Kevin, Good questions. I wouldn't be overly concerned about rootstock. While rootstocks can convey characteristics like tree size reduction, increased precocity, cold tolerance, water tolerance, etc., unless you have a specific need, standard roots will do fine. Konrad offered some good information as usual, although I might question that poor vigor is a problem with fruit trees on their own roots. A big part of the reason nurseries suggest planting the graft union above the soil line on dwarf trees is so the scion portion doesn't root out and cause the tree to lose it's dwarfing characteristics. Here's a little background. Rootstocks dwarf by nature of some degree of incompatibility with the scion. This incompatibility disrupts the flow of carbohydrates and other nutrients producing a smaller sized tree. There is good research indicating the larger the portion of dwarf rootstock sticking up out of the ground, the greater the degree of incompatibility. Limiting the nutrient flow can cause positive things like increasing cold tolerance (i.e. forcing the tree into dormancy earlier) but many times it produces a more delicate tree requiring a higher level of management. Perhaps a biological analogy would be raising two children, one with optimum nutrition, the other on half rations. In most cases, the less fortunate child would be weaker, smaller, more prone to illness, and shorter lived. Sometimes the degree of incompatibility is too great, causing either long term graft failure or simply breakage at the graft union. Occasionally a rootstock will increase the flow of nutrients compared to a standard rootstock and produce a larger more vigorous tree. This happens only seldom. Generally it's the other way around. Naturally one might expect the fruit to be smaller on dwarf trees as well, but this is not the case. The reason being that most of the energy going into the fruit comes from the leaves, not the roots. In fact, the leaves export a significant amount of energy into the roots. That's why partially girdling a branch (i.e. choking it with a wire) will generally produce bigger fruit on that branch. The leaves use all their energy for the fruit with little or nothing to the root. This is also the reason some dwarf roots will produce marginally larger fruit. More leaf energy goes to the fruit and less to the roots. In times past, people were much less concerned about rootstock. Grafted apples were on seedling rootstock from Red Delicious apples. The primary reason Red Delicious seed was used was because Red Delicious was the most apple, and therefore the most common seed. Processing plants could collect large volumes of seed as they processed the apples The seed was inexpensive to purchase and trees performed fairly consistently on the rootstock. Same thing with peaches. Lovell rootstock was popularized because Lovell used to be a popular canning peach. Canners could sell the seed inexpensively. As far as I know, Lovell isn't canned today, but the seed hasn't lost popularity. Halford is still commercially canned today and is also a popular roostock. I grow my own peach roostock and haven't noticed any difference in performance from my own seedling rootstock and other more popular rootstocks like Halford, Lovell, etc. What you have described above is indeed called air layering. The reason most trees are not propagated by air layering is because it's much more economical to graft and success rates are generally higher. Lastly as an interesting aside, in rare cases the rootstock can convey it's own traits to the fruit. Tomatoes can be grafted onto poisonous nightshade plants (to which they are closely related). If grafted, the tomatoes will contain some of the poisonous alkaloids found in the rootstock.

There is a great booklet called Landscape Plants for the Arizona Desert that is available for free at most city conservation offices and also at many nurseries and such. Other books: Native Plants for Southwest Landscapes by Judy Mielke Arizona Gardeners Guide by Mary Irish Landscape Plants for Dry Regions by Jones and Sacamano Websites: Mountain States http://www.mswn.com/index2.htm (click on 'Plant Info Sheets') Landscapemart http://www.landscapemart.com/ (click on 'Learn About Plants') ...and the one below is great also Happy hunting and welcome to AZ! Here is a link that might be useful: Desert Tropicals

As a follow up question, I was wondering if there are some kinds of mimosa that are not sensitive at all. My nephew has what he says is mimosa and apparently it is quite large, but he says that it does not "fold up" at all when touched. My sister is also growing some in her green house. She planted them around the 14 of Feb, they are quite big now but they are also not sensitive to touch. They do however fold up when the sun goes down. Does anyone know why this may possibly happen? Do they need to be a certain age before they will develop the sensitive thing? Thanks :)

Most people are aware of the handling-hazards of poison oak/ivy and nettles. Milkweed is not so well-known as an irritant; after all, it has the nice word "milk" in it and the white sap looks like milk. When handling milkweed, take care to keep the white sap from broken milkweed pieces away from your eyes or other sensitive areas. The following forum discussion includes member's experiences with milkweed, remedies, and preventative measures (Edited for brevity and subject flow). Milkweed Toxins: Posted by flcajun fl 9 on Dec 5, 2006 Here in FL, we don't have any warning signs on the Milkweed about them being toxic for humans. Since my eyes were nearly ruined a couple of years ago when I got some in my eyes, I am eager to see something done here. Do any of you know if there is an institution responsible for requiring such notice by nursuries, etc.? My eye Dr. wants to have it established in our state if she can contact someone doing this. Posted by flcajun fl 9 on Dec 6 This is how I contracted so much corneal trauma: I had been picking Milkweed leaves to feed my Monarch cats. I must have forgotten to wash my hands and put in my contact lenses. Several hours later, my eyes began to burn and get red. I was working in a wildlife refuge so had no way to take out my lenses until later. By then, my vision was blurring. Next morning I made an emergency appt. with my Dr., and she knew about Milkweed and eyes. When I told her I was with my butterflies before this happened, she made the connection. Treatment was finally sucessful though very expensive: salves and pills. She warns all her patients who tell her they have a butterfly hobby. Evidently this plant is known to cause corneal problems if hands are not washed thoroughly. I don't even touch my eyes outside now. Hope that helps ring the alarm. Follow-Up Postings: Posted by tdogmom z9/10 SoCal on Dec 7 I've had TWO mishaps with Milkweed latex/sap. P Both were obviously unintentional and I didn't even realize I'd had any on my skin. My poor ophthalmologist rolls HIS eyes when I call now, thinking, "It must be that ol' goofy butterfly plant again!" I am really careful about washing my hands and when I teach the children and teachers about butterfly science, I tell them about the 'poisons' associated with it. I also make sure that EVERYONE washes their hands after touching ANY of the plants since even RUE can cause allergic contact dermatitis. With my eyes, I developed a fuzzy, blurred vision for over two weeks. My eye burned and was just a mess. Red, swollen (literally! Looked like one of those creatures on TV) and just odd overall...not something you'd wish on anyone. So, care is needed with Milkweed and probably just about any plant. Posted by ericwi Dane County WI on Dec 9 I too, have managed to get small amounts of milkweed sap on my skin and in my eyes. In my experience, a long shower, taken as soon as possible after exposure, eliminates the adverse symptoms. Lots of warm water will wash away the irritant, and the symptoms do not return. Posted by susanlynne48 z7a-OKC on Dec 7 I'm very cautious with my granddaughter helping me pick milkweed foliage for the cats, handling the cats, washing the milkweed, etc. 1. I make sure we don't gather milkweed until we are ready to go inside the house, so I don't have to worry about her getting it in her eyes accidentally or anything while playing outside. I reiterate to her that it's poisonous, she should put her hands or fingers up close to her face, mouth, or eyes. 2. We go inside and I immediately have her wash her hands. 3. I rinse the milkweed and dry it off, and she helps, and then we wash our hands again. So, I do my best to be on top of it with her, but there is always room for an accident to occur. We always wash our hands when we go inside after being outside as well. So, I've tried to impress upon her that we wash our hands frequently after playing outside. She's always asking me, "....is this plant poisonous, nannie?" Sometimes, I have to tell her I don't know, so I can look it up. But, we err on the side of caution, and I don't allow her to handle those that I am not sure about. I also bought her some children's gardening gloves, which she loves. She has a little apron to put her plastic trowel, fork, etc., in while she's gardening with nannie. Posted by elaineoz (My Page) on Dec 7 Thank you so much for posting this!! I had no idea that milkweed could be so toxic to the eyes. I have five small children, ages 8, 7, 5, and 3 year old twins. They are all fascinated by the butterflies. I will be very careful about this now. You know it would be very likely for small children to rub their eyes, and it would be so terribly awful if they got it in their eyes. Posted by susanlynne48 z7a-OKC on Dec 5 I would think there would be an agency at the state level that governs the sale of plants and the application of warning labels to plants that are toxic. States often rely on caveat emptor (buyer beware), and I research my plants so that I know what I'm planting. That wouldn't help, of course, if you were injured while browsing plant aisles at your local nursery. If you run into nurserymen or stores that don't post a required toxic label, let them know. I doubt if my local grocery store would have a clue whether a plant should be labeled or not. Posted by rhizo_1 7a AL on Dec 6 So sorry about your eyes, flcajun. I am afraid that I have to agree with the sentiment expressed by the others. A huge number of our every day garden and landscape plants have toxic properties and some are downright dangerous. But, if some agency decided that each of these had to be labeled, I'm afraid that our nurseries would look absolutely ridiculous. I've been to nurseries that took it upon themselves to offer educational handouts about various plant toxicities, but if each such plant were ordered to be labeled, then nurseries would be terribly burdened. Posted by susanlynne48 z7a-OKC on Dec 6 As a gardener, I try to be aware of which plants are poisonous. However, I have had to learn thru my mistakes, too. I had a tuber of an alocasia that I was wintering over under flourescent lights in my kitchen. I didn't even think about it, but I knew it was poisonous. One of my cats ate part of the leaf and was very ill for a few days. He recovered nicely, but I learned that I cannot keep plants in the araceae family on the shelves in the kitchen anymore. I don't have any plants indoors anymore, because so many of them are poisonous to my cats. Cats being naturally curious may ignore them for a really long time, and then suddenly "munch", out of boredom or whatever, they decide to investigate. The AMA does have the Handbook of Poisonous and Injurious Plants (Lampe, Kenneth F. and Mary Ann McCann) (1984). Posted by naplesgardener Naples FL on Dec 9 I'd like to add my caution about another butterfly plant--passionflower (passiflora). I got a severe burn on my arm after moving and staking this plant used by gulf fritillary and zebras. It bubbled up with blisters and stayed "burnt" for many weeks leaving a scar that has faded now. Posted by butterfly_pixie northern Ky. z6 on Dec 7 Wow, this discussion has really got my wheels turning....I'm going to post a special section on my website this weekend to warn about plant toxins. I've always been careful about those that I know about (Milkweed, Rue, etc.) but it never occured to me to make sure everyone that I teach butterfly gardening classes to are warned as well. I'll be sure to include this topic in all of my future presentations. Thank you flcajun for sharing with us...you may have just saved others from suffering as you did. Posted by flcajun fl 9 on Dec 7 I am so very happy that my initial post may have saved others from this painful mishap: especially children who are now so involved with the Monarchs. Thanks to you all for participating in getting out the info. Curated by: larry_gene