Pirate Girl, weekend before last I saw lots of Peace Lilies at Lowes which were obviously new. They were all very beautiful and I almost bought one then. When I went with my husband on Saturday to get filters for the furnance and some perlite, many of the lilies were wilting from lack of water. This one was not wilting yet but was very dry. The hoya I found there had just the opposite problem. It was in a metal pot with no drainage and, when I picked it up to read the tag, water sloshed out of the pot. I dumped the water into a thirsty plant and brought the hoya home too. Luckily my husband is very kind and just rolls his eyes when a plant ends up in the cart. They had some beautiful sansevieria that were in pebbles and water. I loved the variegation on the leaves but hey were already starting to die and were expensive. I was so sad. As far as using newspaper, I bet coffee filters might also work. Purple, I was excited to find the plates. I picked up a couple more today while they were on clearance.

I grow 5 different varieties and haven't had a fatality. Can you tell us about the potting mix? I use a generic african violet/gesneriad mix consisting of a 1:1:1 ratio of peat moss, perlite, and vermiculite. When tips die off like that it's a water issue. You might not be keeping the mix moist enough as they like it damp all the time, or you might be over watering a bit, plants get root rot, and then can no longer take up sufficient water. They like a very light mix for good aeration around the roots. Mark

When you say "DEEP" soak, what does that mean? How do I test that it's got a good drink of water? I know I shouldn't allow it to get too wet, either. ===>>> your soil in your yard is unique to YOU .... go dig a hole somewhere ... maybe two or 3 ... maybe a foot wide.. by a foot deep .. and fill it with the garden hose .. right to the top .... and then time how long it take to drain away ... in my yellow sand.. that would be about 5 minutes ... MAX ... in hard clay.. 5 days ... lol ... and that is basically the 2 extremes of drainage ... leaving out a theoretical thesis of soil dynamics .... if you have clay.. then you will see that potential for over watering.. because there is no where for the excess to go .... if you have clay .. then start a new post.. or use the SEARCH function to bone up on dealing with such .... now.. as to your bushes in particular .... get a hand trowel.. small shovel.. whatever ... run you sprinkler.. then go out.. and dig a small hole under the canopy of your plant ... i will bet.. your sprinkler most likely has watered the top 1/8 inch of your soil ... and tht is not where a majority of its roots are.. and why it is struggling this season .. [and BTW it might never happen again...due to seasonal fluctuations from year to year] if we want to rescue your droughted shrub .. we will have to dampen the soil down into where the roots are.. and most likely that is at least a foot or two down ... so you put the hose on a trickle for an hour.. and then go dig another hole.. and see what happens down deep .. if you havent gotten a foot down.. run it for another hour .... again.. we can not really speculate because we dont have your soil .... but in anything short of clay ... one last thought... you garden beds could have been amended ... so you might need a hole to find out if the soil is different in the beds.. than elsewhere ... no one ever said knowledge didnt hurt.. a little hard work involved here.. lol does that help???? good luck ken

Looks like an Opuntia humifusa, they shrivel like that in autumn to protect themselves from freezing damage. They "wake up" relatively late in spring, my plant started to take up water about two weeks ago. There are some damages on some of the pads (the discolored parts), but they do not look fatal. Note: not all Opuntia species behave like this, many remain turgid throughout winter.