I have to disagree with jean001 a little. New potting soil (looks like yours has some perlite as well) will not compact and/or dry out such that it pulls away from the edge of the pot, and water runs right through without wetting it. Given the size of your pot, and the amount you're watering, I'd say it's been too wet. Avocados like well-drained soil, on the slightly dry side. A new tree, with few roots to absorb and transpire water, doesn't require much. As it grows and water needs increase, it can use more, but easy does it. As jean001 suggested, growing in a pot is MUCH different than in the ground. Care must be taken to maintain the correct soil moisture. There are perhaps a few avocado varieties that will produce in a container, but it would have to be a very large container. Also, you'll get few, if any, fruits, without cross-pollination. If you maintain a drier pot, and keep an eye on moisture levels further down in the mix before watering, it's possible your tree will come back. The way it's looking at the moment, I'd give it about a 30-40% chance. Also, small avocados are prone to sunburn -- don't keep it in direct sun all day. Shade it slightly, and/or paint the trunk. -Bruce

Hi Antoinette, We seem to be on parallel paths! I moved from California (SF bay area) to Pennsylvania late last year and this is my first year with a really large garden in a totally new climate. I also went completely overboard with Heirlooms, particularly squash, beans and hot peppers. And tomatoes. Oh, lets face it, I went overboard with everything. Really, who needs six different kinds of onions? Apparently, me. Partially, this year is to trial different heirlooms, partially to save seed for next year. I hate to be the barer of bad news, but you (and I) will have a tough time keeping your varieties seperate unless you have a REALLY large plot. I don't, so I'll be doing a lot of blossom bagging/taping. I believe everything you listed will cross (including carrots, onions, etc) to some degree or another. Your best bet is to buy the book "Seed to Seed" by Suzanne Ashworth. It is AWESOME. It will tell you the distances you need to seperate varieties by and other methods if you don't have distance. From your list, corn in particular will be difficult (but not impossible). Squash is relatively easy, just tape the blossom and hand polinate (details in the book). Beans can sometimes be seperated by tall flowers to limit crossing, but your scarlet runner and painted lady will cross very, very easily with each other (but not your other beans) Buy the book! You'll be happy you did. And best of luck with everything. I had to smile - your list looks so much like mine. I think the limited space in California has made be go a little nuts now that I have room :) Bellatrix

I'm sorry to say, but I can tell you right now that a number of the plants you brought are not winter hardy in zone 6. Rosemary, the Winston Churchill fuchsia, Mexican sage, Mexican petunia, heliotrope, & lantana all will not survive winters where you are now. Any plant that's in a container outside can also be dropped by 2 -3 zones, depending on where the pot is, size of containers, etc. Please be aware that some of the plants you have in containers that would normally make it through a West Virginia winter might not while in containers. The roses will be more liable to freeze & die in the pots too. The ground, although cold & frozen winter, always retains some residual warmth & is far safer than plants in pots. Is there any place that you can store your plants for now to prevent freezes? Even with such a condition, plants like lantana will not survive prolonged cold, let alone any freezing. My suggestion would be to find a cool greenhouse, not a warm one, where plants could overwinter without danger of being killed. A cool greenhouse is one where night temperatures are kept around 45 F so in your area, that would mean some source of warmth during cold winter days & nights. You just don't want it too warm so that would stimulate growth. It's really hard to move from a warmer zone to one where many of your beloved plants can't grow. I did that & after 14 years in my cold 'hell', moved back to warmer climes & enjoying it no end.

Hey Jennifer, welcome to our crazy world! Just be careful.... it can become a major obsession! I started with a handful of roses back in 1990, and I now have way over 1700! As for roses for a shady area, I would think any of the old tea roses would do great for you, especially since you're in a warm zone. My summer temps often reach triple digits. I have several tea roses growing along the lower, west side of our house in mostly light shade. My ROSETTE DELIZY is a virtual monster, spreading about 4ft wide and sometimes over 6ft high, and blooms off and on throughout the yr. Same with MAMON COCHET, altho that one reaches almost 8ft if I let it. In that bed I also have the teas WILLIAM R SMITH, RUBENS, DUCHESSE DE BRABANT, LADY HILLINGDON, MONSIEUR TILLIER, RAINBOW, climbing teas MADAME DRIOUT, SOUVENIR DE MADAME LEONIE VIENNOT, E VAYRAT HERMANOS, shrub roses MORDEN BLUSH, MARQUISE ORSOLA SPINOLA and floribunda BLUEBERRY HILL. Some of these don't repeat as well maybe as others, but they grow just fine and do bloom at least two flushes. Oh except for E VAYRAT HERMANOS. That one and actually SOUVENIR DE MME LEONIE I am planning to move out of there and plant them at the bird-feeder pergola so they have a place to climb. At the side of the house they don't have much to grab onto, so they sprawl out all over the place, getting in the way. EVH has never bloomed in the 10+yrs I've had it. It just grows like a big monster-octopus. I would just experiment and see how certain roses do in a shady area. They will probably surprise you and do really well. Just to give you an idea how beautiful some of those teas are, here are some pics to tempt you with. (I just love to enable...) Antique Rose Emporium carries some of them. ROSETTE DELIZY RUBENS MAMON COCHET MONSIEUR TILLIER MADAME DRIOUT DUCHESSE DE BRABANT WILLIAM R SMITH LADY HILLINGDON