I'm in the Detroit area, roughly same climate as yours, a borderline 6A. I've had Halls Hardy for many years. They actually do well here and bear. The only bad thing about them is that, being a peach-almond cross, they are not papershelled, but rather have VERY hard shells, hard to crack, and are also a "bitter" almond and require boiling to leach out the Prussic Acid (cyanide) before you can eat them. If you're willing to do all of that work, then they are decent. It is a BEAUTIFUL ornamental, and one thing I always enjoy is that the opening of its blossoms coincides with the return of the hummingbirds in my yard. As for any other varieties, I tried a couple of them without much success. I had a Titan almond live a few years, but never did much, then died. I planted a couple last year that didn't make it through the winter. I planted 4 kinds this year, all from Raintree, so we'll see what happens. They've got to survive their first winter, and I'm sort of dubious. They were NOT the best-looking trees out of the package, sort of sickly, and they grew, but didn't really seem to thrive. I figure the winter will either kill them, or perhaps next year they'll kick in and do better. The weather was lousy here this year, way too cool all summer, which didn't help either.

Thanks Flora UK! When I Googled it I typed in Purple Flowering Bush, so you can imagine why I didn't find it. Dee, I did overlook the Vinca info in your second post in my hurry to read the comments (sorry). But you both nailed it! The bush has the large red seeds on the ground underneath the bushes and a few babies coming up. There are 4 of the bushes here on this property which we have leased and I wanted to take a couple of the baby bushes that are coming up underneath the big ones when we leave in August. I have known the name Texas Mountain Laurel, but for some reason that didn't come to mind when I was searching. I knew all you have the knowledge, and would help me which you did, and I appreciate it so much. I have been looking around town and have actually seen one in tree form that is probably 25 feet tall. They are very slow growing so that one must be really old. (I've learned a lot about them now that I have the correct ID) There are other things planted here that I will take cuttings or babies of but I like knowing what it is.

I still have (3) fairly viable Flowering Almond Shrubs. I've always loved the spring bloom, and the shrub usually doesn't look too bad the rest of the year either. Two years ago, after 5 years or so of growth and flowering, I began to experience wilting on my shrubs right after blooming. At first, it wasn't too bad, but as the years have gone by, the effect is becoming worse and worse. I did some googling, and it appears that there is a fungal disease that is common to these shrubs that is commonly called "brown-off". What I found in prior years directed me to prune off the affected branches (to avoid infection of healthy branches) and to let the plants rejuvenate over the summer, which they did. But, as I said, each year my plants would look worse. This year, I found that this disease actually enters the shrubs via the blooms (which makes a lot of sense). Anyway, I've trimmed them back again, (thankfully, I do have some healthy growth and foliage) ... and I've given them a dose of Bayer's All-in-One Rose systemic treatment. Next year, I'm going to try and remember to give my plants a fungal treatment in the weeks BEFORE they bloom. Hopefully, this might stave off the infection.

So i have researched the chinese pistache tree and it is incredibly beautiful with its fall/ winter colors...So now my next question is where do you buy one?!?!?! I have been all over town to different nurseries and they all tell me that they either don't know about the tree, where to find it, or even what it is. I looked at moon valley nursery, and even though they are a little pricey, they dont have it and they said that the best they could offer is the Sweetgum tree...So (1) Does ANYONE who has a Chinese Pistache know where to buy one and (2)Does anyone know about the sweetgum tree? Thanks for all of your help! -AZnursingstudent.