~what does hardening off mean ? Plants grown inside have to be very gradually adjusted to life outside, the direct sun, wind, heat, etc. Takes a week to 10 days approx. Google the term 'hardening off plants' for details on how to do it. ~Will these plants go dormant here in Florida ? Probably not. Depends on the part of the state. Takes several days of below 45 degrees. ~Should I still attempt to transplant into the ground in winter time here ? I wouldn't. I'd wait till next early spring when it has some size and good root development. But you might ask over on the Florida Gardening forum here as things are rather unique there when it comes to gardening. And it will take some special work to grow an apple tree in Florida from what I have read. ~Will the apple trees survive without a true freeze during winter ? Survive, yes. Produce blooms and fruit? Probably not. ~What sort of fertilization schedule do you recommend? Any of the various fruit tree fertilizers should work fine. Just get it something that is well balanced. If you Google 'growing apples in Florida' some good info comes up. Dave

Much appreciation for all the responses. I'll call around for the Fertilome product containing Spinosad, the active ingredient in Conserve. Oh, I just found I have an almost full bottle of "Bull's-Eye Bioinsecticide" containing Spinosad as the active ingredient. It's a Garden's Alive product purchased several years ago for thrips with one of their coupon deals, but I stopped using all insecticides a short time later. (As an aside I'll pass along that within a couple of years of not spraying insecticides I've not had thrips in the rose blooms nor spider mites.) WHAT IS THE SHELF LIFE OF SPINOSAD? This bottle is probably 5 to 6 years old. I googled "Shelf life of Spinosad" and found this: "It has a pH of 7.74, is stable to metal and metal ions for 28 days, and has a shelf life of three years as formulated material." Does "forumulated material" mean after it is mixed with water for spraying, or as it sits in the original container? Another question is wouldn't waiting until there were symptoms allow any Chilli thrips that might be present to spread? How DO they spread? Wind? Infected plant touching a clean plant? Do they fly at some point? I have skimmed several articles online and haven't found a definite answer. Maybe they don't know. One article said this: "Prevention To prevent the introduction of chilli thrips into new landscapes it is important make sure that material is not infested prior to planting. New plants being planted could be infesting in a number of ways. The most common method would be to purchase infested plants. However, another overlooked method would be for infested plants removed from the landscape and brought back to a holding area to infest clean plants. When moving plants between properties make sure that they do not have chilli thrips. Infested plants can spread an infestation to holding areas and new landscapes into which they are planted." But this doesn't tell me HOW they spread. Do you think I should I keep them in a large cardboard box covered with clear plastic (in the shade of course) for a couple of weeks? An article in a Houston newspaper suggested that Ike's winds spread Chilli thrips much further inland than the Houston area. This article also said: "Control of chilli thrips is not difficult but requires persistent treatment. Though the pest is easily killed with insecticides, we have not found any insecticides that provide long-term preventive control." Another article said Chilli thrips were thought be deveoping immunity to Spinosad and a variety of insecticides should be used against them. Of course, I would have to believe that the grower of these roses has kept on top of the Chilli thrips problem and my treatment would be simply a precautionary measure. I didn't ask them if they'd ever experienced Chilli thrips among their roses, but when I emailed about what to spray with to forestall a possible problem they suggested Conserve. Any other suggestions will be gratefully received. Hopefully, this is much ado about nothing, but as Kathy indicates, better to be safe than sorry.

I am on the 8b/9a border, and a few of those suggested plants are very iffy for winter survival here: bougainvillea, ponytail palm, jatropha, and plumeria are all likely to die without significant winter protection. However, you can overwinter a potted plumeria in a dormant state in a cool, dark (but not above-freezing) location such as a garage. Potted ponytail palms can be easily overwintered in the house, since they are happy in the dry heat. There are also many plants on that list that will reliably survive the winter, but will defoliate or even die back to the ground in the cold. Some of them are plants that are evergreen in central/south Florida (hibiscus, passion vine, etc.). You asked for perennials, so maybe you don't mind winter die-back, but I thought I'd mention it. If you want something evergreen to add some height and structure, you can use Indian hawthorn (as Carol mentioned above) or ligustrum. For a deciduous shrub or small tree, crepe myrtles (mentioned above) are great. If you get a bigger type and let it keep most of its crown growth (no coppice pruning, a.k.a. "crepe murder") it will eventually make a nice tree and give you a partly-shaded area to plant under. Knockout roses (mentioned above) grown in full sun will reach 5'-6' or more in a couple of years if you don't cut them back too aggressively. If you keep them cut back, you can maintain them at 3'-4'. They will defoliate briefly in the coldest part of winter, but generally don't drop their leaves until the hard freezes hit - so often they are green past Christmas. For edible landscaping, the blueberry bush (decidious) can be attractive. It has white flowers in spring, of course followed by the tasty berries. The dwarf Sunshine Blue only gets 2'-4' tall and has pink flowers. Blueberries love sun, but you have to maintain an acid soil. For an unusual color on a bigger shrub - IF you are willing to mulch very well and water regularly - loropetalum will do great in full sun. It has beautiful purple foliage and the brilliant pink flowers in spring are a bonus. My next door neighbor has some beautiful ones, and there are several apartment complexes and shopping centers that also have lovely ones that get all day sun. I am not kidding about the mulch and water, though - they will die or look terrible if you stick them in full sun without adequate mulch and moisture, and I'd wait until fall to plant them. They will need the cool months to get their root systems established before facing the heat next summer. Their foliage is much denser if grown in full sun, dense enough that they can be pruned into shapes - rounded top shapes are popular around here. The native saw palmetto or the king sago (cycas revoluta, which I believe Carol mentioned above) can be an effective backdrop or centerpiece for your perennial flowers, too. They are almost bulletproof. Ornamental sweet potatoes are a pretty ground cover to weave among your flowers. While they are not supposed to be hardy, mine have come back after the last two winters. Mine are out in the brick mailbox planter exposed to dawn to dusk sun along the street. However, the grocery store sweet potatoes I planted with them (some that had sprouted after I failed to cook them soon enough) have grown even more vigorously. I leave them in the ground all winter. One last thought: I bought some pretty purple African Daisies from HD this spring. They have done really well, repeatedly blooming in sun and poor soil with no deadheading. They were labeled as perennials, but since I just got them this year I can't report on their actual hardiness yet. Good luck!

