THANK YOU ALL -- and I had to laugh at the huge logs --- if wood chunks that large don't do damage... I image my little 2-4 inch pieces won't kill the plants. On the remaining 900 plants (yeah - we're pyscho - we have 1150 plants in all to plant), we switched gears and started using the finished compost (what the nursery was selling as top soil - but later explained was compost a year ago) in the holes. We mixed it with peat moss and in some cases vermiculite. We're going to use the remaining 15 cubic yards or so of the 'woody compost' (aka the compost I was freaking out about) on the TOP of the soil. We're thinking 1 to 2" of that followed by 1 to 2" of pine bark mulch for a max of 3" in total on top. We also bought some grass fertilizer for the bamboo -- the guy who sold us that recommended it anyways and supposingly its all nitrogen anyways. RUELLIA -- YES - it looks like that picture ...however, I specifically purchased "PURPLE SHOWERS" ..it was my understanding (dangerous internet surfer that I am) that Ruellia Brittanica 'Purple Showers' was "*STERILE*" so it did not spread like unnamed varieties. The nursery thought I was crazy (they said and I quote "we've never seen a sterile plant in our 10 years of being in business").. BUT I'm pretty sure one of the places I read about "Purple Showers" was on Gardenweb. Also Riverview Farms in FL also states Purple Showers is Sterile. I'm just hoping its not invasive. Billums_MS ... have you heard about Purple Showers being sterile (or less invasive) or do you think its all hogwash and I'm in deep trouble? I literally had 36 3-gallons planted right in the middle of our back yard. So if its invasive...boy will it wreak havoc here.

Isopods can be detrimental as well as beneficial with plants IME. Is your plant still among the living? Where is your plant rotting? Top? Base? Middle? A pic might be helpful.

last pic .... is that a duplicate to the left?? ... is it infested also ... if not ... then just get rid of the duplicate .. and move on with your baby life ... check all your plants .. isolate those with problems ... if it were summer... i would suggest you put them outside for summer ... in full bright shade ... and treat them with a systemic remedy ... at least a month prior to bringing them back in the house for next winter .... though scale can be controlled mechanically ... by hand i mean ... they are one thing i go all out war on ... as im not real interested in playing with them repeatedly over the next 6 months to year ... outdoors is where i prefer to use chemicals ... good luck with the babe ... ken

get this.. blooms after 4pm .. go figure on that common name.. lol .. also very fragrant... and if surrounding the patio or deck.. can pleasantly fragrance such in the evening ... an annual up north ... if the larger birds dont eat all the seeds in fall .. though i had seedlings where the plants were sited.. i never found the brids spreading them around ... in my MI .... perennial in warmer and native ranges .... ken