edie: In the future, do not, rpt. not, prune your little apple tree in the late dormant period. By pruning now, you may have ensured that your tree will not bloom much, if at all, this season and maybe the next. The little "nubs" you pruned off may have been fruiting wood. Your pruning will result in rapid vegetative growth of multiple shoots at the pruned points, which will delay fruiting and require even more pruning next time around. Instead, prune your apple tree in late summer, say late July or even into August. Yes, I mean when there are leaves on the tree. Prune it, leaves and all. This will result in attenuation of the tree's vigorous growth, and encourage the formation of fruiting spurs that will grow in later in the same summer season that you prune. I hear what you are saying about your tree not matching any of the illustrations of the perfectly pruned trees in books and on websites. Very few of our trees want to look like that, but we can guide them in that direction. As for the stripped bark, it may cause no problems, but you can take another cut lower down on an uninjured part of of the branch. Get a shaper pruning shears (Felco is the best) or sharpen the one you have. And rotate the pruner a little on larger branches as you squccze to help obtain a clean cut. Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

There is no mistaking for that wonderful "Monarch waltz" in the air. Hope that your new milkweed does well for you,Miss Sherry. I know you have had a time finding the right milkweed for your area. Isn't the A. linaria some of the wild that you found near where you live? I'll bet that the A. perennis will do quite nicely for you, also. I haven't gotten any Trop. mw planted yet, Sandy. I plan to pick some up at Marilyn's sale. I've been running behind, and as of last Friday,I've gotten even SLOWER! I was cutting back the dead on some Salvia greggii, and wacked off part of the tip of my middle finger of my left hand!!! OUCH!!! So, I got to be treated as a patient in my own place of employment! There was nothing to stitch back, so it is going to have to heal from the inside. And, I'm am going to have to be very, very careful about keeping it out of the dirt. :( I was most fortunate that it wasn't worse than what it was. And, I am right handed, so that has been a help. But, try washing your hair, flossing, trimming, planting, and TYPING with one hand. I know better. I feel pretty stupid. No eggs, yet. Tomorrow is supposed to be even warmer than today, so hopefully more leaves will come out. I have new buds on my tomentosa, also. No serpentaria or clematitis, yet. No pipevines. And, only a small pipevine chrys. I sure hope that some have overwintered on the vines. I may have to beg some cats from you. How fun to be able to release some butterflies at your Seminar!!! Have a wonderful time. Be sure to let us know how it went. Hey Randy. It's really not that early for me to see Monarchs. Last year, I saw my 1st Monarch Mar. 25th. The year before was March 30th. So, it is usually about this time. Last year my milkweed was up March 25th, and I had eggs by March 30th. Be sure to share when you see your 1st Monarch. The 1st is always so special. And, be sure to post on Journey North with your 1st Monarch, 1st mw up, and 1st eggs. Congrats upon your Henric's elfin, Sandy. I should check the Redbuds more closely. Randy, keep me posted when the Chinaberries start leafing out. I still haven't found a Soapberry hairstreak.

Now that's a score! Jades can be pruned any time, however there are a few things to keep in mind. If you prune in the Winter or early Spring, the growth that results may be more spindly and etoliated. If you prune during the Summer or Fall, when light is abundant, the growth will be more compact and sturdy. But, again, Jades can be pruned any time... I just prefer that tight, sturdy, colorful re-growth. Second thing to consider is acclimating your plant. If it has been indoors, spend two weeks transitioning the Jade from bright shade to full sun. After pruning, set the Jade in a bright but not full sun location. Wait to water until you see new growth erupting from the nodes. As far as pruning goes...start by removing any drooping, downward angling branches. Once that's done, consider which main branches you want to keep, then remove the rest. Jade branches have rings called nodes. The segment of branch between those rings is called the internode. When you prune, you will cut through the internode - but leave a 1/4 inch stub of the internode, which will dry up and fall off naturally, allowing the nearest node to form a callus. Josh

Rox, Hello. If you would like I can add your name to the waiting list as there is a line of people waiting as I rarely cut the tree. Seems like every time I get one person off the list there are 10 or so new people who want one. Let me know if you want to be added to the list, it is backed up about 3 seasons worth right now. Hey Laura Thanks!!! Anytime there's added major work to my day and I get to it, is a good day lol When I left the patch and was locking the side gate I noticed that the Purple Jack had fallen down again, so I left it as is. I can only imagine how many more branches I will find now.. Plumiejunkie, Long time no see… Welcome back and happy growing. David, OMG… Look what the wind blew in..lol Hey stranger. As for the claiming on insurance, since it is an apartment complex I own and I do not live there (I use the mailing address there sometimes, or a Mailing service as I do not receive mail @ home), I think the policy might be a bit different from a typical home owners in terms of what I can claim, I also did not have a separate insurance binder added to the apartment insurance to cover any plants(do they even have such a thing), it also was my fault. If I had a helper then I doubt I would have had the issue. I guess I didn’t think the plumies and pots would weigh as much as they did. As for the Mango, yes it thrives grows almost wild with no care (no water either as I am bad about going down to water) and the fruits are super juicy and sweet. Manila Mango from 2013 season My tenants pick from the tree. I do not like fruit trees or plumie at my house as they attract vermin and insects and can be messy with the dropping of leaves, flowers, fruits(I am a bit OCD), etc. My patch is located in coastal zone 10 and its pretty temperate all year, no drastic changes. I check the weather for my patch couple times a day especially during the winter @ night. In my patch I have never had any frost, in 2007, during the big freeze my patch got down to 37or 38f for the 1 night. I also have a microclimate as there are mostly 2 story apartments on the street like the one I own next to my patch also that helps with the cold and wind a bit. So in my patch and around the area I have seen Solo Paya’s growing and fruiting, Pineapple, lots of huge old Mango trees (all Varieities), lychee, Vanda orchids, etc., so because of the coastal influence and topography and location, it never gets too cold or hot and has a nice amount of humidity. PS. The package I sent you with the Aurora you won on MPG years ago to Germany with a bunch of other plumies also came back. Actually to be exact, received it over a year after I had mailed it to you…lol Might have even been like 18months later. The package looked as if it had been examined (opened) then resealed, box looked worse for wear, all the cuttings where hollow….basically skins..lol. Good to see your still active with the plumies and forums. Cheers