In my experience, a high % of the growers looking at your plant will be saying, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it"; and if I had a nickel for every time I heard the advice given, I'd be a lot closer to a comfortable retirement. Do you ever hear, "If your car still starts, forget about changing the oil" or "Why bother having the brakes fixed if you haven't had an accident yet?" You know best what the original root mass is like. If it's badly congested, it will affect the plant as long as it remains that way, but it's not a decision I can make ..... whether to go for the whole repot now, or wait until early summer next year. I suppose I would weigh the likelihood that I could get the plant through the winter in decent shape and use that as the issue on which the decision balances. If you're confident you can, then what harm in waiting? If you're concerned, then maybe best to don your gloves and git 'er done. I don't think you need to spray the roots with neem oil .... I've never done it, so can't share how the plant might or might not react. Any idea what the active ingredient was in the insecticide you were given to use on the soil's inhabitants? Keep us posted? More questions I might help with? Observations? Al

here is one of my h. paniculata shrubs. 'limelight' is a heavy bloomer in a half-day of sun (morning to mid-day). they need some direct sun to flower well but not full sun all day. Here is a link that might be useful: hydrangea paniculata 'limelight'

Well, know in advance that by letting nature take its course, that you run the risk of predation. Wasps are one of the biggest predators 'out in the wild' as are some of the spiders. In my garden, the jumping spiders are the biggies. Personally? If I wanted the little guys to hopefully, make it to adulthood, then I'd put them into small containers and feed them by hand, to to speak. I have info about this on my various websites (you can check any of them for info on raising butterflies...I am revising my Monarch guide but you can still access it). As for watering the garden? I don't think it hurts them any. I have hosed off the Oleander Aphids off of my Milkweed without even knowing I had Monarch larvae on the plants and didn't hurt them before. With regards to where they are going to pupate? Caterpillars are odd...they will pupate where THEY want to. You could put all the goodies you think they will want to pupate on and sure enough, they won't use ANY of your good intentioned items. The goofy things will go and pupate on some odd item or plant or...(I'm notorious for my larvae pupating in weird spots so I know this is definitely the case!). Don't worry about having anything special for them. They're like human children and will do what THEY want regardless of what YOU want. tee-hee! My Butterfly Guide tdogmom

If anyone is interested in getting a jump on spring planting (like me- I just can't help it sometimes!) I'm having a little bit of an open house tomorrow for my neighbors, because I'm clearing out some plants and garden supplies and really didn't want to just throw them away. I'd love to save it all for the spring trade- there's tons of plants I'm looking for- but I they're taking up too much room :) Here's a list of things I'm getting rid of, and if anyone would like any of it, just reply for my address and you can come over and get what you want, first come first served! I'm in the Decatur/Emory/Clarkston area. 2 lady banks climbing roses 1 red flower carpet (miniature blooms) standard tree rose 2 unknown multicolored climbing roses (I forget the varieties, mea culpa) 1 unknown climbing yellow rose (excellent repeat bloomer) 2-3 climbing roses whose name I forget but who have white blooms with hot-pink-edged petals, very pretty 1 red climbing rose called Altissimo (single blooms, very bright red) 1 miniature light-pink climbing rose 1 truly enormous climbing new dawn rose. this thing has stems inches across at the base, and until we cut it back for transplanting was probably 15 or 20 feet up in the air. it kills me to get rid of it because it literally blooms all year, but we just took down 4 big trees and I have nothing to support it on anymore. I'll need some help digging it up from whoever takes it. 1 hybrid tea rose that hasn't been blooming well for me, I forget the variety but it has small pink blooms While I'm at it... I also have 2 rigid pond liners for a pond that never really got built (these will be a job to extricate, as the area has gotten weedy, but they're pretty nice still) some pond plants that were growing in the sort-of pond any number of rose of sharon plants that my husband would LOVE if someone wanted to dig up and take. Want a rose of sharon hedge? We've got you covered. They bloom pink, white and purple and get 6-8 feet tall if not cut back. strawberry starts from runners the azaleas in my front yard (they bloom white) are all slated to get removed, so if any of you want a dozen azaleas (or even one!), we would be extremely happy if we were saved the effort of digging them out. They're in a very untidy area, though, with ivy mixed in. I believe there is also some forsythia mixed up in there that's up for grabs. And I have some flowerpots too (some are quite large), and some gardening chemicals, which I'll set out in the driveway. a large, bright-blue rain barrel (spigot not yet installed) tons of crocosmia Quite a few grow lights and light fixtures for seed starting There's probably more, but that's all I can think of at the moment.