I've never used these fertilizers. But can't imagine that they could become unfit for use. Plenty of things that smell rotten and are in fact rotting make perfectly good fertilizer. I might not want to dump a rotten mess on certain crops at certain times but cover it with some soil and things should be OK. Remember the Indians who used fish...that can smell pretty bad. If nothing else dump it on the compost pile. The Fruitnut

Karl -- "proper pruning" is different from what I was thinking of. When I said "pruned very hard every spring" I meant within inches of the ground. I haven't grown hybrid teas myself, but did help out in gardens where they were grown. Some people pick the plant solely for the flowers, ignoring the stated size of the plant. It gets really tall? Well, just keep whacking it back to below 12" in the spring. You want it to grow and bloom more? Feed it with Miracle Gro every time you water. Want to cut flowers for your vase? Take as much stem as necessary to make your bouquet. These were the plants that eventually wore themselves out. That type of growing is different from what you describe, and is likely the reason you have such healthy long-lived plants. I remember one of my neighbors in Buffalo who said "I have to switch out my hybrid teas every few years" and that seemed odd to me at the time. Later, when I saw how he tried to turn big hybrid teas into basically "small shrubby perennials" to fit into his small border, I understood why. And this is what I meant by the difference between "average life span" and "potential life span." The former takes into consideration plants which die before their time -- either because of abuse, or because the gardeners got bored with them. Moral of the story -- hybrid teas can live a long time if you pick a good one for your area and take good care of it. :-) ~Christopher

Theoretically they are true perennials. In practice they will decline after a few years. Plants can be potted up and grown into bigger specimens, but usually in my experiences the old soil will cause the roots to decline and then crown rot sets in. Crown rot starts as a darkening of the stems at the soil line. Plants will begin to wilt even when well watered (plants will also wilt in hot conditions even though moist, but this is a different situation). So, the wise thing to do, which we tend to know but not always follow (ahem, cough, cough) is to start new plants from leaves while the old plants are still at their peak. This takes up more room than just keeping one specimen of a given variety but is a good way to keep plants going. An exceptional exception to this rule: Back in the 70's there was this very nice and very vigorous cultivar called 'Super Nymph'--fairly plain blue flowers but in great profusion on many stems. This cultivar has disappeared. Many years ago I visited a garden on a tour. It was located in cool foggy San Francsico. The owner had bought the house from the estate of an orchid specialist, who had his garden designed by a great local designer and member of the horticulture society. Anyway, there in the garden were lots of plants of 'Super Nymph' still going strong after 20 years or more. They were planted in highly amended soil in beds of this small jewel-like garden. I did get a cutting but lost it. I haven't been back to that garden in years so don't know if the plants are still growing. The designer of the garden was the late Harland Hand, who I think got the 'Super Nymph's from Bartley Schwarz, who was growing this plant and using it in hybridizing. We all knew each other back then (mid-late 70's) when we were all active in the California Horticulture Society, in San Francisco. Jon

I live at the end of a cul de sac, so it is not seen by many What a loss to the community, not to be noticed. It's been a long time since I uploaded a photo on GW, so I'll have to review the procedures. Here I sit in the twilight with my computer on the table after hubby grilled our dinner outside. The fireflies are twinkling back at me and the air is finally still after blowing all day. I'm very fond of what we've done recently with the yard here. Mostly in the back, but a few things in the front as well. For years, he's ad huge daffodils running parallel to the drive from house to street, about 120 feet. Last year, I put in nasturtiums which ran the whole length, and spilled over the rock wall down to the pavement. We also added a heavy planting of old fashioned zinnias, multicolored, and saved the seeds from both plants. This year, We moved the zinnias to the back, and the nasturtiums.....well, let's say we had enough seeds to go reeeeaaaalll far. At the end of last season, I bought up the left over echinaceas, coreopsis, Indian blanket/gallardia(?) and shasta daisies and May Night salvia, which are doing us proud this year. He took down his old garden fence for his defunct veggie garden and made a lawn up there. I neglected to say that our lawn slopes UP from the street to the back limit of the yard and it is about 40/50 feet higher in the back than in the front. So rows of rock wall dug from the glacial junk found here now form several tiers of terracing. The first tier, just beside this cement patio with the table and grill on it, is bordered by some sort of Siberian hedge that I despise, and will eventually dig up (like 7 plants a week or day) One less hedge to trim is the way I look at it. There is also a raised patio with a tree stump left in the middle, and I placed a weather proof fountain on the stump. Around the perimeter of the fountain is ajuga and vinca, both which bloomed so intensely purple/blue this spring that it was breathtaking. Then there is the variegated hosta which is all descended from plants originally purchased over 30 years ago. There are about 6 apple trees, 2 NH-bred Reliance peach trees, 2 funky pear trees, and the lovely blueberries which are now bearing huge fruits. Going up another tier of stone, after an expanse of lawn, is the newly planted lambs ears which are so nice to touch. He had an old chicken coop on the next level up, and I swear the common daylilies planted over it are the biggest I ever saw. I planted some of the hostas in an uneven strip behind the rhododendron, so they look like green/white molten lava flowing down the slope. We have a nice bench placed there because it is in the shade most of the day. Well, the mosquitos are getting too bad to continue, so I'll go inside. What do you do up here to get rid of skeeters? Wow!