Hello, katsela. My first comment would have to be that you are watering too much (daily???). My second comment would be to please elaborate what "sticky mess" actually means. By the way, I cannot tell where you are geographically speaking or what zone you live in so my observations below are somewhat general. Wilting is a very common condition on all large-leafed shrubs and occurs when they release more water through the leaves than they can absorb through the roots. This can happen on hot days or very windy days (watch for wind advisories by the weather forecasters). If you have hydrangeas, you will have some wilting this time of the year so do not panic. It happens. During June in Texas, hydrangeas begin to suffer from wilting daily. This occurs in June because we are still watering using amounts of water that are fine for spring, not for summer. And our summer starts in June when the temps jump to the 90s. Once tempratures here approach the 100s then we will get wilting almost daily and there is nothing we can do to prevent it (other than monitor the plants of course). Extreme wilting requires immediate watering. Random episodes of wilting can USUALLY be ignored because the plants recover by bed time or by next morning. By then, the moist soil provides enough water to the roots and the leaves loose much less water through evaporation. So, before you water, wait and see if the plant recovers on its own. Check it before going to bed and by the next morning. If you notice that the plant is wilted by next morning, water. If this happens at close to the start of summer, consider increasing the amount of water for the rest of summer. Just remember to reduce the amount of water in the fall when the temps go down. So how do you tell when to water for sure? Dig a small hole through the mulch and then insert a finger into the soil, to a depth of 3-4". If it feels almost dry or dry then water; otherwise take no action. It should be mentioned to use 3-4" of mulch through or past the drip line (specially in the southern states). The problem with daily watering is that this much soil moisture causes root rot, keeps the soil wet not moist, keeps the mulch/plant too humid too long and thereby promotes fungal infections such as the brown spots that you report. It is important to correctly diagnose this infection so you can apply the right type of fungicide and re-apply as required. You can take a sample to a local nursery in a sealed transparent plastic envelope or you can also use the services of your Agriculture Extension Service or nearby universities. You can also post digital pictures and see if we can identify it. Signs of root rot include constant wilted leaves that turn brown and die. Once a plant gets root rot, it may die. Signs of Cercospora Leaf Spots include brown, somewhat circular, leaf spots. These spots can change color in time. So do the leaves which turn yellowish or light green and fall down. Cercospora can be treated with Daconil, Cleary's 3336 and with Immunox (basically, any fungicide whose active ingredients is one of these: azoxystrobin, chlorothalonil, mancozeb, myclobutanil or thiophanate-methyl). You will have to re-apply every two weeks as needed. And note this does not cure the plant but rather controls the problem. Other things that you can do: throw away in the trash all plant debris; water the soil and not the leaves; make sure the plants do not touch other plants (you want to promote air flow around the plants); and consider replacing the mulch around the affected plants. For additional information on common fungal infections and recommended controls, go to the link below. Another comment. You said you fertilized the plant "well". In the southern half of the country, you can feed them in early May and June. In the northern half of the country, feed them once in early July. That is it. Coffee grounds and/or Liquid Seaweed can be added as additional treats if you want. But stop all fertilizers by August; you want the plant to go dormant in the fall so it can be prepared for winter. Feed them manure or cottonseed meal; general purpose slow-release chemical fertilizers are ok. For more information on hydrangea care, click on this link. Your hydrangea petiolaris or climbing hydrangea is a very fussy plant; many people report the bloomage problem during its first few years in the garden. While it can show blooms when purchased, it will sometimes stop blooming when planted and may take several years to start again. Three or five years is not unheard of. My recommendation is to take care of its basic requirements and then almost ignore it. Let it grow up the structure that you have it attached to. Its root system is much different from that of common hydrangeas so it spends a lot of energy developing it instead of flowers, not to mention the time it spends growing up trees or whatever.. Depending on where in the country you live, you might be able to increase the amount of sunlight that your plants get by making changes in your garden. In the northern part of the country, hydrangeas can take full sun (6 hours) but, down here in the south, 3-4 hours is the limit. Increasing the amount of sunlight will promote more flowers so azalyze whether your geographical location will allow you to increase the amount of sun light by making changes in the garden. Transplanting can also be an option but that is only recommended when the plant is dormant in the fall or winter. Luis

