I prune my clematis any time during winter after it is consistently cold. I'm currently in northern OH and just pruned my mom's clematis this week. I'll be pruning mine in NH when I get home, but have done it various years from late November to early April depending on when I get out into the garden. (Some years we've had more than 10 feet of snow and no thaw so my gardens are well buried.) Pump Toad - Since it's already growing, I'd gently pull half of the leaves back by hand (not rake) so that you don't damage new growth tips and then leave the rest of the mulch. I don't usually put on added mulch for the winter as I only plant hardy clematis, though I do have year-round mulch to help keep moisture even.

Its a very nice needle palm! I think its a great size for $2 dollars so although it may be a little small, it was worth the price. I havent had luck with asking home depot to ship certain plants. I actually went to a home depot away from my location and asked if they could ship a plant to my location, but they said they couldnt and all of their plant shipments are random for the most part. -Alex

Normally, the way I store my containerized trees or shrubs is to allow them to remain outdoors until deciduous leaf loss occurs and we begin to get rather cold weather, though they are grouped on the south side of a garage. Then I move them into an unheated garage that stays closed all winter, and group the pots in plastic baby pools to keep the actual pot off the concrete. Occasionally, I would throw a shovel of snow on the pots as though they were getting the same moisture the trees growing naturally would be getting, more or less. They won't really require light until early spring, when I would begin re-acclimating them by opening the garage doors during the day, then moving them out... it's a process. I always worry about leaving the pot, itself, exposed to the frigid winds we get, without the roots buried or protected, so if I didn't have the option of enclosing them in an unheated building, I would probably opt for burying the pots and mulching them well. I hope your insulation project works well. I think it will be fine as long as it can be protected from the burning cold of winds.

Meyer, we have had so much absurdly heavy rainfall this Summer, and so many dismally overcast days. My Citrus are getting more direct sun, all day now than they got ALL SUMMER. I checked my local super expended and I see a minimum of 58 F., with highs ranging from 70-78. Meteorologist was hinting at a warm up for early October. Honestly, I am very tropical but this is my favorite time of year. I brought in my large Diffenbachia, Burgundy Rubber tree, Chinese Evergreens (Algaonema), and Crotons, but most hypertropicals are still outside (coconuts, mango, bananas, guava). The ONLY plants that never get put out over Summer are the African Violets and they look great, probably the ultimate "houseplant". Right now, only concerned with moving the plants away from the structures for multi reroofing, of the house and two garages. Subtropical storm Ida brought in access of 8 inches of rain in a few hours and made me well aware of the necessity of a secure roof over my head (this was preceded by a foot of rain in July and another foot in August). Loquat trees are not tender. I grew mine from seed and have several. They are evergreen hardy down to 5-10 F, but the DEER love them, so I not only need to containerize them, but move them to a protected deck for now then, garage. The plant is maybe 18 inches tall but the fruit is freakishly enormous. Kent mango