Being "established" is indeed a relative term, and different people may mean slightly different things when they use the term. But, I think the most common definition would be when the plant seems to have had a chance to grow enough roots to support itself at the new location. One indication of this would be when significant new top growth emerges. I can just see all kinds of caveats popping up with this attempted definition, but it's a start. The time period will depend on the type of plant (especially potential growth rate), the condition of the plant when planted (especially the condition of the root system), and the conditions where it is growing (soil, climate, etc). Unless there's something unusual in this case, I'd guess that your hopbush may be mostly established by summer. A much more vigilant check of soil moisture level is useful at first. As time goes on, and your plants become more established (after a month or so), you'll have a better feel for conditions and your plants will be better able to deal with longer periods without additional watering.

Texas Olive ... the ones I have seen in Arizona are trimmed up to be patio trees. They are mature and about 10-15 feet high with about a 10 foot span for the canopy. Nice dense dark green with lovely huge white crepe papery flowers. There's a church near here that has three of them shading the south side of one building. On the relationship between the "nurse plant" and the shade-loving plants: 1- Let the nurse plant get big enough to cast some meaningful shade first. That sapling mesquite isn't going to be useful for a few years. You might have to use a temporary shade structure unless you can wait for the nurse plant to grow. 2 - Look at where the shade is in the heat of the day, and plant the shade-lovers there. If you have to guess, for the purposes of drawing up a plan or to make sure you have enough room, you will get adequate mid-day shade in the inside 2/3 of the canopy cover. Earlier and later you will get slanting light that reaches farther under the canopy. Plants on the east side of the nurse plant will get longer shade in the afternoon, plants on the north side can get a surprising amount of morning and afternoon sun. As the nurse plant grows, the fully shaded area gets larger, of course.

Thank you for all your suggestions. Good to hear I do not have to worry about fertilizing this year. I'll remember to water, abeit tentatively, because last fall I killed our lovely 2 year old Bloodgood maple with too much love, er, watering. What makes fushia different from these shurbs, other than it's flowering? Since planting I gave it fertilizer monthly during the growing season because otherwise, the leaves would turn yellow. The fushia is in the ground and looks like a small shrub. It seems to love my homemade compost better, though -- it's looking quite green these days. Amy

So here is my contribution on the flocculosa / 'Curtis Blue' saga: S. flocculosa for us is very compact and woody, with short flower spikes. It grows slowly as a low mound, and only grows well when it warms up. 'Curtis Blue' is much more lush and free branching, more tolerant of cool weather with 4 times the flower count and a bit greater flower size. It is more upright and a faster grower. The flowers are similar but not identical. I do not have flocculosa pictures right now as we have just severely cut back our mother plant for propagation. Another week and I can do side by side photos of the flowers. Leaf shape is very different, and flocculosa has a furry white underside where flocculosa is green. The veigning is different as well. In the picture the top leaf is flocculosa, the middle 'Curtis Blue' and the bottom is a seedling grown from Brent's seed from 'Curtis Blue'. The seedlings are very uniform and similar to the clonal variety but much larger and more upright and more vigorous. That having been said, they are quite similar. Of all the Salvias we grow (now somewhat over 200 species), the flowers, foliage and branching structure of these two (not the seedlings) are most similar to S. caymenensis. Neither have the incredibly strong scent of this one, however. Somewhat rambling, but I am tired now and this is the best I can do. Here is a link to the picture. The pot is a 3 1/2 inch deep perennial pot, for scale. Please let me know if it doesn't work for you - this is my first use of Flickr. Kermit Here is a link that might be useful: