Any guesses as to what will happen as it approaches the canopy of the honeylocust directly overhanging it? The magnolia is 5' high and the lowest branches of the honeylocust are about 8' high (you can see them in the first photo). Some possibilities: 1) the shade will stunt the magnolia and cause it to mostly stop growing before it hits the other tree's canopy; 2) the magnolia will grow into the honeylocust canopy; 3) it will grow outward toward the open light to the south, to get out from under the shade. The honeylocust is the neighbor's tree, but 30-40 percent of the canopy overhangs our yard. Typical for honeylocust, the shade is light and it leafs out late, so the magnolia does get some light from above as well as from the south. The law allows us to lop the honeylocust branches that overhang onto our side so long as we don't create a hazardous condition, but frankly I enjoy the shade from the neighbor's tree more than the Little Gem.

Well it certainly seems that the world plant specimens are being subjected to an ever increasing number of ailments at an ever increasing rate. Much of this is a direct response to the speed that both people and goods traverse the world and the regulatory authorities are simply overwhelmed trying to screen for problems. Viruses in cannas are rather widespread and often the grower or supplier is totally ignorant of the problem or simply refuses to acknowledge it. Purchase cannas directly from a reputable grower that is aware of the issue and checks their crop for virus issues. Better yet would be to purchase cannas that have been virus indexed. This is often done in tissue cultured plants and if the test results are negative the plants would be clean at the time of testing. That is about as good as it can get but few plants are sold this way at this time. Some cannas being offered in a few of the box stores are grown from seed strain cultivars (grown from seed) and typically would be virus free to start their growing cycle. Recently we have begun to see some of our beautiful old hybrids being cleaned and offered for sale at select nurseries. Checking for virus in purchased cannas can be somewhat inexact because the symptoms are sometimes difficult to casually observe. There will be times in the season when the symptoms are quite obvious. Doing a quick search for canna virus will produce a number of leaf symptoms that range from mild to terrible. Keep in mind that each canna virus produces somewhat different symptoms and plants can be infected by more than one virus at the same time. It is always a good idea to grow any new canna segregated from any existing plants to check for disease issues. The above is not meant to scare one from purchasing new cannas but to rationally deal with the problem and enjoy the results. Kent

If you guys are still talking about the 'Hobbit' Jade, don't cut yours, Stush. I already have a little rooted cutting I can send to Mary. No point in taking a cutting from yours if it's still a small plant. Mary, if I'm understanding correctly that Stush already has a Hobbit, and you'd like one, email me. My email is just my user name here at AOL.com. The cutting I have is small, but it's rooted in a peat pellet and growing. I'm sure a Jade collector will have no problem growing it.

The colors remind me of Heliopsis helianthoides `Summer Night`, also resilient and low maintenace not 100% sure about the foliage. Most Helianthus perennials I know don`t have that reddish-brown center height about 4 feet?