The first time I saw my local council gardeners 'pruning' the dozens of Bonica and Sommerwind planted, I almost fainted - they simply lopped the top third of the roses with petrol-powered hedgetrimmers. True, the bushes looked a little weird (very flat-topped) for a week or so but their recovery rates were astonishing (they do this in the summer, as well as spring). The most important thing, they told me, was to make sure that blades are sharp so that a clean cut and not a ragged tear is made. So yes, sharp scissors, shears and even, in extremis, grass edging loppers have all been used by me to no deleterious effect.

JP, I have found much of the same with seeds. I did get some Emerald Bracelet & Gold Bracelet seeds with the certificate also, in the spring. Very hard to know what we will get with most of the other seeds we get. Kadie, Most of the growers of these Adeniums (obesum) are having to start 1000's, upon 1000's of seed, just to get some different blooms. I have a great deal of respect for my Australian friends, as they cannot order in any Adenium plants, only seeds. They have to rely on reputable sellers /hybridizers of seed to get the first step accomplished (some nice seedlings), then they start their own hand pollinating to produce their own new hybrids. The flowers (own seed grown) that they have been showing photo's of over the past number of years is quite outstanding. Truly amazing is what I say. They speak highly of Ko, Rinoa (she worked with Ko prior) and quite a few others. I believe that you can do it Kadie. You just need to find a reputable seed source to atleast have better percentages of something different. Even now with hybridizers, these yellows are just not stable. They start out yellow at beginning and fade within a day or two. The humidity or lack there of can alter color and so much more. A lot of this I am sure you are aware of. Rick

I love the depth of your comments on human nature, Odinthor - "an inability to demonstrate the fullness of their hearts" for the deeply devoted in many respects. We all get passionately committed to something and then find ourselves building an overwhelming sense of responsibility and an awareness of how limited we are. I seem to find there are two possible responses to that growing awareness of the impossible in our lives - either we get anxious and focused on controlling ourselves and our environment to achieve that impossible perfection (like Kim's friend) or we develop a sense of humility and gratitude for being at least a small part of something bigger than ourselves (like Campanula and the endless joy of joining in the shaping of her wilderness). The same pattern often applies to us in other aspects of our lives, not just gardens but faith, family, and friends too. I was reminded of how much the latter attitude is both a choice and a long-term growing process for all of us last night. My daughter was chafing at the waiting and watching for her brother's Tae Kwon Do tournament last night, and I was reminding her to be patient and find something to be interested about in the activities. She turned to me exasperated and said, "Yeah, but nothing ever bothers you!" Shocked the pants off me, let me tell you - you mean you don't remember all the times I snapped at you, for starters? Then I realized that she's only 12, and her life has been absolutely filled with dramatic changes so far all the time - physically, emotionally, socially, spiritually. She doesn't have the luxury of a perspective to look back at the tapestry of her life and see the big picture of how things work together and work out - her tapestry is tiny and rushed and pretty jumbled up from where she stands (all gangly 5' 9" of her already, at that). That insight gave me the chance to do my "mom thing" and remind her (and myself) that an attitude is a choice and something you have to practice to get good at. Patience isn't something we're born with, but something we deliberately cultivate by not backing away from challenges (even the impossible ones) and handling the frustrations in our lives with grace and humility. Building that patience in the garden and life is something that all of you help me with at GW, and I thank you for it! Cynthia

Flowers - you can remove them at any time for paniculatas like Limelight. However, some people leave them "on" or winter interest. Others cut them when they change from white. Others cut them off when they turn brown. So it is up to you to choose. Nothing is "required". To deadhead flowers, you can cut the little string that connects the bloom to the stem. So cut the string, not the stem. No need at this point to wrap in burlap as Limelight is very winter hardy. You can wait until mid-to-late May to prune all the way down those stems that did not leaf out. Some people do prune it down to -for example- 1' to 18" since it has a habit of growing back a lot from one year to the next. Continue monitoring bent branches to see if they re-orient. If they do not look aesthetically pleasing after a while and the stems are not inclined to self-correct then consider pruning them. Winter would be a good time for this since all the foliage has dried out and you clearly see the stems without the leaves getting in the way.