Oh Josh! Would you believe I was scared to death to cut off that much? Lolololol. Now I have Al suggesting that I go even further down the road? Now that's chopped!lol Ok, first off I am happy to report that the TWO, yes, two plants are doing well thus far! They are responding very well. In fact, the mix fell right away from the roots of yours Josh. You sent that plant to me in a great mix and which in turn I used the very same mix to repot! It's a good thing we all use the same mixes. I never have a problem repotting a plant from you pal. Blake, I think I answered your question in there somewhere:-) Al, now, that is quite the picture and would you believe it still took me a couple of days to completely understand this? lol. Yes, I knew you would. Anyhow, I must say if I can get just ONE plant to look as good as your Bonsai, I would be thrilled. I really appreciate your guidence along with Josh and others. I can't really envision what that 'hornbeam' is going to look like, but I trust you. I never even heard of a 'hornbeam'! Guess I'll have to google that one. Now that mullberry bush is to die for. GREAT work! Have you ever posted it with leaves? It must be beautiful. Would you beleive I saw the workers at the Bonsai shop hacking their trees way back in the fall, and I just about died? It was very traumatic for me to see what they were doing to what I thought were beautiful trees as was, but then they laughed at me when I expressed this. lol I do have what would be a beautiful huge sweet maple tree that turns brillaint colors come the fall that I have been growing in a 3 gallon container for about 3 years now. Let's just say that if I planted inground, it would be a giant. Right now it's only about 6 feet high. What to do? I will snap a pic of it this weekend, ok? Mike

Hello Tithis, I have some Maple tree seeds but they are possibly from a Black Maple, Norway Maple or other species. I have been trying to identify them and would be happy to send you some seeds to try. I can't guarantee they are what you are looking for but you never know. The bark on the tree looks like the Norway or Black maple to me. The seeds will probably be mixed with seeds from a Silver Maple so you will have to plant a bunch and weed out the ones you don't want. Jamie jayandbry@q.com

Hey Mark...will you be doing any pruning to your Liberty this year? Was wondering if I could get some scion wood? I know a lot of folks here have it, and maybe I'd be better off getting it from someone closer so it spends less time out of the cooler, but I can't remember who all has it. I was thinking of trading small quantities of Imidan 70WP for scions. I have more than I'll ever use (fresh, just got it) and a lot of folks here have expressed the desire to try it. The only hangup is I'm kinda worried someone may misplace the bottle and it gets mistaken for something else. For those with young children I probably wouldn't be comfortable with it. Let me know. BTW, I never have any issues with CM here (knocking on wood), but I spray a lot. My issues tend to be fungal and bacterial so the DR varieties should do well for me. I've heard enough great things about Liberty to want it, but enough so-so comments to preclude me from devoting space to a single tree. I have a seedling (now getting quite big) that I've been grafting to. So far I've put Goldrush and Honeycrisp on it. Liberty would be an awesome additional graft.

A. Yep, Magnolia fruit. B. Tilia (lime / linden) seeds. C. Same as B. D. Acorns of one of the red oak group (Northern Red Oak, Pin Oak, etc.). E. Acer platanoides (Norway Maple). F. Liquidambar styraciflua (Sweetgum). G. Yep, Acer palmatum (Japanese Maple). H. Ailanthus altissima (Tree-of-Heaven). I. Possibly Celtis (hackberry), but not certain. Resin