Does one actually consider another grower 300 miles away, their competition? That's the distance between Detroit and Chicago. If I considered the growers who post on this forum my competition, I most likely wouldn't post. We're not that insecure; and don't believe we should look at the world through that prism. As growers, we're all pretty open with information. We can all grow pretty much the same flowers; however, where we differentiate ourselves is through marketing. This is the area where a grower will either be a success or failure. Tom Wilkstrom was Vice-President of ASCFG. If you were actually a member, you'd know the current Vice-President was voted into office November 30. The new Vice-President, Howard Lubbers, resides in Michigan just a stones throw from our farm. He's another knowleable grower willing to share his wealth of information. The following information may be of real benefit to you, Taty. Our National Conference for ASCFG is going to be held in San Jose, October 25-29. We're going to be touring Santa Cruz, and the Pajaro Valley. And, travelling into Monterey County where alot of flowers are grown. The great thing is that we visit large and small operations generally not open to the public. Another good thing about the conference besides the field trips is the brainstorming that takes place with other growers. They always have training sessions at the conferences for new and old members. Plant breeders, researchers and plant/seed company brokers are always in attendance. And, best of all, we are made aware of the latest market trends. As growers in an ever evolving marketplace, all of the information gathered helps our farm remain cutting edge. The ASCFG Regional Director for the Northwest is Pat Zweifel of Oregon Coastal Flowers/Z Callas. He willingly shares his successes and failures with just a tremendous sense of humor. Regional conferences are also held each year. I'm not sure where it is going to be held for the Northwest. As members, we're invited to attend any Regional Conferences that are of interest to us. We don't need to reside within that region. This is Pat Zweifel's motto: "If this is what you love to do, then never give up due to frustration." Trish

newbie nicole... you will have no problem in moving perennials with a 15 hour drive ahead of you... I moved from a house in town, to our acreage in the spring about 13 years ago. These are some things you could keep in mind... Hopefully you will be able to move after the ground is thawed and as plants start to come up in the spring. This is what happened with me. As the plants started coming up, I divided or removed the whole perennial and placed it into a nursery pot. When I ran out of pots, I used plastic bags in a box, or ice cream pails/margarine containers with holes in them. The people purchasing our place had not seen any pictures of the yard with flowers blooming so, they had no idea what was there before. I took out favorite plants and a rose bush that was given to us as a sympathy gift when my DH's dad passed away. Is your home sold already? Do the people moving in know what your yard looks like with the perennials you do have? Sometimes all you need to take is a corner chunk of the perennial and you will be able to start it again at the new place. If you have access to crates (eg. milk crates) that stack...then you would have an easier time in transporting the perennials. You could also use plastic bags in a milk crate to place a number of perennials in the same crate instead of using nursery pots and lots of soil that would then also take up a lot of room (and weight). If you are moving after the ground would be thawed but before the perennials would be growing, then I would recommend right now for you to start digging and replanting into pots and placing them in a friend's garden for the winter. Because, you don't want anyone who potentially is a purchaser of your yard, to see all these perennials in pots in the garden that you are taking with you. Then in spring, just dig them out of your friend's garden and take them with you. Another thing is that when selling your home, you could place a clause in the agreement, that you will removing favorite perennials (all or some) to take with you. Place the perennials in the shade as soon as you get to your new home and plant them as soon as you can. If you do not know exactly where their permanent home will be then dig the pots into the ground, making a holding garden and then transplant them out of there as the new beds are ready. Have fun moving! It is a lot of work (been there, done that) but it is nice to see the same perennials bloom in their new home. It is like taking some of your old home, your memories, with you. The root system of the plants are usually a lot more mature when you take transplants from your original plants than what you would get by mail order or through a local nursery. You would have mature plants in your new home a lot sooner. Also, you would be saving a pile of money (assuming that you have a lot of perennials) in future landscaping in your new home. I know this is a long reply but...

The easiest graft is a splice made to a vigorous annual shoot that can later either be spread to near horizontal to create a branch or, if it is a very upright shoot connected low enough on the trunk, to eventually replace the entire tree above the graft. However there are many other ways to graft that don't require a great deal of skill and are easily learned from Youtube videos freely available. Different folks have different opinions about the best way to graft and the only methods I've ever tried are the cleft and the splice. The splice is so easy, quick and affective I haven't bothered using any other graft besides the cleft when I need to graft on thick wood. I'm beginning to think a bark graft might be better for that. You don't need a grafting knife for any graft but for some it can be useful, but hold off on the purchase, that is not a very good offer anyway. A splice graft can be accomplished with any good pruning shear although I use a special double bladed one for the purpose that I've only seen supplied by AMLEO.COM. It is manufactured in Italy. I had good success before I found this tool just using a high quality standard hook and blade bypass hand pruner. You have lots of time to learn about grafting because you need to wait until the tree is established and growing vigorously before you begin the process. Figure spring of 2016 at the earliest. Plums should be grafted well after the mother tree begins growth in your zone, judging from my experience, others suggest warm weather needs to follow the grafting for best results as well. Apples and pear grafts grow more quickly if grafted just before or after first signs of growth but early stonefruit grafts tend to dry out before having time to heal if you graft them before they leaf out.

Hey Laura,thank you! I hated SO MUCH to break down the plastic sheeting over the rods I made as a temporary greenhouse almost like a hoop one made of P.C pipes...The sun would create heat in that green house and send all the fragrance of the flowers into the open door to that tent right into my home every day...Like hot air filling my house with sweet smells. I will, miss that. The worst part as Sammers said was bringing them in. I don't worry about them outside even when it's cold, but I worry about the inside with no bright open skies....Ugh Calamondindave, I thank you so much. It is just like that! I will miss it for sure. I HATE winter! I was thinking, why don't you make like a hoop greenhouse from P.V pipes like I did right up against the warm side of your home? You made never have to bring them inside even in cold nights..Just use a little space heater!