summer. Andrew

I would like anything from a good bakery. My birthday sometimes falls on Thanksgiving and mostly just before or after. I have had my share of supermarket turkey shaped cakes and cakes with pilgrims. I used to ask for ice cream cakes as a kid because they at least had ice cream and usually weren't awful.....The worst was when I was 16. I wanted something grown up and beautiful. My sister talked my boyfriend and my parents into going to a amusement/arcade park for a surprise. The place was a castle themed park called Camelot. All the kids at my school called it "scam-a-lot" I was horrified. When the girl brought out the cake badly frosted and with day glow icing clowns and balloons I asked them to get it boxed and we went home to have ice cream instead. At least none of my friends saw it all. No I am not stealing this from the show Golden Girls. This actually happened to me! I had another cake disaster for my graduation. My sis and I got the freshest ingredients and made a cake from a cake bible cookbook from the library. I had spent a week prior making frosting roses for this masterpiece had saving them in the freezer. We made the cake and tasted the trimmed off parts it was fantastic! The next day we frosted it and that evening when the family tried it it was so dry no one wanted to eat it. After that I always ordered a cake from the European bakery I love in Pasadena. The other cake fail I was involved in was my cousin's wedding. She knew I could do frosting flowers well so she asked me to come over and decorate her wedding cake. She wanted me to use this lavender icing she made. I decorated the whole thing and we set it by the window. After an hour into the reception, the purple icing in the sunlight faded to blue and was melting a little. My part of the family was out drinking and laughing on the grass. My cousin's husband's family was inside being shocked at the drinking going on outside. The cake suddenly started to lean and lucky her husband's brother was sitting close by and grabbed for it. The top 2 tiers were saved but the lower ones crashed. She didn't put in any supports inside. But, great sport that she is, she just laughed and served her husband's family the upper layers and our family the toppled ones. We didn't mind a bit. She's a great gal and can laugh through anything. One of the weddings I can say I really enjoyed. Sliding color changing cake and all. Please no one get a bright colored cake for a birthday. At my granddad's 90th, my aunt ordered a NASA themed cake with dark blue icing. My Grandad worked in the space program after being in the air force during WWII. Everybody had a dark blue tongue and blue teeth. All these old people with blue lips and teeth! I love a simple cake with almond extract and some fresh ripe strawberries or peaches and whipped cream. I had a fantastic cake once made with 4 different pastel fruit flavored layers and also a very good Black Forest cake by a Belgian pastry chef who used to have a bakery in my city but has now retired. I'm too wary to try a special cake again but I love to make pies and decorate cupcakes with fresh flowers.