I have been gardening in what I call "glacier slurry" and you call glacier till since '04. The only tool that worked for me was a hand mattack and I dug deep wide holes and perk tested them. My backfill was natural soil and purchased compost because my housepad/gardening area was cut out of a slope. There is probably little plant organic material in the gardening area because of it being cut out of the slope ... except for the decayed mulch material I have applied twice a year over the last several years. The glacier slurry is porous and drains well, which means that anything I use will end up in our water supply, the Trinity River. Until last year, I tried to get by with organics and time-released fertilizers, but the plants just didn't thrive. They did OK, but I knew something was missing. Last spring, after the estimated last frost date in April, I applied 1/4 cup of calcium nitrate to the larger roses and less to the smaller roses. I watered well the day before and then watered again the same day I applied the CN. It was enough to kick start the roses and they did a LOT better last season. Altho' the roses do leaf out earlier than they should, most of that growth is blind growth. I think it's the plant trying to feed itself through photosynthesis. We always get a late frost or snow before the middle of April and that growth generally dies off or gets pruned off. We have temps in the high 90s or low 100s for weeks at a time during the summer and time released foods are just burned up too quickly to be reliable, so last year, I did a combination of organics and synthetics and all of the plants were healthier than in prior years. In my experience, it's hard to find the right balance to feed the plants and not pollute our water source. I think I have planted the last of the roses I am going to plant, except for replacements for roses that don't do well in this climate. I know I don't want to dig any more rose holes in this stuff. Smiles, Lyn

Apart from size issue Arbutus menziesii would probably not be very compatible either, being a dryland tree with grayish green foliage (as are gums). Other than cultural compatibilities, how important this kind of thing is to you will depend on how you see such things. And you can knit adjacent groupings of foliages with differing naturalistic character together with plants that have foliage intermediate in color and texture, such as tall oregon grape (Mahonia aquifolium). Grant/Grant point out what a good "blender" it is in their book.

From my experience with Aloe arborescens, the red form is called Aloe arborescens. Here in So Cal that is the normal color. Red orange is common, too. Have not personally seen too many orange-flowering A arborescens. There is a pale yellow-flowering form, too, and it is often referred to as Aloe arborescens. Sometimes you can add the flower color name for emphasis, but I am not aware these different colored plants having unique names... that is not true for variegated plants and usually someone will have dreamed up a varietal name for those (usually it is 'Gold Rush' for Aloe arborescens).

What your bought was a broken root ball conifer. That results from mis-handling somewhere between grower and the time it reached the seller. It was probably dropped off the truck to the ground by some inexperienced summer time helper or lugged around the nursery by someone carrying it by the trunk. Since the root ball only contains 10% or less of the original roots compromising it exposes the fine hair like follicles that are important for its survival till it puts on new root growth. When these are severed the plant is doomed. It was already dead when you planted it. Always check the integrity of the root ball. It must be intact. If you can wiggle the trunk while holding the root ball firmly it is broken. Always avoid no matter how much you want it. Take it back with your receipt and go from there. Good luck, Dave