I cannot begin to express my appreciation. That so many people would take the time to try and help and stranger and his budding passion for growing fruit bodes well for you all and for this site...its thrilling to have such a resource since I'm so inexperienced. I also agree with what many of you politely tried to say...I need to educate myself on growing fruit beyond just asking questions in a forum...and I will. But right now I've got several (expensive) fruit trees in trouble! SOunds like their is no magic bullit for all my trees, but perhaps the "One and Done" would be a good start. For the record, Imidaclorpid is what i put on the roots and it did say for fruit trees, though I do appreciate the warnings. Oh....Im in northern middle TN...zone 7 but not far from zone 6 on the 2012 map. Any other spedcific recommendations for my peach problem would be appreciation until I have time to do more extensive research.....again, my peaches are golf ball size but are dropping off in large numbers and when I cut them open there is alwasy a little larvea looking "worm" that looks like a maggot. Anything I can do for that? Again, thanks for all your help! You have no idea how fired up I am about my little mini-orchard! ha. It was one of the reasons I wanted to buy a place in the country with some land. Eventually I hope to fill about a full acre of my new place with fruit, but obviously I need to learn a lot before that. My current (approx) 25 assorted trees aren't doing to well yet, so I need to get them under control first. Again, thanks for all your help!

What a great kitchen! The main piece of advice I would offer is this: get rid of excess plastic containers. I had zillions of rubbermaid containers that didn't nest at all. I thought I needed every shape and size out there, so I bought far more than I could ever use. After we renovated our kitchen, I gave myself one drawer for plastic stuff. That's it. Now, it's a big drawer, but I have a family of nine people, so we still need quite a bit. First, I tossed or gave away that which would not nest. I standardized on 8" squares that fit into one another. I bought 6 of these and I've never needed more. All the lids are the same size. I have deep rectangular rubbermaid containers for holding flour and sugar in my baking cabinet. I have round containers for lunch boxes: my husband takes leftovers for lunch every day and reheats them in these lightweight containers that are as sturdy as regular rubbermaid. In this drawer I also store two rubbermaid butter dishes, three nesting funnels, 2 two-quart plastic pitchers, 2 small mixing bowls and 2 large mixing bowls, plus about 12 measuing cups from 4-cup to 1/4-cup in size. The key for my kitchen is that any plastic container we have is in this drawer. So I've gone from cupboards and drawers of plastic containers and measuring supplies to one single drawer. I will add that I have a plastic pasta scoop and larger colander that I store under the prep sink. I never save even the nicest of plastic containers that food might come in. If we ever need more, I can use a storage container from another part of the house, wash it out, then put it back when I'm done (like when I need to bring 60 cupcakes to school). I've also done the same sort of thing for lunch boxe supplies and ingredients. I have a baking center, which is to the right of the oven. My baking center is really just an upper cabinet with wire storage things inside that make it easy to cram a lot of stuff in a 30" wide cabinet. I do store extra baking mixes and flour/sugar in my lazy susan cabinet. I don't have a pantry. All of our health food is in another cabinet, near the blender where we make our protein shakes. I bought white plastic wirer coated shelves at the container store to stack dishes and baking goods in those cupboards. And also these tall, narrow two shelf units that fit under my sinks which sit next to the plumbing. They aren't really deep but just hold the basics in view (stuff tends to migrate to the back of the sink cabinet). I also got rid of excess pots and pans. I figured that if my pots and pans couldn't fit into one base cabinet, that I would have a hard time keeping tabs on those as well. My baking pans and cutting boards store vertically in a cabinet designed to hold tall thin items. You have so much wonderful space. If you can be judicious with how you plan your storage, you will find that you can even keep major seasonal items in your pantries as well, or gift wrap, etc. In fact, it looks like you could even put a desk in one of your pantries. Lucky you!

That's what Fiestware is...thanks holligator! Beautiful collection, especially the pinks and blues. I'm really attracted to the following colours: Turquoise, White (of course), Cinnabar, Scarlet. I've also seen Emile Henry ceramics in person and really really like them. I ended up buying the oil cruet in Poivre (grey, I love grey), I also like the Litchi (pink) and Figure (eggplant purple). They are pricey but I will invest in more over time. I have an oil cruet in Poivre. I want to stick to these accent colours, with the occasional hit of green. Fortunately I have a husband who used to have a pink lamp in his bedrooom when we were dating (purely fluke and a hand-me-down - not out of choice or anything!!) and he doesn't object to girly colours. All the colours I like are in this bouquet of flowers, which by the way, I plan on recreating for my final finished kitchen photos!! It will go on the island or the kitchen table. I don't think it's too girly, as the plums have a unisex feel to them. Also, there's so much neutral in the kitchen that it will temper the girlier colours. I will think about adding more texture, more stuff, but do it naturally. Holligator, i like your ideas on ferns and the coloured glass!!! Catsam, I can't see your image. I really like Brian Gluckstein! He's one who can stick to neutrals and it always looks good. Oruboris - Yes, you're right that everything is too proper and dignified. Rhome - Yes, they are gallon jars I believe. I bought the smallest of the 3 sizes...I didn't want to spend too much. I may consider upgrading one day though. You're right, it's too perfect. Thanks for the encouragement and tips everyone.

Hi Embothrium, I did. I found hundreds of images and some looked somewhat similar and some looked different. That was the main reason why I decided to post this question here. I know a lot about figs but I am not that knowledgeable about plums or other stone fruit trees. I know that young trees on Citation rootstock are susceptible to this disease. It was another clue. However, I do not know. I hope it is not bacterial canker. I like this tree. It has a nice shape and produced great fruits last year and is blooming now. However, I also have a very young multi-bud pluot tree nearby and I do not want that one to get sick too.