I was exploring these. But those will do (cheaper and more festive for this time of year). Make sure when one bulb goes out the others stay on. Note you can only string 2 max of those together or you will exceed the capacity of the wiring. Find out how much spares will be...can use any 7W spare. Be sure not to burn the tree as those bulbs get hot. http://www.amazon.com/Foot-Globe-Patio-String-Lights/dp/B007FKFWII/ref=pd_sim_hg_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=1NTJPKTA0B8A7J0QB1KX [and the 50, 25ct versions] Good point on my timer suggestion. It was for the Phoenix area (arrogant me). In areas where it gets colder faster earlier would be needed.

I faired the freeze pretty well, only losing 1 rose bush that I had only planted days prior to the freeze, but it was the JB's and then the drought that have reeked the most havoc in my garden. I still consider myself fairly lucky considering the number of new plants that have survived for me. At the height of the JB infestations I succumbed and bought the Bayer rose food/pesticide for the JB's. I went out and sprayed all of my rose bushes, hibiscus and calla lillies because they were just inundated with JB's. When I was all done, I remember turning to my husband and saying, "hmm, I probably shouldn't have done all of them at once. I should have waited to see how the Bayer producted affected the plants". My rose bushes, I planted 12 in all and lost 1 during the freeze, but they were really small to begin with, no more than 6 inches tall and once I treated them I killed 4 bushes within days of the spraying. Then I was down to 7 and they were alive but not blooming. I am on a well but I am petrified of going dry, but I did hand water all my plants every other day through July and August. I've lost two more rose bushes from the drought as well as a Rose of Sharon and 1 peony tree. The other peony tree looks so sickly that I can't imagine that it's going to make it too. I'm very sorry because they were my most expensive plants and despite my vigilance they just couldn't take the lack of rain. I also lost about 4 zinnias. However, without a doubt my worst loss are my Oregon Grape Hollies, "mahonia aquilfolium". I bought 15 of them mail order and they arrived in good condition but because I had to dig such big holes in what was basically "the deep woods" it took me forever to get all of them in the ground. It took me all spring to plant those shrubs. I lost about 4 of them because it took to long to plant them. At one point I had 9 bushes that were leafing out and while I wished I had more, I was at least happy that 9 were alive. And then I decided to fertilize them with those tree spikes . . . it was late June early July, I guess the wrong time of year to fertilize and I promptly killed 5 of the 9. I nursed the 4 remaining plants but lost another 2 to the drought. So after digging 15 huge holes, that took at least 2-3 hours to dig each hole in the roots and underbrush, after all that hard work, I only have 2 pitiful little shrubs left. They each have one grayish green leaf on them and I don't know how much longer they'll last. My only salvation, is that I can at least reuse the holes and plant something else there next spring. But, I have black and blue salvia that I planted in July and they're doing well. All my lantana are blooming and they're magnets for butterflies. My verbena is doing just beautifully. My mexican petunias and begonias are blooming and surviving the heat. I planted all of them this spring and summer and for them to still be alive after the August we just had, I am completelely shocked and...

In a word, no. Or more precisely, probably no. Poly does not adhere well to other things. I can relate my annual "table from Hell" circa 2004. The owner wanted to make her table "a little more glossy" so applied poly over a brand new table. (Never mind that a few minutes of buffing by hand would have accomplished the same thing.) When I got there, nearly 1/4 of the table top had finish peeled off. The rest I stripped off with extreme difficulty. There's a 99% chance that the finish is lacquer unless it's been poly-ed by some DIY type. So, I see two good options for you: - Clean thoroughly, scuff sand (just enough to dull the finish), and brush on a coat or two of brushing lacquer (Watco and Deft are two commonly available brands). - Strip the finish using a chemical stripper, then proceed with staining and applying a finish of choice (you could successfully use poly here). If you are not an experienced varnisher, a wipe on varnish, like Arm-R-Seal wiping polyurethane would be a commonly available choice. Sanding down the the color (whatever that is) is also a bad idea. * It's very difficult to sand down evenly. * It's very difficult to remove all the finish by sanding, you might not see it until you try to stain it. * You stand a real risk of sanding through a veneered top Finally, "poly" is not the be-all and end-all of finishes. This is one of the things I relay in my finishing classes and posts on forums like this. It's cheap, hogs all the shelf space, and is abrasion resistant. That's about all the good qualities. The bad qualities are it ambers significantly, has poor adhesion, can be difficult to apply smoothly unless you know how to do it, has low UV resistance, and is nearly impossible to repair.

Yikes. We could never do this in S. California. There is NO way I would ever have an open, unattended flame out in my orchard. Too many animals walking around at night that could knock over a lit candle and set my orchard on fire. Instead, you're better off stringing a set of incandescent Christmas tree lights (not the LED kind, but the older incandescent type). Then, if your tree is small enough, cover with frost cloth and pile dirt around the cloth at the bottom of the tree, enclosing the fabric completely in dirt to trap in the warmer air. The leaves touching the frost cloth will get nipped, but the tree will be saved. If you're in fear of a real freeze, flood your trees wells with water. The roots then will probably not get below 32 degrees. This and fans is what commercial orchards do now, in place of the old smudge pots - flooding with water and running large fans to keep the air moving. Patty S.