Even reputable nurseries mess up at times. You know? So, by sending your Pome later than planned, the nursery was at fault. Considering how hot June was in SW, plants confined in heated box, no wonder leaves were as crispy as Corn Flakes. Funny, but not really. I had to laugh at your corn flake remark. lol. It bothers me when a nursery ships plants in spite of temps hot as he&& or cold as ice. Been there, done that. Doesn't matter if a plant cost .50 or 50.00. When we order, we expect a healthy specimen. Do you know which variety you received? Is it nana? Dwarf plants can die when containers are too large. My old Pome was grown in a bonsai pot. But, small pots require frequent waterings, especially during summer. At the time, I worked at a plant store. lol. That summer was hotter than usual. My Pome was small, but flowered and fruit..'small fruit.' Well, I didn't water. Soil dried to a point my pome kicked the bucket at 3 yrs old. My fault, of course. I honestly hope your pome grows or the nursery sends a nice, healthy plant. BTW, although small, I see the new leaf sprouts. Toni

Gardengal you took the words out of my mouth, I totally agree with every point you made. I've studied the songbird issue extensively because I would never grow a plant that would be a major contributor to songbird deaths. I also deliberately avoid growing any invasive plants, repurpose/reuse/recycle, eat sustainably, and manage a native garden at our local elementary school. Just so it's clear to certain people that I am not mocking environmentalists, but rather calling out extremists. Cecily now you're backpedaling and focusing about the songbird issue rather than the invasivness issue, which is the issue that is subject of this post. If that's your reason for objecting to nandina, then just say it. I still stand by the facts that the seedlings are not overly high in quanity in Virginia compared to other clearly invasive plants. This is also true out in rural Warrenton where I also spend time gardening. Clearly the seedlings annoy you, so by all means pull them out and maybe figure out how they're getting onto your property so you can deal with the source. I watch my nandinas like a hawk each year for berry consumption by birds and I never lose any berries, they continue on into the next spring and I cut them off when they start looking ratty. Same is true on my brother's property in rural Warrenton. And he has the same experience of me, a few seedlings directly under the plants, and berries that persist into the spring. So it's not an urban / rural issue. Whether a plant in the invasive species list is still sold in the state is irrelevant to whether the list is accurate and valid. Of course commercial sellers are going to keep selling bad plants, that's what they do, human nature. So I'm kind of done with this too because when someone is either not listening, is not comprehending, too biased to openmindedly consider what other people are saying, or actively trying to start and maintain a fight, I walk away. Have a nice Defensive Saturday!

