That's just not my style - mail order. I don't want any plants I can't see in person first. Anyone who can go to L's to buy a water heater and not look @ the plants has much more resolve than I do, especially since there is nowhere else to buy plants around here besides WM. That was it for my plant purchases this year - about $15 of clearance plants. The pansies I bought last Feb. did great until late summer, and I got much more bang for my buck out of them than a lot of other stuff, like Dahlia tubers. The violas I bought in Oct. are blooming like crazy. Chiding me for shopping there or critiquing what I bought or when I bought it won't change the fact that somebody high-up in corp office in the gardening department is spreading these falsehoods as fact. Just wanted to alert the people who shop there (wearing scarves and dark glasses to hide their identity) to the situation. If you don't care, that's fine, move on. If enough people complain, they might stop doing it. Now that you know, you might be able to help someone who's wondering why their plants are struggling, or why their dirt is full of styrofoam.

Hi Mike, Thank you, I am a nice person with a good heart. That is why I though it was posible that I had not gotten your meaning. I had read the last three lines of the your thread entry. Even with those last three lines I still misunderstood your point. So after rereading your post I will try to sum up what I gather what you're trying to say in my own words. Plants give us unconditional pleasure without receiving much in return. People on the other hand can be high maintenance. The amount of maintenance depends on the person. Some people are extremely nice and caring and some others are downright nasty. Plants on the other hand do not have nasty traits, unless you want to put opuntia in that space. lol I know of no plant that has ever embarrassed me for instance or called me a bad name. Our plant room can definitely be a haven for us when we get tired of the hustle and bustle of the world, that including having to deal with other people's problems. I'm glad to hear that you are not the woman with 10 cats who cannot relate to the world. That would be a horrible existence. I would feel sorry for any one in the space. I'm sorry that you felt like you lost something here with the latest acrimony. I'm not sure how long you've been here. Your member page says October 7, 2007, but you may have been here longer than that. Even so, I've been here a long time and can tell you that the people who are nasty come and go and the people who are really plant people and are interested in promoting the hobby, are the ones who stay. This place is no different than any other microcosm. One has to take the bad with the good. Even with that, sometimes when someone is not acting nice it is not unreasonable to call that person on it. Bad behavior has to be stopped or the forum will die. I've seen other forms go by the wayside because just a few bad people bully others away. Good growing to you and take care. Larry PS - I'm glad you like the "caress" reference. lol

I went silent for a few days--it does happen occasionally--and didn't respond to comments on this thread as I intended. But I'm back for a few remarks. I like it when people write back and certainly want to encourage you folks to keep on doing so. I think the difference between the rage level caused by a fallen tree and animal damage is that the animal damage is pure loss, while a fallen tree has a good deal to offer: mulch, wood for terracing, steps, firewood perhaps. We have wild boars, mice, and, recently and by far the worst, roe deer. So far fencing the garden with flagging tape has kept the deer at bay. Apparently we have wolves moving into our area, and, if the sheepherders can figure out how to protect their flocks, perhaps the wolves will turn their attention to the deer. It's a wild world here in the hills. Concerning garden design opportunities opened up by this, uh, opening, well, yes, unexpected events do get my creative juices cheerfully flowing. This is pretty simple, though, just an extension of the pergola. Everything else ought to stay pretty much as before, though I have set to work on some tasks I'd had in mind for a while, developing the paths and steps down in that area, and maybe I'll add a seat. The additional light won't make a lot of difference one way or the other, I think, except that lilac 'Charles Joly' will probably appreciate the change. Gean, and others, if you do start planning a trip to Italy, keep us in mind. We have room for guests and I certainly do love showing the garden. Rose season starts at the end of April and runs through about mid-June but is heavily conditioned by the weather. This year with our very rainy gray spring (my fingers keep wanting to type sproing, which is an apt description of the season) the warm climate roses have been somewhat iffy--better recently as it's warmed up--while the once bloomers have been generally glorious. But even in bad years there's always something to see. Melissa

I don't do neither. I use a totally different mix from every day garbage and waste. 1 part crushed brick or clay pots 1/4 to 3/4 inches in size 3 parts coarse sand up to 1/4 inch. 1 to 3 parts potting mix depending on how wet your variety of citrus can tolerate and the dryness of your climate. You also need to determine the moisture demand of your tree. Since you already got your supplies you could wet screen and then spread the mix on a sheet and air dry it to perfection. Check out the link on citrus growing experiments since the important thing is whether the tree grows well and not how the screening was done Here is a link that might be useful: http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/citrus/msg0320572518736.html This post was edited by poncirusguy on Sat, Nov 16, 13 at 22:26