I'm sure in colder climates the warmer soil of pots would be a critical difference. I wonder if it would be here. In summer one thing we don't lack is warm (hot) soil. When I potted up these giveaway plants, I took them "as is", garden soil and all. I'm not sure my situation is relevant to my question as much as to the question "does a little pruning help to revitalize plants that have not been growing". However, I have been considering the reverse situation - potting to provide colder soil temps in winter. I read that hostas can do better here if planted in the ground in pots and then pulled out in winter to receive greater exposure to the little chill we get. I was wondering if that would benefit Hybrid Perpetual roses such as Baronne Prevost and Marchesa Bocella. I plan to un-plant BP into a pot and maybe sink it in the ground during hot weather only. Anybody have a guess if these colder climate roses would benefit from chillier roots in winter? Sherry

The purple giant turned bright white on the tips, magenta on the middle, and deep purple in the center. It looks fantastic and is doing wonderfully. Two of them have perked up. Ive noticed a difference in the structure of the... um.. bush? and foliage. The ones that look wilted tend to be less full and bushy. Much more lengthy, Also I felt the leaves, and they are perfectly healthy, firm. Not wilted at all. But their leaves look as though they are in a state of constant wilt. Because of out heat I try and keep them in shade. Dahlias do much better here when shaded for most of the day. They definitely aren't full sun plants down here. I try to plant them where there is full morning light and dappled shaded light during the afternoon. Some of them get hit by the after noon sun for an hour or so unfortunately. During the day it averages around 87. I say this because one day its 80 and the next its 90. We rarely reach 3 digits. and normally dont go above 95. I live nearish to the coast so it helps keep things cooler. At night I would have to say we reach from 60 - 70.

Greendesigns, you had me with - "Of course, then there are the issues you find out during demolition and the mistakes that you the homeowner and your trades will make. The only surety that you can have for a remodel is that it will cost more and take longer than you think it will." ...but you lost me at the $500 over budget part. That would be truly funny if it were not painfully way too low. Try thousands upon thousands over budget. Of course, our reno involved more than a kitchen, but the overages were for many reasons. One of which was our gc trying to a la carte us to death. We had our master bedroom extended and yet he felt the need to charge extra, after contract, to re-set up the cable in the same bedroom. I can go one with many more examples, but that one illustrates well. Another reason is just about everyone who touched our job did something major wrong. The cabs were delivered shy 13 cabinets (big delay). Someone threw out the below the counter parts to our faucet. The architect drew our plans without going all the way into the stand up attic and assumed a whole section of the house had beams running in one direction when they went another way. The mistake was not figured out until our roof was ripped off, in Dec., no less. That lost us another month (and a lot of money). The sink leaked, the dw leaked, the icemaker leaked, the electricians screwed up the bathroom vent fan. They messed up the thermostat and heating (took weeks to sort out and still is not right). They installed the eyebrow window wrong and it took weeks of arguing and troubleshooting to try to rectify what was done. The cab installers made the island the wrong height and then damaged a cover panel. The counter guy mismeasured the island counters and had to remake them (6 month delay!). The gc's guys installed the vent for the kitchen in the wrong place, then at the wrong height, twice, and now it only functions as a light and I can bang my head on it if I am not careful. The house had rot in the sills which was discovered when the back of it was torn off. Our doors were delivered in the wrong sizes and one was warped. The flooring company sold me the wrong products so they ended up failing after installation and will be redone soon. Our propane line was installed to the wrong location so we got rejected on our c.o.s and can't hook up our stove yet (10 months and counting). To put it mildly, nothing went well the first try. If all had been done properly and professionally, it could have been done much sooner and with less stress and closer to budget. It seems like the good gcs are less prevalent based on speaking to others who renovate locally and gw these days.... In theory, a gc should make a project go smoother and faster.

Bob, that helps a lot! You are right, those are exactly the type of Phals I am growing. I am keeping them warm and put the lights of earlier and gave them extra at night to see if that makes a difference. I am wondering, do you see the roots of yours growing, or do you have them in pots hoping they are all ok? I have considered the see thru plastic slitted pots. I am starting to question whether the roots of mines are still healthy and how will I know unless I yanked them out? I question my ability on these all the time not trusting what is going on that I can not see, if you know what I mean?3 Have you ever heard the the method of just sticking them in glass bowls with roots fully exposed with a mist here and there with the moisture being contained inside the bowl? LUv, I did on the ones that were not in spike. I don't trust myself with these, even though I thought I did.lol I am always wondering what the roots look like since I can not see them( Jane, hello)) Thank you! Yeah, I think I am watering correctly since the mix is very porous and the root very warm, but I never thought of fertilizing them as often as I should. I think I will try that at a very weak does weakly. I see, if yours are slow to grow, then I don't feel so bad considering you live in a very warm climate state. Thanks. John, EXACTLY....Now you feel my pain. I have been looking at those spikes since I got them. Seems like forever. Crazy. As for new leaf growth, you can forget that! lol Thanks for your words of encouragement. Bob, when you said that you bring them outside, do you put them where they can easily get rain, or do you keep them protected under an eave of something similar?