Hiya Zzini and all, Enjoy your vacation! I agree with Orrin that you cacti and succulents will be totally fine. Like you suggested, I'd just give them a drink right before you leave. The adeniums might, just might, shed a few leaves, but they will be fine. I wouldn't worry at all. I always triple check my automatic irrigation system before heading out of town, even when I have a house sitter, just to make sure everyone is getting the drinks I think they are, especially newer plants. Let us know how it goes! Safe travels, Grant.

I think you did just fine planting it as and when you did. My only concern would be the different exposure coming from the growers greenhouse into the full sun of your garden. If that were to be a problem you would know it within the first few days. I recently bought a very large, very full, VERY CHEAP, peony from Costco. When I was finely able to get it out of the pot the soil was as dry and hard and fully packed with roots as I have ever seen. With the plant in bloom and so packed with stems I was afraid to do anything drastic to the roots. I just planted as it was in my peony bed and soaked it well. The next day it was wilted and I soaked it again. The weather was cool and not much sun. It took about two weeks of babying to get this peony to stop the periodic wilting. This fall when the plant goes dormant I will dig it up and break up the root ball, divide it,if called for. I guess the lesson is a plant may have a good reason, for being CHEAP. Al

this is off: marblecleaning.org: "There are indeed different opinions on the issue of sealing black hone granite, but there is a unanimous consensus about the fact that it presents maintenance issues. The problem with honed black granite is that it is not, well black any more! Most black stones are but an optical illusion: they become black only when highly polished, or when wet. (See the back of your slab to see the real color of your stone!) As you take gloss off the stone surface (and honing does just that) you lose depth of color and the stone turns gray; but when you wet it ... here it is black again! As you spill oily liquids, or you simply touch the stone surface with your fingers (perspiration), you're going to have all sorts of dark surface stains that are a terrible eyesore. Please notice that I said, surface stains, not imbedded stains. In fact, you can clean those stains off (though with lots of labor), while if they were imbedded you would have to poultice them out. If you apply an impregnator/sealer to the stone you will not solve your problem one bit: in fact the sealer will only prevent liquids from being absorbed by the stone (which in the case of black honed granite is an unlikely event to begin with), not the staining of its surface. Any solution? Well, yes: you have to give up the gray! If you apply a "good-quality stone "color" enhancer" to your countertop instead of an impregnating sealer (a good-quality stone color-enhancer like MB-6 is also an impregnator/sealer) it will turn it permanently black, while preserving the hone finish. In that way, the "surface-staining problem" would be minimi z ed. Like I said before, letÂs "just hope that your fabricator", in their "infinite wisdom," did not apply an impregnator/sealer to your stone: this would have to be "stripped" (not an easy feat!), or else the color/enhancer wouldnÂt stand a chance to work properly. And donÂt you forget that in order to upkeep your stone and the color enhancer, your best bet is to use good-quality specialty products for stone." From my experience: July 2007 : we had a customer buy honed AB granite: they wanted it "shinny" and forced us to put a high gloss sealer on after install! Guess what? DIDN"T TAKE!!!!! It took to some parts of the stone and not in other parts. Customer was LIVID MAD! After talking to Hard Rock Tools: installers went back to their house: stripped the shinny high gloss sealer: with stripper. let dry 3 days and went back over there: slab was milky white!!!! LOL: then they applied the color enhancer and explained to the customer that is the best product to use: hard rock when to their house and talked to them. They were happy after that. So I know about AB not taking a sealer and stripper changing the stone milky white!!!!! I personally buy from hard rock tools: I do not sell their products. I give them away for free. I truly believe in customers taking care of their granite/marble. (windex and soap are not good for natural stone!) VOC compliant Commercial brand color enhancer sealer: don't go buy retail! I personally buy pro stone www.prostoneonline.com: dealers all over the USA: Hope this helps. People at Hard rock tools are highly trained and know about stone care! They may recommend a stone doctor as well. they seriously know what they are doing and they have taught me so much regarding stone and care! ~Happy New Year~

Mat, yeah I have 2018 and 2019 to write up. I have all my notes. Just have to find time. I checked out Pepiniere casse noisette website. They do not list their rootstocks anywhere that I can find. What rootstocks are your pears, peaches, apricots on? Honestly, a lot of what they are selling, at least in apricots, peach, nectarines seem to me to be VERY marginal for their climate. In many case they mention useful for growing in pots but if that is the case how are they propagating for sale? I don't want to disparage them without information but my impression is they might be reselling . You absolutely need to be buying based upon root-stock. For apples I am not only buying on Bud118 as it has best cold hardiness and is vigorus for our short seasons - Bud9 is just too slow. Train and prune to keep the size you want. Pears on OHxF87 or 97 and prune/train. I have found PAW-PAWs to be marginal in 4b - still 3' tall after 5+ years. Blueberries don't like my soil so Haskasps and Currants are much better. You have better options than Indigo Gem, Aurora is good though. Pink Lemonade is like a zone 5/6 plant, I see little chance of it surviving. Both Whiffletree and vigneschezsoi are good options. Be aware that a 1-2 year old bare root grape vine will bear fruit 1-2 years faster than the same year rooted cuttings you will get from vigneschezsoi. If you are only buying a couple might want to spend a couple extra $$ to get fruit a whole year or 2 earlier. Somerset and Trolhaugen are good. Had a couple Brianna this year, not enough to really say. Get Bluebell as well. I suggest 10-15' between vines. Can go closer but I am of the hack back 90% every year and then let grow. Trollhaugen can put out 12-15' of growth in 1 year alone - plant closer and you have to keep on top of canopy thinning to avoid overgrowth. Apples and pears will benefit from bagging with ziplocs. Grapes I bag with Organza bags when starting to turn color. So far I am loosing 99% of stone fruit (plums) to plum curlico and the rest to birds/racoons (can't bag plums - they rot). All peaches die. Trying apricots but no fruit yet. Don't get too caught up on types of fruit. Buy something disease resistant on a hardy, vigorus rootstock then topwork as you get enough branch structure. You will then be able to test fruit to see what you like or not within 3 years of grafting. My crabapple is now up to 65+ different apples grafted to it.