I would cut off the brown across the branch and after a few hours seal with a tub and tile sealant, household spackle, or a pruning tar. Like Tony said, if it wants to, the plant will put out new branches from one to many of the leaf scars. If it rots or softens down the branch over time, cut it to the y of the main trunk. Often a branch shorter than 5" will not grow but sometimes they do, so give it a try.

I was just glancing through the new KA catalog and found this recipe: County Fair Caramel Apple Bars Caramel and apple is always a winning combination. These bars, cut in 3" squares and topped with ice cream, make a delicious plated dessert. Cut smaller, they pack nicely in your lunchbox. Crust 1 cup (2 sticks, 8 ounces) unsalted butter 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 3/4 cup (5 5/8 ounces) brown sugar, firmly packed 1 cup (4 ounces) confectioners' sugar or glazing sugar 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 2 3/4 cups (11 1/2 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour 1 cup (3 1/4 ounces) nut flour* 1 large egg Filling 4 to 5 medium tart apples, peeled, cored, and sliced, then chopped (about 5 cups, about 20 ounces prepared) 2 tablespoons (7/8 ounce) brown sugar 2 tablespoons (1 ounce) boiled cider, or substitute an additional 2 tablespoons brown sugar 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon Topping** 1 cup (10 ounces) caramel, from a block, or about 30 caramel candies 2 1/2 tablespoons (1 1/4 ounces) milk or cream *Almond (toasted or plain), hazelnut flour (toasted or plain), and pecan meal are all good choices. Or grind 1 cup nuts in a food processor; be sure to stop before the mixture becomes pasty. **Or use our prepared caramel sauce. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9" x 13" pan or 10" x 10" bun pan. To make the crust: Beat together the butter, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, sugars, and vanilla till smooth. Add the flours, mixing till crumbly. Set aside half the mixture (about 3 generous cups, 15 ounces); add the egg to the remainder, beating to combine. Press the crust with egg into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake the crust for 17 minutes, till it's barely starting to brown around the edges. While the crust is baking, prepare the filling. To make the filling: Slice the apples about 1/4" thick, then chop into 1/2" to 3/4" pieces. An apple peeler/corer/slicer gives you a great head start on this task. Combine the apples with the remaining filling ingredients, and distribute over the crust. Spread the reserved crust mixture over the apples. Bake the bars for 45 minutes. Remove them from the oven, and after 15 minutes cut them into squares, leaving them in the pan. Cool completely, then place the bars on a rack set over a piece of parchment. To make the topping: Place the caramel and milk in a microwave-safe measuring cup, and heat till the caramel is very soft. Stir (reheating if necessary) till the mixture is smooth and pourable. Drizzle it over the bars. Yield: 16 to 24 bars. Michelle

Thanks for that, Digit! I will now be posting pics again—even if they only look like ugly links! I have SO many things blooming in my yard already I’ve been WANTING to post some pics! But have more I need to download/upload (never have figured out which is which!) into the computer first—that I hadn’t bothered since I “couldn’t” post them anyway! Will do it in the next couple days! I don’t have a google+ page! And I don’t intend to ever have one! If I sign up for google+ my WebAlbums will be TOTALLY messed up—as I discovered when I tried to help somebody, last fall, try to figure out how to use Picasa and WebAlbums! It’s a total mess in WebAlbums in “+”, and as near as I can tell, once you sign up for it it’s TOO LATE, and the “new and improved” version (NOT!) is all you have access to anymore. As a matter of fact, if some of your pics really did “disappear,” I wonder if that had something to do with it! I haven’t “updated” Picasa for a couple years either (I just keep telling it NO when it pleads with me to update it!) ‘cause I’m afraid that’ll somehow get me into the google+ version—and I won’t be able to opt out of it again! I REALLY don’t understand why these companies keep trying to “improve” something that’s already working really, really well! (google maps REALLY screwed up their “maps” too, IMO! But I still have a link to Olde Google Maps—that still works! If they ever discontinue the olde maps, I don’t have a CLUE what I’ll use for maps! Bing, IMO, is at least as bad as the “new” google maps! HELLO out there! STOP “fixing” things that don’t need fixing!!!) (And my avatar on FB, which I haven’t signed into for a year!, is an airplane! And that’s the only place I have an avatar at all!!!) I don’t know why you didn’t “need to” change your setting to “enable” PMing, but maybe that’s something else they’ve changed recently—like putting in the ability to enter your zone (tho I’m gonna leave mine in as my “last name!”) When I went to that page I had to change the settings to get them right to enable PMing. Maybe now it’s the default when GW folks get into the houzz site. But there is SOMETHING that needs to be “fixed” for David, because there’s no “message box” visible on His Page, and until that’s there, nobody can PM him. I’m sure it’ll all get straightened out! We are, gradually, getting back to “our old GW!” Never would have believed that when I showed up here the first day and went—SAY WHAT????? I’m really impressed with the admins and all they’ve done! As for me! Maybe I’ll take some more pics tomorrow! Skybird

Those drapes are likely custom, but Overstock offers two tone drapery panels if you are flexible about colors.