Every area and every camellia gardener has ones own favorite potting mix. July is not the best time to change the pot or to modify your potting mix. Keep your present plant at a nice location under filtered sunlight. Well diluted fish emulsion and some chelated iron mix solution can be applied in September. Your camellia plant should be very happy in properly fed and properly moisted condition. Then go to locate an expeienced camellia gardener from your local Camellia Society. They should be very happy to give you the tips. Some gardeners wash off all the old soil and add his own potting mix. Some only washed off 60 to70% of old mix pending the condition of old potting soil.. Usually It is being done in late dormant stage. Commonly very small fir bark is added to the mix to improve air space structure. Forest humus, good compose( not cattle waste nor redwood compose), aged ground peat, good commercial potting mix----etc all can be part of the mix. If you intend to grow your camellia in the pot, new and better potting mix is must.

Don't immidiately tie yourself to a set of cookware. Start with the basics. A 2 or 3qt covered saucepan (A tri-Ply Clad saucepan makes a huge difference when preparing sauces. Choose Calphalon, Cusinart Multi Ply, or All Clad. Impact bonded base from Emerilware or Farberware will work fine if cost is an issue). An 8qt covered stockpot (Stainless Steel impact bonded base, again Emerilware, KitchenAid, or Farberware. Don't spend a mint on a Tri-Ply clad stockpot..... it's not needed). The key here is you want Stainless Steel for any saucepans or stockpots you add to your kitchen. Stainless Steel will not interact with acidic foods. It's the cleanest surface available and a requirement for sauces and stocks. A 5.5qt enamel cast iron dutch oven (Le Creuset if cost isn't an option. If it is, shop around. There are plenty of good alternatives in enamel cast iron today. Mario Batali, etc. A 10"/3qt covered saute pan. Tri-Ply clad if it's in the budget, or a very heavy impact bonded base stainless saute. The key here is a piece that will absorb and hold some heat. KitchenAid Distinctions Saute at $49.99 is a great choice. It's a double cap base (aluminum and copper) extra thick, holds a huge amount of heat, and is a steal at $50.00. Fry pans. Pick the material your most comfortable with. Stainless, Aluminum, or Anodized Aluminum. Just make sure it's nonstick. Don't spend a fortune but buy the heaviest gauge material you can find within your budget. If it's Aluminum, make sure it's 4 or 6 gauge material. If it's impact bonded, Emerilware has one of the best bases on the market today. You need a piece of cookware that's going to absorb and store some heat. If the material is too thin, the pan temp. drops as soon as you intoduce the food..... a very bad thing. After that, it's specialty items which you can add to your collection. A reversible cast iron two burner grill from Lodge (Lodge Logic pre-seasoned) is always a nice item to have around. Maybe a hard anodized shallow grill pan from Calphalon. Buy the basics first. Don't immidiately buy a set. Enjoy.

More new arrivals Euphorbia gamkensis Euphorbia colliculina Euphorbia venefica Adenia glauca Pelargonium cotyledonis

Growth rate and vitality begin to fall under the limitations of root congestion at approximately the point in time when the root/soil mass can be lifted from the pot intact. The plant can be potted up w/o concern you're creating future problems if you pot up BEFORE the root/soil mass gets to that state of congestion. Beyond that stage of congestion (root/soil mass can be lifted from the pot intact) the limitations are permanent, even if the plant is transplanted into the landscape - unless the root issues are corrected by root pruning, the preeminent exercise of repotting. It's not unusual for me to purchase a nursery plant and repot it into a pot less than half the volume of the pot it was purchased in, and in which it exhibits significantly greater vitality as a result of the execution. It might be several years before the plant grows enough to warrant being in a pot the volume of which is equal to that of the nursery can it was purchased in. Al