Thanks mxk3, for pointing out the need for specific males to use with Winterberry females and why. I was reading about Berry Nice and Berry Heavy at the Proven Winners site, and they recommend using the male Jim Dandy for both of them. Didn't say WHY though. Viburnums are similar in needing specific males that will pollinate when the females are blooming. The About Gardening site on link above, called the Berry choices natives, found in Michigan. I like natives and had planned to look for those choices, should be happy here! Maybe one of each and the male Jim Dandy pollinator. Now I know to ask better questions in my search. I have a Coralburst Crabapple, a dwarf variety. Very nice tree, seems quite resistant to any of the apple tree problems. Nice leaf look all summer and fall. The resistance is bred into them. Nice rounded shape though it may need shaping every few years. I have had it about 8 years, been quite happy with it's flowers and fruit. My birds don't eat the fruit, not much winter color because they are very small. Nice choice if fruit bothers you. Really coral color blooms. The differences in invasive Hawthorns might be our locations. Hawthorns here are HAPPY and reproduce in QUANTITY out in unmowed fields. They are ALL thorny, with the big spikes. They are happy in snow and cold, hot, dry summers, nothing makes them wilt or fail, darn it! Again, have not seen any spineless Hawthorns advertised or grown in public areas. Maybe more recent introductions have not been used yet. The MSU trees are mature, all the common ornamental varieties that do well here. REALLY spiked on all parts! Our Tree and Shrub class covered the good and bad on Hawthorns as we walked around to view them, for planting uses in this locale. All smell good, some better than others if you choose by flower and scent. There are junipers growing locally, but not the ones going by Red Cedar names. That disease just doesn't let them get any age unless you get out and spray them religiously to keep them alive. Too many old, uncared for apples, volunteers, which harbor disease. Used to be the State Gov. would make you cut old apples to prevent disease spread to the producing orchard trees. Difficult in the home setting to care for 30ft Cedar trees, who are trying to get even larger! Easier to plant other evergreens who don't need such care. Too bad, the Red Cedars are very pretty with their soft, feathery branching. More flowing than the volunteer Junipers along the roads.

Wow! If anyone says we are having a greenhouse affect, I will, blank my pants! lol Those temps are just ridiculous! Whhat gives? I can't beleive the snow you had Mike and for that area. Good golly! looks like you are just about to engulf your greenhouse into an igloo very soon as I did..lol Now, what's next, tornados? I is such a good feeling to ee the temps in there that warm right, those lucky trees. I lost my heat last night, ran out of oil. It was 55 in my home this am and it was 68 in the greenhouse. I almost slept in there this am.. Mike: The one thing that ALWAYS scares me, especially this time of the year is loosing the electricty while asleep or not home! Luckily, that is the one thing I can be grateful for. Pgde!!!! Now that is a bad dream you had! Oh wait, is that the real Macoy? Ice hanging from the fountain way down there in Tuscon? Your kidding, right?... What about your trees? How are they doing? Wow, and yet beautiful.. Unbeleivable... I will come back and show a few shots of my snow too, since it hasn't stopped for over a month. A snow storm about every two days! Mike

Live oak wins by a large margin for me. We have nine on our property or bordering it. Will never give any of them up. They require nothing, always look good, give great shade, are wind, drought tolerant, give great leaves to mulch themselves, and birds and other wildlife adore them. My michaelia alba brings great olfactory pleasure much of the year, and has to rank up there. In a little over two years it has gone from 3 feet to about 15-18 feet with no fertilizer and little water. The scent is heavenly and it blooms almost all the warm months. The tree is almost triangle shaped- like a magnolia, and I find it attractive. I also adore poincianas. Mine has been in the ground over 2 years, but no blooms yet. I find the foliage really pretty, tho. My tipuana tipu has been in the ground less than a year and it has started to really grow. Pretty foliage so far. Ladywingr, it sounds like you intended a small tree? Have you considered a japanese fern tree? Foliage is really pretty and birds love to nest in it. It is a slow to moderate grower and is very easy to train into a shape. I love this little tree and it a very easy grower. I have 3! Also, remember jatropha could be another great option as a small tree and gives blooms year round. Anna

I had the same problem with my much beloved 'Earth Angel' this year! I am very sad because the small leaves that did appear have extremely large cream margins and if it were the size it normally is, the leaves, etc. it would have been especially spectacular this year. I dug it up to examine the roots and saw nothing unusual, in that there was no evidence of vole snacking or root invasion but there were less roots on the whole than I expected to find. I'm beginning to sense that the larger margins this one has always displayed may be the real cause, with less chlorophyll uptake being available with the lesser green areas! But, I agree with all the other comments since your problem wasn't confined to one or two of your hosta, mostly that the weather could have been a factor, since Spring began earlier this year for most of us in Ohio!!! I had that problem one year where I lost a good many of my hosta not planted directly in the ground and those that were badly damaged but had some surviving parts, two summers later, they are all back to their original great sizes! True, also, of some of my hosta that were vole-attacked late one summer! Oh, voles are very small mouse-like critters that enter via a finger-sized hole near a plant, to get to the roots and they do a great job of extreme root pruning, oftentimes. At their worst, you will find you have a nice 'bouquet' sitting there waiting to be picked up by you when you notice they are sitting somewhat askew, or 'just-not-right' looking to you! Grrrr! I had some over this winter which has been a first for me--the winter invasion, I mean!! Hopefully, in your case, everything will bounce back by next Spring!! janice