I'm not a pro at this, but I will try to help a bit. If you take a leaf and look at it, you don't (Maybe you do) but leaves are cast on the back side so that the 'veins' are 'embedded within the leaf. So you need to make a mold of the leaf, as if you were casting it the first time. I have used kids modeling clay, rolled out to about 1/4 " (small leaf) pressed the backside of a leaf into the clay, and carefully cut around the edge of the leaf. Then I carefully removed the leaf. I lightly -Very lightly sprayed the 'clay leaf' with Pam cooking spray. I then proceeded to apply my silicone in THIN layers. (You can smooth with an icecube) It tends to be slippery from the oil, but you can get it to work. IF the silicone sticks to the clay, it can be gotten off with a bit of dishsoap when you wash the mold when it is cured. Takes awhile for the silicone to set up, especially if it is too thick... OR If you have a leaf done, and painted, oil it up and apply the silicone. That works too. You really have to try and experiment.....making a POP leaf isn't the easiest thing to do......but it can be done with patience. spray your leaf with Pam then Brush on a thin layer of POP. Let it dry and keep adding layers. Removing the leaf from POP has always been my problem Good Luck...... Marcia

I enjoyed this. and Don, I remember that song. My DS never went off to camp, but we had a huge extra wooded lot which was the neighborhood hangout when young, a nearby creek to explore runniing thru undeveloped lots to build on when older. Bike trails and jumping ramps were favorites...never did regain my garden rakes and shovels and DH fussed about the plywood and tools hauled off and never returned...fun memories. josh

The roots go a lot further down than an inch, and it doesn't look like that pop bottle has any drainage holes. I still suspect they are too wet most of the time, and probably are not getting enough sun as another poster noted. Lavender is originally from the Mediterranean region, along the coast. Yes, they manage to grow a lot of lavender in England - it is still a Mediterranean plant, however, that grows best in dry, chalky, poor soils. I think the Brits just tend to be better gardeners on average than the average 'merican, LOL! Plus they have lots of chalky coastline ... think the White Cliffs of Dover ... Lavender does NOT do well in soil that is moist all the time. If they are doing "better" since you started daily watering, I shudder to think how they were doing before, because those plants are not doing anything like "well", especially given that you started those plants way back in the spring. Here's a picture of a potted lavender that is doing well: Potted lavender advice Lavender needs 8 hours of sun a day, at least. Full sun in the garden is what they are talking about there. I don't think your plants are getting near that on your balcony. It will only be worse sitting near the window there in your kitchen (or where ever you plan to put them over winter). I understand that you are in an apartment and have VERY limited access to light and space for growing plants. Lavender is a very challenging plant (so is rosemary) for growing indoors. I've never had any luck growing either plant indoors myself. I'm not saying it can't be done; but it is a challenge. Your setup is not adequate to the task at this time. You're not getting nearly enough light; the soil mix in your pop bottles looks too heavy (lavender does better in a soil-less mix, in fact I think potted lavender may be a prime candidate for some version of Al's gritty mix). There are no drainage holes that I can see in that pop bottle and you are overwatering if the soil is never allowed to dry out. Lavender also like an alkaline soil. Adding some lime could help. ESPECIALLY if there is any peat moss at all in your soil mix, or if you are using pine fines as mulch or a soil amendment. So - alkaline soil, allow the soil to dry between waterings - not totally since these are first year plants but it shouldn't be wet or even damp all the time; and it loves the heat but dislikes humidity (hence it does pretty durn well in our dry near-desert conditions in N. Nevada). However at this point in time I hold out little hope for the survival of your plants over the winter, given their stunted condition now. I'm not trying to be discouraging; go ahead and try, you've come this far with them. But you need to repot them in a soil-less mix more suited to the plant and be prepared to supply extra heat and light, else they will not survive. Here is a discussion and fairly clear description of how to make Al's gritty mix. Personally I have found ALL the ingredients difficult to impossible to find. Turface, in particular, I have never been able to lay hands on - and though it is the virtually same stuff as certain types of cat litter or adsorbent, it isn't ALWAYS the same stuff. For instance, Napa Floor Dry has been touted as a replacement - but there are TWO KINDS and only one of them is suitable for this purpose. And I'm too tired to go dig up the links that tell you which is which. Also, having to screen and discard large portions of your ingredient isn't exactly lending itself to being affordable - let alone easy. That said - for this particular instance, I think gritty mix is your best bet - if you can only find the ingredients and get them properly screened and mixed.

Ahhh.... I was assuming that if the bluish cast was removed the blushing on the rose would go more red and thus look like my 'Love and Peace'. The 'Peace' I had died in short order so I dont have much experience with the look of 'Peace' blooms. I really hate it that all the members of the Peace rose family are so fussy. In my climate they require spraying and since I don't spray I just cannot grow them. The coloration and fullness steals my heart everytime. Lovely, lovely rose.