Butterfly4u... I feel like I have known you for a very long time...Boy does time fly! Thank you for your kind comments and stopping by...You do know that your suggestions and comments always have meant a lot to me.. Much apprciated.. I was reading some of your older posts, and I even think you wrote one on olives too, or gardenias also.. I will be commenting soon..Your plants are just beautiful too! Yes, it is the same one as last year...It grew big didn't it?!..I love this tree..I also have 3 others doing just as nice..I bought them in 2 inch pots, and now they are so much bigger since the spring..I will post those pics soon..I hope you see them.. Because of all the gardenia information you have dispensed here, mine are also doing fanatastic! I never got that red olive....They are so expensive and I was told they do not bloom as much.. I never put that any in the pop up..This particular one has been going in my garage at night when temps drop to the 30's..Then it has stayed outdoors everyday since..It seems to thrive in the cold....I also place it against the pop up so that it faces the sun and it warms that area up very nicely..Cold at night, warm by day and fresh rain...Loves it..;-) So nice to spend this time with you..:-) Moonwolf....I have seen your new aquired plants..Just beautiful..They should do very well with your love and caring attitude to back them up...Nice.. Kemistry....Thank you so much....I am suprised you couldn't keep them happy inside for the winter...They are not hard to grow indoors for the winter.. If you should decide to get one again, I , as well as everyone else would be happy to help you.. MIke

i wouldnt doubt it because there are naturalized parrots in many cool areas. Brooklyn is a zone 7 and has parrots thriving in some communities. They are in abundance too but arent very widespread and live together. Just like all other city birds they eat a lot of food that is on the ground but will eat a lot of other foods too. They dont look like tropical parrots, but can be trained to talk, but probably will never do so in the wild. Definitely not those beautiful tropical looking parrots you see as pets or in the zoo, but they do have nice green colors to them. But as far as stealing fruit, there are lots of other much more common birds that will do that job a lot quicker than these parrots in brooklyn (I believe they are called quaker parrots and are from argentina). I think they are also in other areas but Im really only familiar with the ones in Brooklyn. Good luck! -Alex

I've got lots and lots of osmanthus up here. I'v found that it's one of the few plants that are said to like part sun but actually love lots of sun even in Texas. They bloom best in sun and grow leafier in sun. But they live just fine even in total shade. Love this plant. The blooms are small and insignificant except for the apricot smell which waftes through the garden. It likes Texas so much that I've got 60 or so. They form the walls for my garden rooms. Believe me that you won't enjoy that many because the fragrance really does get overpowering. But they live and thrive and grow quicky with no water and plenty of sun. I see them all the time at the big box stores. Easy to root but slow to grow from a cutting.

I'm not an expert on olives but I'm doing exactly what you're describing in Z8b Oregon. I planted two olives to provide privacy screening above a 6' fence. I've looked at a ton of trees in garden centers this spring and they've all had skinny trunks and were staked, and my trees are no exception. I'll keep them staked as long as they need it, but if the trees cannot stand after the first growing season with the original stake, I suggest using 2 stakes on opposite sides, further from the trunk. Allowing for a fair bit of movement with the wind will help the tree gain trunk caliper faster, and using two stakes with fairly loose ties will allow this movement without allowing the tree to list one direction or the other.