A friend told me different species of them behave differently, but my experience is not much luck. I bought one labeled just 'lavender' in a 3" pot last year, didn't plant it, didn't baby it over winter (sat on porch) and then this spring, to my surprise IT CAME BACK. Left it alone to establish, it came back in full force, finally planted it -- and now it's dead. Point being. It could take all the neglect and abuse it got from being forced to live it a 3" pot over winter and sitll survive, yet it could not handle being put into the ground a few weeks ago, BEFORE it got really hot (and I kept it watered). So that's my experience. Can't tell you the issue, but if Birds & Blooms has a search on their site, try that. Probably 2009. I remember an excellent article about growing lavender, how to properly plant, etc. Maybe it has some hints???? Good Luck !!!

I have had a chance to move some rather large camellias in the past. In fact I moved over a hundred back some years ago. You may be moving them a little early in the year but on the upper Pacific Coast, the weather might be in your favor. First, root prune the camellias at about 36 inches from the trunk. If you can get wider, go as wide away from the trunk as possible. The Camellia has shallow roots and you will get most of them within the top foot of top soil. I would use an 18" sharp shooter. Go all around each plant about 18" deep. Second, prepare the place where you are going to plant the Camellias. I would till up an area about 6 ft. in diameter per plant. After you till the soil to at least 18" to 24"deep, I would add about 3 or 4 cu. ft. of a combination of ground up pine bark and sand. I would till this into the spot and also add some natural fertilizer. If you have cotton seed meal available, I would use that. I would put in about 10 lbs of cotton seed meal into the mixture of pine bark and sand. This will give you a real fluffy mound. It should be about 6 ft. wide. Let it sit for as long as you can before moving the large plants. When you move the plants, the later in the year the better, I would move off the top foot of soil from your prepared bed, sit the large rootball on top of the soil and cover it with the soil mixture that you removed. You will note that you are planting the Camellia on the top of the ground. Do not dig it out so that you are planting the plant in a hole. You want to have it sitck out of the ground at least 8 to 10 inches. Prune the top of the plant back to about 18: from the trunk of the plant. Keep it watered good but do not drown it. Let it settle on its own. Within 3 or 4 months it will settle about six inches and will continue to settle a little more over the next year. Keep at least two inches of the soil mixture over the exposed roots. I would also use some root tone in the hole to stimulate new root growth. I wrote an article for the Camellia Journel several years ago about moving established Camellias. If you would contact Tom Johnson, the chief gardner at the American Camellia Society through their web site, he could probably get you some articles on moving large Camellias. Ann Walton is the Executive Director of the A.C.S. and she may be able to point you to someone in the Washington area who has some experience as well. Bob

Polly, enjoyed your story about your adorable 7 year old. That will be a memory you can cherish forever! I must admit I too thought the "she" who went to the show was your daughter, but it didn't diminish my enjoyment of your story. And when posters questioned the lack of a permission slip to go on a trip, I didn't pay too much attention. But then...OMG, the attacks. Totally out of line. Asking for clarification is okay, attacking the OP is not. I will admit I'm more of a general idea person, and as someone pointed out, decorators are more detail oriented. I got the general idea: this was a cherished moment with your daughter and you were amazed at her intellect, which you should be. (BTW, I think you have a creative, high level thinker on your hands, so make sure you are stashing the cash for her college education!) I just don't get the need to attack you because of the way you constructed the sentence containing the pronoun "she". Yes, detailed oriented folks find that irritating, but I just wish posters would have responded in the spirit in which the thread was begun. When you wrote it, you knew what you meant, and were not spending hours editing it for perfection. Most of us would have written it the same way you did. Polly, give your daughter a hug for me, and tell her that someone out there in cyberworld thinks she is a great kid now and has a fantastic future ahead of her. You must be so proud of her!

Good luck to you. We just made an offer on a house, that in my opinion has some significant issues, like no second floor bathroom where the bedrooms are, the bricks are crumbling around the posts in the basement,(you know the ones holding up the first floor) the roof has moss growing on it and water damage that we can see, some of the siding is warped and peeled away from the house so when it rains it goes right down inside behind the siding, the roof over the garage is sagging and when you go inside you can clearly see that there are support rafters missing, mice and/or mice poo in the attic, the appliances in the kitchen are at the end of their lifespan, the kitchen is a lovely functional knotty pine (described by the listing agent as "elegant" knotty pine ?!?) but the stove and dishwasher are clearly from the knotty pine days too. All my agent keeps telling me is that the house faces the river across the street and so I should not be concerned about those future costs. I am of the opinion, heck yes, I should because they are pricey things that go far beyond cosmetics. She focuses on the possibility that I could have an in-law or one bedroom apartment on the back. Well not unless we fix that little problem with the roof support, and the lack of a bathroom ... maybe I don't want to cut up the house to rent it out... Not every property with a water view and access is golden. You have to go past some pretty nasty low rent buidlings to get to the property and there was a concern previously about that on that street. (I talked to one of the neighbors) I am pretty sick of being treated like a moron. Regardless, the worth of your little kingdom is affected by the crudiness of your neighbors and the condition of your home. You can have the best looking house, with a great view, but if your neighbors just stepped out of Deliverance, and the boiler is 20 years + old and the stove is so old the door won't close on it - that does tend to affect the price a little. Am I wrong on that? :) MP