My medenilla has been in a pot about 10 inches high for 2 years. I only water it from the bottom every 7-10 days. A couple times a year I spray the leaves with orchid food. Then the leaves put on a spurt of growth. It lives inside only. In the Chicago area from May to Nov. in a bright window. Then it goes to Florida until May again. In Florida it is on a glassed in porch. In March it starts putting out new leaves or flowers. Last year it was flowers, this year so far just leaves. When it has flowers it has to be on a plant stand or shelf because the flowers hang way below the bottom of the pot. After it flowers again, I think I will repot it. I think it is the number of daylight hours that tells it to get busy with new growth.

Hello. It is possible to multi-graft Rambutan, but Longan and Lychee are difficult. There were some experiments conducted several years ago in India on grafting lychee trees, but it wholly proved to be unsuccessful. Some grafts too but they eventually succumbed to some sort of fungal or bacterial infection at the graft base. I would definitely try it though, you never know. I have never personally worked with grafting Lychee or Longan mainly because it is not necessary for me. Let us know how it goes. I think Longan would be easier to graft than Lychee. I do not think that grafting a dwarf onto a full growing tree would be a bad thing, but I do think it would be if it were the other way around. Brewster on Emperor for example would be a big mistake. I don't think the Emperor could handle being the rootstock and I definitely don't think if top-worked the Emp. could handle the weight and growth habits of the Brewster.

Thanks much, halfway and Tom B. So, the reason why you don't see photos posted here by me is that I'm one of the leading dorks of the world. I don't know exactly what my problem is, but I just don't ever want to slow down enough to take photos, post them here and everywhere else, etc. Weird, I know! The Caesalpinia is still just a dream for me, Halfway. I'm wondering if it would perform more or less similarly to the popcorn cassia, being from the same (huge) plant family and all. I talk to the folks at Top Tropicals all the time about my mad schemes too. I should be hearing back from them too today. In any case, this is all about next year.....next growing season, that is, here in WI. For whatever reason, ornamental horticulture is a very trend-driven thing. I'm actually ok with that, and usual am riding the trends anyway, but this query represents my efforts to be outside of all that, doing and showcasing things that literally nobody else is doing! And so it is. The flame vine info is most helpful. My crew persons sure don't want to deadhead those vines! Sure, they may have to anyway. It's on their list of many things! But the advice I've received from you guys is priceless. Thanks a lot. It seems like the vine pushes waves of blossoms. For example, even before we planted our stuff-in the greenhouse-they were full of blooms. Then, after being placed out into the early-summer coolness of WI, they went into straight vegetative growth. About a month ago, they just exploded in blossoms and are now seemingly going into a resting or vegetative stage again. Truth be told, I'm evaluating them this season. It was a cinch to get them, due to the excellent contacts of the grower who supplied our stuff this year, so that's not an issue. It's always about, is this or that plant "good enough" for our relatively short season. I don't waste my time with something that's any less than excellent, or try not to anyway. Thanks again, and Halfway, I look forward to further reports! +oM

halloblondie, you've got a nice start to your gardens--and don't worry--one of these days, you'll look around and realize you have a "mature" garden. If it's any encouragement, I like to joke that when I moved into this house back in the early 1980s, all my back yard had was weeds and sunshine. So I immediately planted a couple trees in strategic spots along the western property line--so there would be a little protection from that late afternoon "killer sun" that my zone 6 garden has to endure. However, I have to admit that the previous owner was evidently a talented gardener herself. I still am growing some of the plants (peonies, daylilies, hydrangeas, iris) that she left me, although they have been moved around a half dozen times or so since then. I basically started with the two garden beds she had and kept expanding them a few feet more --a little wider here, a bit longer there--and now, thirty some years later, those beds cover most of my back yard--which is fine with me since I have no use otherwise for a backyard. We will enjoy watching your gardens expand over the years also! : ) Cynthia--I had trouble getting the larkspur started. For two years I threw seeds all over the back garden and would just get a handful of rather pathetic looking larkspur to grow. So I started ignoring them, having given up on that project. Well, that handful of larkspur threw their own seed at the right time and by winter, all sorts of tiny larkspur plants were growing. At first I thought they were a new kind of weed, but getting behind on my weeding, some of them grew large enough that I finally realized they were larkspurs! Since then, I do nothing except when I pull out the plants after they are done blooming, I do shake a few of the plants over spots where I'd like more larkspur next year. They are now so busy re-seeding themselves that by spring, I will have to pull nearly half of them out so they dont' choke out some other desirable plants--but there's always enough left that I get a natural show for about 5-6 weeks in late May and most of June. Here it is July and I still have a handful still blooming out there--but I think this is probably their last week for this year. Siberian Iris--that's easy. They are tough and super cold-hardy--hardy down to -40 degrees! Gorgeous spring bloomers, no diseases, no care. You might be confusing them with Japanese or Louisiana irises that have greater water/moisture needs and probably don't like the sun as much as other irises do, but other than that I think they are all very cold hardy, but I've never grown Japanese or Lousiana irises, so I cant' say for sure about them. However, my mom grew Siberian irises in South Dakota, so I can swear by their cold hardiness. I treat them like I would any other perennial--no additional fussing at all. You do plant them in full sun, don't you? You must try them again sometimes. Sun and not too much water. That's about it. Now, as to Princess Diana clem--mine is always just barely making it. I think that western sun tends to boil mine. I had no idea she was a thug elsewhere. Have you got some pics of yours? I was afraid I'd lost mine during an exceptionally cold winter we had a couple years ago, but she is creeping back again--so I'm guessing it is the hot summer that is harder for her to handle. To all the other posters: I'm so enjoying all the gardens. So many different styles and combinations--and they all look wonderful! Kate