I would be interested in getting several books by Michael Dirr. If you have any you would like to trade, please let me know what subjects you would be interested in and I will see what I can come up with. thanks, Evelyn

Nothing wrong with having an opinion :-) In fact, I don't know too many serious gardeners that don't have strong opinions........it kinda goes with the territory. After referring to our reference copy at work frequently, I just recently bought this book for my own library. It has been added to my collection of other texts written by Dirr - I consider his Manual of Woody Landscape Plants one of my primary resources and wouldn't care to be without it and Hardy Trees and Shrubs (great photos to illustrate for clients). I appreciate Dirr's incredible plant knowledge and scholarship and if anything, his opinions - stated very openly and without apology - make the reading of what would otherwise be pretty dry tomes far more interesting and personalized.

My first Hydrangea is now in the ground for more than 25 years. At this point, I keep it for sentimental reasons only. It's gotten so THICK with canes that if I wrap it in my usual cage, I have to get everything so tight in there that I think I may actually be suffocating the plant. I've not had good luck overwintering it in recent years. This past winter I didn't even bother with it. If I were you, I'd consider taking a cutting or digging out a portion of your sentimental one and essentially start over. It would indeed be the same plant, so you could keep your sentiment. But I can understand sentiment. I should get rid of my first Hydrangea, but I'm not. For a long time I would cut back the old canes completely to the ground in the Fall. I'd only leave canes that had shot up from low points on the canes or from the crown. They would have grown all summer and would end up giving me great flowering the next year. I'd have very long stemmed flowers, too, that I had cut. The big problem with this technique is that you end up with weaker stems than you would otherwise and next summer they'd be weighted down to the ground with their flowers. I've found that, for my zone, I can usually prune as hard as I want up until about Fourth of July, just to be easy to remember, and not hurt the flowering potential for next year. After that, the buds start setting for next year and you start running into that problem. (But then I've cut some "nikkos" back to the crown in the Fall and on some I'd get great flowering and on some I'd get none. Do I really understand this? NO.) So, here is another method for you to consider to keep it smaller, at least in height. Another thing I've experimented with is to prune all the wimpy growth completely out and just end up with a few stout canes over time. This was interesting, but you end up with an artifical looking Hydrangea and the few stout canes start looking rather strange. But with this technique, more or less, you could develop a plant that wasn't so crowded. I don't know though. I wish I could help you more. I'd like an answer to the question you have, too! Hay

Most likely Japanese Maples, J.D. Vertrees (Second Edition, revised by Peter Gregory), published by Timber Press. This is considered the "bible" for Japanese maple enthusiasts. Another great reference (and one I value even a bit more than Vertrees) is Maples for Gardens, by the van Gelderen brothers.