Hi! I live in NWFL (8b) an hour east of Pensacola and I grow only own root roses because I don't want to deal with rootstock growing and having to prune it off. I'm pretty new to roses so I only had mine for a full year and they are going into their second spring. I bought all Austins except for 1 Eden. Not sure if there are nematodes this far north since I am like 50miles from Alabama. I guess I'll find out the hard way! But I do amend the soil per HR's instructions and I add a banana peel to the bottom of the planting hole if I have one. My soil is sandy in some areas and loamy in others. Also I want to have a no spray garden but if I do see a TON of blackspot or aphids I will spray. I want to try the cornmeal or baking soda trick I've seen on gardenweb to control those issues since I like cheap and organic gardening. Of those I got last year: INGENIOUS MR. FAIRCHILD: the first year it was in a spot that recieved 4-5 hours of sun (E side of house) and it grew thin, thorny spindly canes and didn't bloom at all. So this spring I moved it to the NE side of my yard and it gets a TON of sun @least 6-8 hours and so far it's looking good after the transplant with new canes and leaves within a two week period after the move. No blackspot in both locations! Hopefully it will bloom! JAMES GALWAY: I love love love this rose! I planted him E side of my house next to a brick column near my porch. I'm trying to grow him as a climber or pillar and he's doing great! He got a lot of good sun and the breeze was good there! He got afternoon shade from my house. He's also planted right next to a sprinkler. He bloomed so well his first year! And no black spot all growing season except for after winter which I removed those leaves and he grew new ones fast! Not sure if this year I should remove leaves to prepare for winter. He responds so good to pruning and is covered with like 7 buds. He had one octopus cane last year that I didn't prune the tip so I don't see a bud and I tied it horizontal the other day to try to produce canes off it so we'll see if that works. The flowers smelled faintly last year if you get your nose in the bloom and inhale but it was a good smell. Really pretty apricot pink or medium pink blooms. It was my favorite last year! HERITAGE: I have 3 of these in my front garden near my house (E side). I need to do some rearranging because i want to move 2 of them in an 18inch triangle to make one big bush. They get 4-5 hours of morning sun. They bloomed very well! Smelled really good! But I found out the blooms shatter quick if you cut them for the vase. So I plan on just letting them stay on the bush. Pretty light pink blooms. They did BS a little during the end of growing season and a lot in winter so this spring I took off like all the leaves. Bounced back fast after that and pruning it with really heathy leaves and is budding now! EDEN: I am growing as a climber on the W side of my house against a tall brick wall. It's still short though. About 1.5feet. About 6-7 hours of sun. There's a garden web post about hook anchors with galvanized wire in the brick and her climbing roses were gorgeous like that!! This rose is my second favorite in my garden! BS's a little where it is because my house is on a pond and it's humid in the backyard, but it's not enough to spray. I just pick the infected leaves off. Loves fertilizer and has a bunch of buds forming. Also had a really thick cane shoot up this year! The buds are so big on some of the thin canes they are almost touching the ground. I should probably tie those up. Planted near a sprinkler and does good there. OF MY NEW ONES I bought this year (recieved 2 weeks ago!) and planted in a garden bed I got the pleasure of filling since the previous owners of the house had nothing in it except for some boxwoods: GOLDEN CELEBRATION: planted in partial sun. Looks green and no BS yet. Heard mixed reviews on the BS issue so we'll see. CROCUS ROSE: planted in partial sun. Heard nothing but good things. So hopefully it will be good. MOLINEUX: in at least 6 hours of sun. With shade halfway in between the day. Really straight up growth from what I see from the nursery. It's kinda stiff and weird looking compared to the other roses I've bought so it's new to me. Heard a lot of good things so I have high hopes this works out. LICHFIELD ANGEL: planted in 6-8 hours of sun. Thin canes from the nursery plant so I hope it gets stronger canes. I want to plant an older Austin, SYMPHONY rose when HR has it ready to sell next year. also, I have two lady banks yellow roses on my backyard fence that are a year old. They are not in an ideal location for them, about 5-6 hours of sun and the rest shade or dappled sun. I hope when it gets bigger and climbs the fence it will get better sun to bloom. It BSed a little but it's in a not ideal spot, 10 feet from a pond so that's my fault. I plan to leave it be and see if it survives since I hear they are pretty tough... Well I hope that helps and I'm curious to see how your own roots do! Good luck!