Persimmons are a strange duck (Ebony family). You have heard of chill hours? In addition to modest chill hours, they need heat hours...a need for a certain number of accumulating heat units before they break dormancy. I found this out in Jan-Feb when I was removing all the trees that had died from the previous dormant planting, i.e, that never broke dormancy or were duds and whose few leaves shriveled up in the heat. When I pulled up the "dead" Coffeecake persimmon (Nishimura Wase) [see like you, I should have checked to see if it was green under the bark rather than assuming] there was an incredible healthy appearing root system present. Turned out fine. So if you do pull it up be prepared to either put it back or transplant it to a container in case it is still very much alive. The last of the trees at a nursery are often in pretty bad shape. And it does sound like you may not have watered it enough...but it is still alive so there is hope in the spring. Here is a link that might be useful: see note on heat units This post was edited by Fascist_Nation on Mon, Nov 4, 13 at 9:52

Every spring I rake away heavy layers of wet, matted leaves that look awful. Not only do they look bad but they suffocate everything underneath them. I have mostly maple, oak and ash...am I doing something wrong? Yes, you are removing the best natural mulch. ;) It is one that is also far more effective than wood chips at keeping down weeds and it replaces itself every year instead of you having to do all the work of replacing the wood chips every year. But if you don't like its looks just put your wood chips on top of it. To plant annuals just move the leaves aside, plant and put the leaves back in place. Any perennials will come up right through the leaves. Leaf mulch doesn't suffocate anything underneath it - instead it feeds whatever is there, stabilizes the soil moisture levels, and blocks the light that the needs need to sprout. Dave

Andrea, it's nearly impossible to know what your garlic is as there are MANY, MANY varieties that it can be. I believe all listed are hardnecks except Nootka Rose. Here's an EXCELLENT site with pics of many varieties. Start with this link, it will help you understand the differences between types. Then when you're done with that page, click on the link named Garlic in the upper left to go to the varieties and pics. They are listed alphabetically, and with some slangs too. Hope this helps! Mark Here is a link that might be useful: Jeff Nekola's Heirloom Garlic page

Ok unconventional solution. Try it or not.. Continue to remove the affected leaves and make sure there is plenty of air circulation around the base of your plants by removing lower leaves and limbs and weeds. I thought the rain was great till, my zucchini and tomatoes started an early mold/ blight..... yellowing of leaves and dying.. But I found a dirty little secret no one wants us to find out about.. Someone in South America discovered spraying milk on your zucchini, cucumbers, melons and tomatoes prevented, mold, milky spore and tomato blight. The study I read suggested a 10-30% mixture of milk to water was optimal... 1 part milk to 9 parts water in a spray bottle works fine. With all the rain we have been having you may have to reapply but is sure is alot safer and cheaper than fungicides. It seems the natural bacteria in milk somehow combats the mold and blight in addition to building the plants immunity by absorption through the leaves. According to the study I read, this milk solution was 90% effective and a whole lot cheaper than traditional copper, fungicide etc. According to a New Zealand study on the same solution they found that skim milk was just as effective as whole milk and as a result of the lower fat content also reduced the possibility of an odor problem. It seems to be working well so far for me... let me know if anyone else has any luck with this...