Will- Your Abies balsamea 'Piccolo' looks okay to me. Abies fraseri 'Fastigiata Compacta' - this is likely the result of propagation of a side branch (tertiary, horizontal, rather than secondary vertical) and would be considered a cultivariant. It should develop a leader within a few years. Unknown fir: look up Abies forrestii Abies koreana 'Glauca' - could be 'Glauca' - do you have a spring/early summer photo, would be easier to make a guess. Abies koreana 'Green Compact' is likely the same as 'Compact Dwarf' Cheers- Brent

Thanks for your answers. Some research that I have been doing indicates that rice water used as a base liquid and combined with other natural materials may be more effective treatment for various plant diseases. Evidently these are very ancient techniques and I was hopeful that someone on this Forum might have run across reference to them. Rice water could be made in three ways (I think). The first would be to soak unhulled rice grains in water for two or three days, strain it, and I find indication that this may possibly be a control for root knot nematode. Also, some experiments allude to faster, stronger seedling growth when watered with this type of rice water. The second method would be water poured off from cooked rice water. Yes, Scott, I know about the recent postings of using milk to control plant mildew problems. Wonder what happens if we combine it with cooked rice water? The third method might be rice flour whisked into water. The last two methods produce a starchy water which may just act as a 'paste' to adhere whatever to a plant surface....i.e. compost tea water + a bit of rice water may yield interesting results. I will stop rambling on the subject and begin experimenting when growing season comes around again. Hopefully you all have found the book LANDSCAPE AS SPIRIT by Mosko and Noden. Beautiful book! May help out those of you working on rock setting projects.

Hi Deanna, Bulbs store energy for the plant that can tide it over during rough times. So, rotted stems are like busted stems, as long as the bulb is large enough to support itself through next year (its not a tiny bulblet) it will come back, just a little smaller. This may result in a smaller plant with fewer blooms the first season but it will otherwise be fine. The thing to check is whether or not the bulbs have healthy looking roots. In the Fall if you find that the bulb and roots are rotten I wouldn't bother to plant it. Stressed bulbs often will decide to take a season off and not send up foliage (or abort growth already started). Instead it will spend its time growing new roots. So that doesn't mean they are dead. It sounds like your stems got the fungal disease botrytis possibly from overwatering. With your curled up new sprouts (possibly lieing along the soil) this would be an easy thing to have happen. Putting late planted bulbs in pots is usually a good idea since you can use sterile well draining soil and, depending on where you put the pot, control watering and sun. So don't hesitate to do that in the future. Botrytis strikes plenty of lilies in the garden as well. I'd cut away any diseased foliage (and throw it out securely) and spray the remaining foliage and the pots soil surface with a rose fungal spray. I've included a link with some info. -Helen Here is a link that might be useful: Plantlilies botytis link

This is so ironic... I thought I'd look on this site to see what would be good to plant for quick privacy. Our huge 40-foot old arborvitae split from all of the rain and wind last week. It had 3 limbs and split right at the bottom sending one limb onto our garage. We now have a perfect view into our neighbor's house. The single-leader advice is definitely worth following. Regarding the cypress suggestion, I planted about 35 leyland cypress 10 years ago (nursery going out of busines sale $3 each) and they're now over 30 feet tall. Amazing privacy. The only bad thing is they don't put down very deep roots relative to their height. We usually have to pick up one or two each winter and brace them back up when we have a particularly wet and windy winter. Even with this minor inconvenience, they're still well worth it and do a great job of screening out our neighbors' 2-story addition. I might try a tall, fast flowering shrub. Any advice on one for a dry, partial sun area?