Living in Wisconsin I do adore so many different trees. But my Mom had a gorgeous flowering mini crab apple tree that in spring would smell so wonderful, like almost a musky Hibiscus type scent that would last about 4 weeks. The fruit on this tree was about as small as a pea and was very abundant as the tree itself in bloom would look like one big huge flower on it's own. But most of the pea sized apples that would never have any issues with scabbing or insects would stay on the tree through the winter that would be a #1 staple of the bird life that never flew south for the winter time as my Mom would also have bird houses and Cardinals would stay along with Red Winged Black Birds and others. When the trees were flowering they would attract so many butterflies, humming birds and honey bees, that the next door neighbor would surly get his fill from, and even offer up honey to my Mom, otherwise he wouldn't have had so much honey and bees wax to sell at the farmers market. But unfortunately in 2012, my Mom's condo association voted on removing her wonderful bird and furry ground fellows tree (Yes! Also the squirrels of at least 3 to 5 different kinds would take advantage of all of the tiny apples that had fell to ground, along with chipmunks and some other furry ground animals, so I never did see what the big deal was. They had said that tree had made a mess. Well I beg to differ, and the closing vote was neighbor that actually got kicked out by the banks foreclosure no more than 4 months later. Now my 2nd favorite tree would be the lilac tree, not the bush but the actual tree. I remember when I had one right outside my bedroom window and the scent of lilacs would come in through out the lilac season, and my Dad had planted them to flower 2 weeks apart from each other, so I had that scent in my bedroom going for a good 4-6 weeks long at least! Now Wisconsin has a law in place that no one is allowed and will be fined if they are to plant any sort of troublesome tree. One big one being the darn Cotton Wood Tree. And for those that have them on their land that are in neighborhoods that clog up gutters and fly over to parks in which the fire departments HAVE to do a controlled burn to keep them from growing out of control every single year. This junk get into your air filters and in your cars, garages, homes and all over the place. I really hate these trees, and I just don't understand why people would take advantage of free removal by the city, especially if they have a fire place, free wood to burn for them for the winter time. And now these trees are huge! It's just unreal what you pull out of your gutters every year. Even though we want to enjoy our spring times and not have our usual floods as that is what usually happens here, but when you have Cotton Wood trees, you almost beg for rain every day so these seeds will only drop on the owners home and not yours when floating through the air and causing allergies with watery eyes, sneezing and being all stuffed up from just trying to enjoy the outside, which is impossible when you have a cantankerous neighbor that just won't take down that damn tree, even though it almost looks like it's 1/2 way dead anyway. Maybe some day it will get hit by lightning, and then he will have to use his home owners insurance to fix what ever damage it has caused and Karma will win in end. Just because he didn't do right by others. I know if I bought property, I would surely call the city and have them come and take it down as soon as they were able. And one more tree I don't care for all that much for at all either, is the Maple tree and for some reason, the seeds or what some people call whirly birds or helicopters I think they are a real pain in ars and for some reason the are falling off all year long and are green and slimy. Leaving the steps and landings all stained with this slimy mess so you can't even sit down and dry your hair naturally in the nice weather. And sometimes they even drop in clumps but when they do that they are too heave and drop onto the lawn, or what ever is left of it, when it rains it's a muddy mess on that side. I am doing my best to get the heck out of here, but I have some issues I need take care of right away! Heath issues that are stopping me from doing the simplest tasks. I never thought I'd need to be calling the HDRC for help like this. But I need to get out of here. Plus I just got a letter from my land lord that my rent is going up (only by $5.00) but still, I've been here for 14 years now. And I have been so unhappy and haven't had a single update done since I move in here. Sorry for over sharing, but she knows she has me over a barrel here, I have 3 auto immune disorders and many other medical issues that she used to be very empathetic to and I don't know what's happened to her now. She just no longer cares anymore at all! Now my Thyroid is effecting me. I knew years ago they found a nodule on my thyroid, but I went to a specialist and he said it's very common. My Dr. then always kept up with the testing. He now moved and I'm left with this flippent woman of a GP that is only in it for the money. Need to get rid of her now, and see if I can get a blood test tomorrow while I'm at the hospital anyway with 2 appts. back to back. I did feel so sorry for my Mom, she not only had a shade tree that she loved watching her birds every morning, but it was also a tree that gave her some privacy from her kitchen window and I think that was totally unfair for them to just take that away from her. She loves wildlife and birds, and loved waking up to it, watching and hearing the Cardinals and seeing all of the beautiful butterflies and other germinating creatures. Even the honey bees seemed very docile and as if they were trained to be non violent and just be busy worker bees along with all of the humming birds of every color of the rainbow that would stay still just long enough to make out their colors, I even saw a turquoise one, my favorite color. I went on google maps and they really need to update their pictures. That tree is still there on Google maps. I couldn't believe that when I saw that. Oh well, It's been awhile and they must have taken that picture right before they took that tree down. All I see is people raving about how much the love those trees and how glad they are they chose them. Mom moved in when that tree was a bit young yet. I wish I could turn back time, and announce her neighbors were being kicked out by the bank. That would have changed things a lot back then. They wouldn't have had a voice or a leg to stand on. And I believe the bank would have said "Keep that tree!" It only adds to the curb appeal and beauty for the next buyers. Oh well, to late now, Thanks for taking the time to read this. And God Bless to all those that have or have chosen the Mini Crab Apple Trees, you know what I'm talking about!

Maybe I can help. Let me start by saying if you cant get them in the ground and grow them outdoors in your zone, it's kind of a waste. At some point, its going to outgrow pots and what is reasonable for most people indoors. They require alot of care for the first 3 years. What size pot are yours in? I place mine in 5 gal buckets in a 60/40 blend of organic soil / perelite mixture. Mine are in a local soil blend with no ferts added. They dont tolerate high nitrogen so stay away from miracle grow organic. When was your last repot? Do you have access to quality organic soil? You want something without any fertilizers, chemical or organic. The only thing I add to mine are Dolomite lime and Azomite. The lime is to keep the PH at around 6.5 as well as add Magnesium and the Azomite is a mineral supplement. Many important minerals are mobile and will wash out with regular watering. More quickly if you overwater with lots of runoff. Every part of an Avocado above ground is photosynthetic including the stems and trunk. Mine have lost all of their leaves before and they come back. They dont like change and they are best grown in one spot outdoors with lots and lots of shade. As little direct sun as possible. Any direct sunlight will roast the leaves. A southwest corner along the fence works best as its easy to put a 2x4 across the corner and drape shade cloth. Do you know your tree's watering routine? I let mine go dry until I start to see the leaves droop a bit. They can go dry for weeks sometimes. They dont like wet feet and are susceptible to root rot. Make sure you let the water you use sit for at least a day so the chlorine can evaporate. Moving them when they become stressed can sometimes be a bad idea. It is probably reacting to changes in humidity which can be very low indoors. If you are getting big temperature and humidity changes, than can trigger it too. Do you know what kind of Avocado it is? I found the Mexican kind to be the easiest and most hardy. They are fairly frost tolerant as well. Dont give up on them. Especially the young ones. I watched seedlings regenerate an entire trunk after severe frost damage. I have two in my garden area that are absolute survivors that I had written off. There is alot of energy stored in that massive seed. Hopefully yours will pull through and adjust. Dont overthink it or mess with it too much.