I think a good part of the reason it's so big this year is that I didn't cut it down so low this year - I mainly trimmed it back to the tuteur frame but left it about 3-4' tall. The Nike on the tripod by the garage is treated much the same - i.e. trimmed back to the frame but left tall. It's always covered in a sheet of bloom. ... which reminds me... I forgot to fertilize the clematises this spring. After all this bloom, I wonder if they need feeding or whether they can wait until next spring? Roses and clematises are the only things I fertilize, and I forgot to do both this year! They seem to be doing fine so far without it.

"Stupid people will always manage to break something or hurt themselves or someone else." For every moron out there that rides around with their baby on their lap there are plenty of smart people that occasionally make mistakes. Personally I sometimes let my mind wander and maybe that label or that lever I pull is enough to keep my brain on track. Maybe I should have one of you perfect people that never make a mistake operate my OPE to save me and my family from my imperfect self. Go ahead and take off the switches, levers and labels and let all the stupid people chop themselves up so they don't polute your perfect gene pool.

Just popping in to say hi! been working 10-11 hr days and have not had much puter time to check forums and emails---thus full mailbox!!! My neighbor told me about that today--his emails kept coming back!! Just deleted 598! Should be good for awhile! LOL! I have tried to get some gardening time in on the weekends and making a little progress, but so much to do other than gardening, like the crappy house cleaning, laundry, grocery shopping etc. Why can't the house just clean itself? And the clothes stay clean? And food just STAYS even after you take something out to cook? And the pets feed themselves? Well-guess I just gota do what I can! LOL! I have a complaint in on KatzKountryKuttins in the paypal resolution area and waiting to find out what they will do. Will get on the forum when I can--In the meantime I wish you all happy gardening! Linda

Hi Kath! I just went out to check, and the stems are nice and light brown. And there are just as many (sickly) leaves at the base of the stem as along it. The ironic thing is plant looks like it NEEDS water, (i.e., the leaves and buds are limp and shriveled like an unwatered plant left out in the hot sun) even though I had soaked it every day on a shady porch. In fact a neighbor insisted I was not watering it enough! The day I got the plant I moved it to a larger hanging planter. It was somewhat rootbound and a large mass of healthy looking small white roots were visible on the surface of the root ball. I repotted it yesterday (~3 weeks later). The dirt ball from the original planter no longer had white roots on its surface. I didn't poke around too much 'cause I didn't want to stress it anymore. At this point the plant is in pretty bad shape. My family is having some laughs at my expense - calling me a "fuchsia killer" and claiming that our porch is haunted. It is sort of stunning how fast the plant went from glorious to "next-to-dead". While the leaves and buds are SO limp and dead looking, at this point the branches are still live "green wood" (i.e., not brittle). Should I cut the plant back in hopes that with less plant for the (remaining) roots to support it might re-grow. Or just hold tight. Thanks for your help, Helen