Steve

Here is some interesting information that I found on another website:

"#1 complaint from customers (I used to be in the nursery business ): 'It died or looked so bad over the winter that I threw it out'. Actually, it goes into a semi-dormant state during which many of the leaves drop. This is also when most of the blooms appear. Much like Coleus, the blooms cause new leaves to be very small and undeveloped. For many years I cut them off thinking the same rules as for Coleus applied here. They do not. If you leave the blooms and mini-leaves on, you will have a thicker and more fully leafed plant in spring. Endure its straggly winter appearance and it will reward you in the spring and summer. A 2 or 3 year old plant is much more impressive than the growth attainable in one year when grown as an annual."

love-the-yard, I've kept a pot or two inside most winters for the past decade or so and totally agree (acknowledging my very limited outside experience this far.) The saved potted plant is the best way to go for preserving a large specimen. The cuttings I keep in water and put out each spring are also fantastic and well worth the minor effort!

So glad to hear from you again and that you've found a way that works for you! This year I have one in kind of a high spot that I have "high hopes" for since that should allow the drainage to be optimal. Maybe the others that were come-backs will be more established and powerful next year. It's fun to imagine the possibilities. Do you still think your yard is affected by salt at this point? I don't even know if this plant is sensitive to salt, but curious since you mentioned it before.

Do you have trees and leaves in your yard? At this point, adding them to your beds could help to keep the drainage improvement going, and add tilth and nutrients to the soil. Or piling them up to compost and spread later. We do some of both. Are your beds are mostly newly reclaimed from grass? That's what I've got, in different stages since I keep removing more grass slowly each year. I can't wait to dig in there in the spring to see the differences.

"Since my yard is 100% sugar sand, I don't have a drainage problem." Wow! No doubt. I have no experience gardening like that, and imagine the leaves wouldn't yield the same results without the soil microbes and worms to "digest" them. You must be really close to the shore. How cool is that?! From what little I do know from the universal instructions to not walk on sand dunes or molest the beach vegetation, anything you can do to get roots in your yard is a great thing in regard to avoiding erosion.

Live oaks are one of the most beautiful things about the south, IMO. I'm sure they were an attraction for you to that property. As a transplanted Yankee, one of the grand old giants is a powerful thing to see. Best wishes for continued success with your gardening!