Hi silenceisgod, Welcome to The Plant Exchange. Please see addressing newbie and newer member issues for instructions on getting your Member Page email link set up so that you can easily be reached. In the past, having the follow-up replies emailed to you hasn't always been 100%. Additionally there are also a lot of members who have no link, or have chosen to show it to no one so even if you get a a follow-up reply via email, you can't always reply to the email. Happy Trading! Sue...aka chemocurl

Those in the wild up the mountains endure colder than my yards temps so I will assume they will be fine. We get 20's and 30's as usual winter temps with rare single digits, I have a place to keep them by the basement steps if it gets too cold for a few days I can bring the pot in. I have thought about the idea about getting a plant from the wild but have heard that I can get fined because it's our state flower, I don't know how true that is.I have gotten trees that way with good results when they are dormant.So more than likely the seed leaves are the 2 tiny ones I see. How long until they getat least quarter sized? I'm prepared for slow growth but can you guess at inches per year? I also would like to know if you dug up some soil from where the natural colonies are, I've heard they need that, or is compost good enough? Homemade not commercial compost. I will have to eventually get the book about them, the authors name should be easy to remember, Dick and Jane will stick in my memory.

In the real conifer world everything is surviving naturally because nature placed it there. These issues of why it failed never come to mind. They come and go naturally. Gardening with conifers represents a real challenge. Why, because a big percentage of conifers you are growing are trying to survive away from their homeland where nature intended for them to survive. Most of us grow them on the edge where acclimation is questionable. If you want to do this expect failures. I have had my share. Certain cultivars require modest attention to insure their survivability. Others a more intense regimen of care is required. In spite of all our efforts we still loose them. The chemistry is just not right. A lot of variables come into play for a conifers survivability in a garden setting. Micro climate is number one. You have to figure out what yours is and what will successfully grow in that environment. Soil composition is a big player. Have you had yours checked? Planting correctly, watering and after care. All three of these require attention. Have some idea of the health of the conifer you are buying. Pop it out of the pot. Root bound, don't buy it. B&B, broken root ball. Don't buy it. This is a frying pan that just keeps on cooking. Big time if you have become heavily evolved in this venture of collecting. Count you losses only as opportunities for learning and enjoying the hobby more. Dave

I bought what was supposed to be mountain laurel seed back in Sept. I planted them and they started to grow pretty quick. As I do with all plants, I began to research these plants to see what the seedlings would look like and was surprised to find my seed wasnt ML after all. Could someone be so kind as to help me ID this "thing" I have been growing...lol...I know it isnt ML according to Esh's pic. Ive searched every weed site I know and every plant site I could and havent been able to ID this. Thanks! Sorry, just signed up minutes ago so I have yet to navigate the site to know how to post pics in posts. The link will take you to my photobucket for a pic of this "thing" in question Here is a link that might be useful: unknown plant/weed