Plant them, they should be fine. I once left a wheelbarrow full of Hem fulva out in the wheelbarrow all winter. They stayed there all winter through spring and into the summer with very little soil left on them. They bloomed in the wheelbarrow sitting in the shade under my huge maple tree. That plant is nearly indestuctible! The only way I've found to kill it is to spray it with roundup! If by some chance they don't make it for you, let me know next spring I'll give you some. Happy Gardening, Kim

Leaf and some bloom buds have their own energy supply in the form of starches/carbohydrate nestled at the base of each bud. All that is needed for the buds to open are a water supply and the metabolites already inside the plant to convert the energy source. This process occurs with or without roots, and is why we can prune off branches of dormant blooming plants, like pussy willow, apple, cherry ...... and "force" them to bloom by simply placing them in a vase with water. Bud movement and subsequent appearance of leaves or blooms is not a reliable indicator of plants having struck (rooted). When you start a cutting, you're always in a race to get the plumbing supply working, that is the attachment between the newly forming root system and the top of the plant, before rot organisms ruin the show and clog the pipes (vasculature). That's why it's decidedly better to provide a damp but not wet, very well-aerated root environment to discourage any increase in populations of organisms that cause damping off diseases and other fungaluglies you can do w/o. Try to avoid tugging or putting any sort of pressure on cuttings you're rooting. Even little tugs break tiny root hairs and can set plants with only the vestige of a root system back considerably. Try to fix the cutting in the pot securely, even if you have to tie or wire it in place so it cannot move in relation to the pot. Secured cuttings will establish in a fraction of the time required by their unsecured counterparts. If you want to be sure your cutting has rooted, wait until you see the second generation of leaves emerging - by the time that happens, your cutting will have developed roots. Al

Hey sorry ya'll. Been crazy once again this week. Longing for some quiet time. We have out of town guests and I went with my mom, aunt and cousin TS shopping on Thurs and out to lunch. We hit 3 TS's and I picked up lots of neat stuff including an old sled that I will use for decorating at Christmas for $7! Think I only found one small painting mag, but a bunch of other neat stuff. Oh an old flip top table for $5!! I was really excited about that. It's small so maybe will use it as a plant stand?? Not sure. Will try to post pics later. I've got another kid going to camp so had to go shopping for a few things for that on Friday as well as for our annual crawfish boil at the reservoir. Plus had a kiddo sleeping over here so cooked up some goodies for them and they watched "old" 80's movies most of the night. DH went to the reservoir and spent the night crawfishing so I didn't get a lot of sleep. Sat we loaded everyone up and drove to Strawberry Reservoir which is about an hour and 1/2 away. We go every year on the 24th and this year DH invited some friends and then our house guests were there so we had a good many people there. The kids swam and crawfished and everyone said they had a great time. We cooked a LOT of crawfish and we just had a great day. I was following DH home and he got so tired that he had to pull over and sleep so I had to drive the rest of the way home by myself and luckily I had the gps with me cause I missed my exit so it helped us get home at close to midnight. Had to run DD's friend home and then waited up for DH to get home at around 3am. Then I tried to go to sleep and couldn't so ended up laying there awake until around 4 something. UGH! Dog had to go out at 5am so yeah, there was my night for ya. ha I'm tired!! We didn't go to church today so here I am. Have to get DD packed for camp today so they can load the trailer. They aren't leaving until Tues morning. We are making crawfish chowder today for our guests so that will take up most of the afternoon. Just lots going on so I know ya'll will understand when I'm not here. ha That's my life right now. Always something going on. Anyway, I have been unloading the van and am still in my jammies so better go shower and get rolling. Ya'll have a great day!! ~Anj Oh, Franksmom....I have seen mag holders made from cereal boxes and covered with pretty papers so glad you thought of that. I didn't remember until you said that, but I had this one bookmarked that is done with fabric. I'm putting a link for ya. Looks like they used mailing boxes which are pretty sturdy and I think they are free?? Keep crafting! Here is a link that might be useful: Recycled Mag box

To echo Rina, needing less water doesn't mean to water in sips, though I can see how people could take it that way. When soil is moist, the plant drinks up all it can. When soil dries out, the roots grow in search of moisture(a good thing). When soil is dry and you water it, at first the soil resists water. Thus, to 1. water it until it runs out the bottom then 2. wait a few minutes, then repeat that cycle two more times, you ensure that all the soil in the root ball actually gets wet. The wait time depends on how long the soil holds on to water. There are several factors that go into how fast the water left in the soil evaporates, so you have to evaluate dryness each time before you water. If it were mine, I would prune it back significantly and try to find a better lighting situation. By significantly I mean in this case about 6 inches off each branch. This allows for increased branching, and gives the main branches time to harden off and be more resistant to flopping in the future. I assume that by saying the leaves are mushy, you mean they are dehydrated, floppy, flattened. Is that true? I have never seen rot in the leaves and not in the trunk, so rot seems unlikely in this case. Keep in mind that it is MUCH harder to kill a jade with dry conditions than with wet. Which brings us full circle back to Rina's question about well-draining mix... ez