Oh what a thrill you are giving me! So happy to hear you are rose growers in Fla. One more reason to get back there. Own root is the best way to go I'm discovering. DE, Wl, SGMM are own root. Don't think the red (turns dark pink in heat) mystery is. It has been moved at least five times, so one more surely won't set it back too far. It just might have to come in the Prius with me instead of van! I'll tell my Dunnellon friend there is hope for him. Thanks for the good reports, GatorRose and Floridarosez9

There is a mature 12 to 15 ft Ponderosa Lemon tree growing well about 4 miles from me. It produces loads of thick skinned navel style lemons, similar to Italian lemons, which I understand are even hardier and will grow here in Eastern North Carolina. 3 years ago the owner rooted over 100 cuttings, which he sold ready potted. I bought several at $5 a pot. These were 1 to 2 foot tall small trees, which is pretty good value. I kept one for myself and gave others as gifts and also work colleagues were paying for them. Unfortunately, I planted mine in an exposed area, open to the north wind and quite honestly didn't look after it like I should have. It died after 2 years. In the ensuing years I have driven past the mature lemon tree to have a gentle nose. Particularly in the winter. We have had temps around 20F and slightly below and yes it does it appear to have died back on some of the branches after such cold weather, but it springs back to life again come 'Spring'. It is semi-exposed to the weather, being behind the main house and in front or to one side of a shed. The owner doesn't dress the tree for frost protection and it seems it has to be 20F at least before die back occurs. I guess I know it's there and that i can always get another small tree from him, so I haven't bothered re-visiting the notion. Instead, I am growing an Owari Satsuma. It's been in the ground since March and doing well, of course it hasn't gone through winter yet. The Owari satsuma is a spindly specimen and nothing like the orange trees that we had in Arizona. I have planted this in a south facing location with staking and tying and with some degree of protection from the north wind, about 15 feet from the back of the house. Safer would have been directly against the back of the house, but then there's the house foundations to consider. Anyway, all I can say is that lemons and they are 'true' lemons are alive and well here in Eastern North Carolina, half way between Richlands and Jacksonville.

I am recent transplant to Florida. I grew parsnips the last 5 or so years in the midAtlantic. When planting, I covered the seeds lightly with soil, and then covered them with a couple sheets of newspaper and used rocks to hold down the newspaper. The newspaper helps keep the soil surface from drying. Start checking them after 5-7 days. I was able to get them sprouted in 7-10 days. As soon as you see the first ones sprouting, remove the newspaper. If you have deer or other animals that like to graze in your garden, parsnips are very good to grow. The leaves are toxic and I never had anything eat them. The down side is you need to handle with a little caution. I would usually leave some to go to seed. The plants get much taller and thicker when they go to seed, and one year I decided to thin them after they started bolting. The stems were pretty big with lots of sap and I got some on my arms that resulted in blistering similar to poison oak/ivy. I'm not sure I will get enough cold here in the Lake Tarpon area, but plan to give them a try.

I've tried. I'm in zone 10 so I would only expect one year but I haven't found the right light. Too much sun and they die, too little and they don't bloom. I'm still experimenting. Nancy