I don't know about birch branches, but these sticks reminded me of a procedure we used to "plant" weeping willow trees. In late spring, take a cutting from a healthy tree, slice the butt end of the stick at an angle and shove it into the ground. Keep it well watered for the next 2 weeks and if its shows signs of new growth, reduce the watering schedule, but do not let the soil dry out until the new tree is established. It is easy to start new weeping willows with this method. It is best to plant the cutting as soon as possible. If it is allowed to dry out, its probably dead wood. Growing a new plant from a cutting will produce a clone of its donor whereas its seeds may not. The seeds can be hybrids if there are other closely related trees in the vicinity.

Hi Fun2beere, Looks as though the guy who showed the celebrity (with the rather long name) in the casino wearing reflector sunglasses ... ... may have had a rather frustrating experience ... there ... or somewhere ... or with some activity ... or person(s). Did you check his identity of choice? Olychick, My old eyes find that consulting a phone outside is rather frustrating, especially on a sunny day and if you can't find a tree or wall to provide shadey assistance. ole joyful

Have your political representatives heard from you on a fairly regular basis with informed, thoughtful and responsible ideas about how the country is operating? Those who don't participate have little right to complain, haven't they? A number of countries with formerly fairly strong democratic traditions have recently become taken over by autocratic systems. Some of them are no friends of real democracy, especially Russia and China, and there have been a number of claims that they are actively seeking to undermine ours. Is it wise of us to participate? Would you like the current systems in some of them to come into operation here? If not, go to work to keep our democratic sytem alive and functioning well, and actively supported by large and increasing numbers of us. ole joyful

^^^ LOL! I know, I noticed that, but have no idea how to correct a meme. Rusty