Frank, she's already a beauty, and she's not fully open! Just wait until all the buds open! As I said, it was one of my favorites! Very prolific bloomer... although, all my attempts at pollinating failed. I'll catch it next bloom cycle. Sweet Lilian also proved to be very photogenic! I took the most photos of this particular variety. Viagrow... hahaha! So, what happens if the stem is erect for more than 4 hours? Should you consult a horticulturist? LOL! Larissa, in today's world, you sort of have to help your kids develop a thick skin so they're ready for whatever life throws at them. We're the type of parents that never shielded our kids from the uglier side of life... we were always very open, encouraging them to question the world around them, and to discuss things they weren't sure about. Life is tough... kids need to develop good coping skills! One of our favorite lines was, and still is: Life is full of choices... for every choice there is a consequence... think hard before making your choices! When our kids were teens, our house was the favorite hangout... there were always other kids at our house. They would all come over after school and hang out, play video games, listen to music... my fridge got a ton of mileage! I think we fed the neighborhood! You should hear some of the stories from parties at our house! Our motto was: Don't fall asleep before we do! Oh, the jokes we played on people! Ahh... great memories! Hilarious memories! We never had a lot of money, but we did have a lot of fun! Our kids have some awesome memories to take with them through life... that much is certain!

I wasn't trying to tell Love to pretend. I'm saying that Love should carefully choose when the best times to shed light on WBSM so that Dad's perception is not clouded. The difference between KKNY and Love is that KKNY is the parent sticking up for her child (Mama Bear... we all have her in us!) and Love IS the child. Totally different dynamic. In order to say she won't tolerate snide comments etc. she will have to prove somehow to Dad that she's not just misinterpreting the actions of *poor* WBSM who is so *misunderstood*. In my experience the only way to do that is to move a little quicker (once you realize the name of the game she is playing) and not do anything that could be misconstrued as being petty or vindictive or sulky/whiny/childish and have clear proof that is not TOLD to dad but SHOWN to dad. Of course, in my situation dad had to see it time and time and time again with different people, and he kept excusing SM as being really *nice* but that people *for some reason* just didn't see that side of her. Finally enough people gave him such similar feedback: "dude, your wife's a beyotch" that he listened. The last instance was him and her telling me what constituted a "good hostess" and listed the people who were, and who weren't. When my dad was talking to me alone later I said that it was kind of ironic that SM would be dissecting the hospitality of others when so many had negative experiences at her home. (we've come to the point where if I put things gently enough, pointing them out gently then stepping back, my dad will kind of discover/realize on his own) He was shocked, and realized that people who weren't "nice" to SM.... well... she's not particularly that "nice" either. Hm... now what? I suppose someday we'll be at a place that we can just talk about it without me fearing I will be misinterpreted. But, in my case too, this all started when I was 18. Love has enough years past 18 that she can approach it with a little more dignity than I did; first crying, telling dad she was mean to me, saying she did *little* things; looks, gestures... actions... that looked like they were nice but were really passive aggressive; next pointing it out right when it happened "see! THAT'S what I'm talking about"; next, removing myself from their life; next, bending over backwards to make her comfortable ie shut her up and then feeling horrible and crying after; finally, outmaneuvering her by being strong and kind and exposing her actions as she goes. Not pointing. Not talking. Letting her dig holes in front of me then stepping out of the way and watching her fall in. And then, the hardest part: not laughing, pointing, calling attention. Letting her call attention to herself. I'm just sending out the warning. Being direct does not always work and can make things worse.

So you used the flat concrete wire grids (about 10 gauge if it's the kind I just saw at Home Depot) but you didn't find it worth it? What were the hassles or drawbacks you had working with this method? I've been drawn to this method (using even huskier and galvanized livestock panels) because it appears quite strong and would offer support higher than almost all cages on the market. It also looks like they'd lay down and store pretty much flat. I'd be using this method for 2 or 3 rows of 10 plants each. Last year was a hassle with constant restating, tieing, getting there too late and finding broken branches, then finding cages collapsed under the weight.

I'm with Maackia...agree that invasive issue is overplayed in eastern NA. It is a very successful early successional forest species that fixes soil nitrogen and when it reaches high densities, there are native insects that effectively target Robinia, allowing later succession forest species to take hold. It is shade intolerant so mono-culture stands of Robinia are rarely self sustaining (unless the disturbance that facilitated its establishment continue). Its invasive label in eastern NA partly stems from its spread into meadows and fields that previously experienced regular low intensity fires and for its toxicity to domestic livestock. Its characteristics (except for the N2 fixing) are similar to Eastern Red Cedar...a highly successful early succession forest species that has benefited from anthropogenic landscape disturbances and from fire suppression policies.