Hi April! I posted my "inventory" list last night. :) Not everything on it is large enough to trade, but take a look and email me with a few choices - hopefully you can find something you like that I have enough of to trade. Couple of things I noticed this morning that would be easy to dig and send to you: I have a seedling coming up of Heliopsis Lorraine Sunshine. I grew this from seed last year, and it is a good grower. Google it - *very* cool variegated foilage! Coreopsis Elfin Gold. These were seedlings last year, so they're a year old. Blue Balloon Flower, grown from seed last year. Or, check my list! Thanks, Connie

I just transplanted six Weigela �Wine & Roses� shrubs this Spring. The leaf color right now, (about three weeks after planting), is more green than purple, and I have seen a little bit of leaf scorch too on a couple of them. I agree with duncanmsu that it takes at least one growing season for any plant to get acclimated to the environment it is transplanted into. I really believe that with regular deep watering and feeding, my Wine and Roses Weigelas will look great in a year or two. I also transplanted a Ninebark �Summer Wine� at the same time. It is located in morning sun until about 2:00 P.M., when it begins to get shade from the house. It is actually faring better than the Weigelas so far. This is probably due to the afternoon shade. I really think that since the Weigelas are in a little bit harsher climate with the full sun, it may take them a little longer to acclimate. I am hoping that through the deep watering and some Miracle Grow liquid plant food I can get the Weigelas� roots well established before July. The summers here in South Central Kansas are very harsh. I am also hoping that what others have said about the Wine and Roses Weigelas� leaves getting darker as the year progresses is true of my Weigelas too. I guess time will tell. The one thing I am learning about plants is to be patient. It�s never a good idea to start digging things up and moving them without waiting at least one growing season to see if their health and growth is improving. As long as I see continuous improvement and new growth, I�m content to wait and see. Here is a link that might be useful: My Wine and Roses Weigelas

In my yard, all but the evergreens and the plants that hold leaves particularly late are relatively sparse by now, so I wouldn't worry too much. New plants such as yours have lived under different conditions in the nursery than in your yard. You don't say if the W. variegata is new or old, but regardless, I wouldn't expect it to behave the same way as the new My Monet. It's a different selection and has different conditions, so won't behave the same way. I wouldn't water it any more without checking the soil under the plant. It doesn't have much in the way of leaves left, and so isn't losing moisture. Plunge your finger into the soil and see if it feels moist. It is probably fine now until spring as far as water, but check it once a week or so until the ground starts to freeze and water only if the soil no longer feels moist. Where I've done gardening in WI (Madison area) the soil is quite clay-ey in texture, and so overwatering is more likely to be an issue than underwatering at this time of year. What did the roots look like when you took this plant out of the pot? If it had a thick layer of roots wrapping around the outside, in general it is best to unwrap or break up the roots some so that they grow outward. However, after a month in the ground and this late in the year, I don't think digging it up would be a good idea. Just leave it and see what it looks like in the spring. It looks like you gave it a good layer of mulch which will help keep the soil from going through many freeze-thaw cycles. Once the soil is cold, it should stay cold until spring, which is a good thing. Repeated freeze/thaw cycles can heave a plant out of the soil. I get tip dieback on the branches of some, but not all Weigelas. I don't grow this particular variety, so I don't know how this one does with cold weather. It is short enough that with good snow cover, winter temperatures may not be an issue. Many variegated plants prefer morning only sun, with bright shade during the time of day when the sun is most intense. You didn't say where your shrub is located, so this might be an issue if it gets mid-day and afternoon full sun. Let us know next spring how it did.

I think Bboy has made a good point. Many container grown plants are difficult to get wet if the root ball is allowed to dry out. This is common problem on newly planted shrubs. It is very important to dig down and feel the root ball to make sure it is wet to know if you are adequately watering a newly planted shrub. If it has dried out - a few drops of dish soap in a gallon a water will help to break down the water tension and rewet the rootball. Once the roots have move into the adjacent soil the problem goes a way. Based on the fact the twigs bent without breaking the plant is most likley alive and will be fine next year. Also note that My Monet goes dormant early in the fall. This is good and bad: Bad beacuse it can look dried out in fall but good because it goes dormant early making it more winter hardy than other weigela that typically get tip die-back in the spring as the plant keeps growing too late into the year. I have found this to be a very nice garden plant once established in the garden.