I spoke with a lawyer this week, sorry for not updating sooner but it's been a rough time for me lately... Anyway, I can't remember which poster said he/she had a 'gut feeling' that there is no legal provision for self defence in animals, but that seems to be the most simplified explanation of the situation. Yes, the family member is an adult. He is actually my father. I'm 19 years old and trust me it's surely been a difficult time for me. My dad has changed his 'story' a few times since the bite happened, and it's hard to get anything straightened out. It's turning into a division in the family which is just compounded the already painful situation. Honestly I dont think there is anything that can be done for Lucky. The day after the bite, the officer who came to the house (my mom had to sign ownership of Lucky over to her) called our home and she explained that we would be receiving a call from the Department of Health to explain why Lucky has to be put down. When the representative from the D. of H. called I didn't speak to her, but apparently she essentially explained that the laws in our county are strict regarding second dog bites, and it is mandated that a dog who causes 2 "severe injuries" (the second bite didnt even require stitches so I wouldnt think it would be considered severe but I of course am a layperson) must be put down. I'm trying really hard to move forward and try not to dwell on this. Lucky was techincally my younger sister's dog and she is having a very hard time, understandably so. She is a junior in high school, and all of this occured during final exams week for her. Hopefully my family will have learned *something* from this awful series of events... maybe that some animals just aren't meant to be the pets we want them to be.. other than that I'm not really sure what 'good' can come of this. I guess I'm just glad that he didn't harm anyone more severly than he did. 99% of the time he was an affectionate and adorable dog, and it's just that 1% that proved impossible to extinguish. Fortunately I just obtained a summer job for my hiatus from college, so hopefully that will help me to keep my mind off all of this. It's the only coping strategy Ive come up with.

Here is the decision(s) I did make. (So far) A year ago, we started a cosmetic/functional update of the one bathroom in my condo. When I took out a piece of bad drywall, I found a bricked-up window. Dead halt while I investigated the cost of installing an historically appropriate window ($8000-10,000). No sale. Then I decided to avoid taking up the mortarbed by glazing the tub and ugly tile. The tub started peeling at 3 weeks. The lifecycle cost of that project was about $40 a day. I stopped with a bathroom with no vanity, a wobbly toilet and bare lightbulbs. I found mosaic that duplicated the 1840 vestibule tile: $$$ I priced rectified subway tile:$$ I amused myself in the shower by pulling off the acrylic glazing. Yesterday I met with a contractor, and decided to cut to the chase, remove the wetbed, tub and tile and replace it with something I can live with whether I stay or go, not go cheap but not spend a lot White on White Daltile Octagon and dot with grey grout White Daltile Subway Plain white tub. I am at least going to stop holding myself hostage with half a bathroom and whether I put an offer on the other house (I will if all the stars align) and if I don't get to, because the house is sold...I have an ok bathroom and a house that is at least more marketable when the time comes.

Well we found The One, but it’s super pricy and we are trying to gather financing, since we are concurrently putting in an offer on a house (this afternoon, if all goes well!). We will live in the house while we build, because our rent is just too high compared to a mortgage for this area, and even with a land loan AND mortgage we’d still be paying several hundred less per month. Crazy right? How did we know it was The One? Well we found The One in our previous state and adored it, but it was almost impossible to build on, even for my structural engineer husband. Very small house bench but the most amazing views and access on a mountainside. The inlet, the city, and a nature preserve below. Just stunningly beautiful, and close to church and work. It checked the boxes of view, access, and proximity to our stuff and people. But it was expensive, and we just couldn’t justify the list price. We offered but the owner wasn’t ready to budge on price and declined. Then life happened - special needs baby, move to a new state, and I’ve never been so glad to have capital AND flexibility. We actually dodged a bullet, given the situation in the state’s economy now. And though our new location is less beautiful, it has plenty of things to commend it. The new The One, here in this state, is also overpriced. Access may be a little trickier too, as the roadway is at the bottom of the property instead of the top, but we think we can make it work. It won’t be as handicapped accessible as I wanted, being on a hillside, but it has proximity (the MOST important factor, it is literally three minutes from work and one minute from church, five minutes from shopping, and seven minutes from major medical). It also has a view, and is almost the highest point in the whole county. 360 degree views in the Midwest! It also has all major utilities, no septic or wells needed. It’s perfect except for the price, being one of the ‘special’ last lots that he developer decided was too costly to build on, himself. So we are going to have to lowball a bit, because we simply can’t make the list price work. But we knew it was The One through a search in a radius around work, and as soon as we walked to the top we were blown away. Oh, it’s nice from the street, but the real money is somewhat hidden at the top of the lot when you see what you’d see from the house. We didn’t fall in love right away, because the view from the street and price tag were at odds. And if it falls through in the next few days or our offer gets declined I will be a little sad, for sure, but we will see if it is available in a year and of the developer is more willing to bargain then. But basically my criteria, after having done the commute thing and realized that more rural properties sound nicer than they actually live, given how much we use services in town, we wanted the prime location first and foremost. Then we wanted a view, or st least a slight hill for drainage. Next was utilities, though we would compromise on that for the view and location. Nice to have features would be a cheap price and no close neighbor, but you can’t get that in the city, really. This is about as good as it gets with the current inventory, so good thoughts for financing and a generous developer would be appreciated ;)