Here you go! Jim

When you do bonsai its a normal tree that you basicly stunt the growth of there is no genetic tranferrence of size. If you can actually get a seed off of a bonsai tree to sprout itll grow a full size tree

There are new organic "chemical" sprays - often made by the same chemical companies that sell the more toxic stuff. You shouldn't need sprays for the figs but everything else on your list will suffer around here. You can usually find dormant oil at any large garden center or farm store - it is not considered a chemical by most gardeners. You'll spray it in late winter before the flowers open on any fruit trees. Then there are fungicides and insecticides that you spray either right before the buds open or right when the petals start to fall off the flowers. You don't spray while the flowers are in full bloom or else you'll poison your pollinating insects (like bees). In some parts of this area you have to basically spray every 10 days until harvest. Most of the bottles have the instructions on how to mix the chemical and when to spray it - it is different for different parts of the state. There are couple of diseases here that can ruin an orchard. Diseases that the rest of the country rarely sees so make sure any information you look up is for the south east part of the US. Make sure you plant the most disease resistant apples you can find - I like 'Williams Pride', 'Goldrush' and 'Arkansas Black'. Even with their exceptional disease resistance they all suffer from something in my yard. The most disease resistant for me is 'Arkansas Black' but its apples don't have the flavor that the other two have. Plums can suffer from a few different diseases than apples - but they don't need to sprayed as often. A bigger problem is bugs eating the fruit before it ripens in my yard. Peaches grow like weeds. No matter how much you spray eventually the tree will die so be prepared to replace the tree within 10-15 years. Don't worry about buying the biggest trees in the store - they grow really fast here.

Hi all! Just as an update- I pruned and potted up my Hot Lips about 3 wks ago. Thanks for the advice, Rich. By looking at the website, the plants almost "told " me where to prune. Get rid of dead, weedy and so on. New growth was peeking out on the lower stems, so trim down to there. They weren't root-bound as I'd feared, but close to it. I loosened the root ball a little, mixed some of the old soil with new Kelloggs and pumice, a little slow release, and put them in pots 2 in. larger. re worm castings- they're a component of the potting mix I use. It's not available all over, but it's such a nice, coarse well draining mix. And I found earthworms when I potted up! They are growing beautifully and already have fat buds on a dozen shoots. Didn't try cuttings yet, I didn't see anything viable that I trimmed. I'm wondering if they have insect repelling properties..? I've never seen bugs on them. I moved them next to one of my potted roses and it's now the only one without aphids. The foliage is very aromatic. If I were to look for similarly performing salvia to use as a companion, does anyone have suggestions? Texas and Mexican sages grow well here, but they are waaay too big for balcony pots. I tried Black and Blue and it croaked in a week-seemed too tender. Would I look for a gregii, microphylla, or? There are salvias available here, but sometimes the labeling is "red" "pink", or something equally enlightening. High Country Gardens may be a good source to order from if there is nothing local. Thanks!