It was VERY easy to root, fairfield! I just took a pail of water with me when I made the cutting so I could put it right into water, took a nice "heel piece" cutting about ?9" long, took off the bottom leaves only leaving a few at the top, nicked the places on the stems where the bottom leaves had grown to "wound" it a little, so it would make roots there, too, stuck it in wet soil, put it in a shady place, kept it wet, and it rooted SO quickly! I keep hoping to find a caterpillar on mine, but so far, no luck. I had though I might find a rustic sphinx moth on it, since it's in the same family as gardenias (madder family) and rustic sphinxes use gardenias. Oh well, when it's in bloom, it's a GREAT nectar plant - the only down side of it is it only has one big bloom in early summer - it makes sparse blooms off and on after that, but not enough to really draw the butterflies. Sherry

I have a huge one that's colonized with new shoots, Angie. Mine always takes longer to leaf out than other plants, so I imagine yours is alright. You could scratch the bark gently and if it's green, you know it's alive. Give it some time - when it blooms, it REALLY attracts the butterflies! Sherry

I planted mine in the leach field of my septic tank, and it grew like a weed last year, its first year. It's making new growth this year, and it's already sent up a new trunk - it's a multi-trunked, large shrub. I'm not surprised it'll grow in dryer soil, though, because it's such an easy to grow, vigorous plant. I plan on taking a few more cuttings from it this summer, rooting them (it's extremely easy to root) and planting more in the leach field - I know it likes wet spots! MissSherry

Sassafrax albidum (not sure on this one for two reasons -- I read they are affected by japanese beetle? we have a problem with that where I am. Also I heard they are like black walnut, can't grow anything under it? I will only have one so not likely any fruit so does it matter?) I've seen sassafras in mixed woods around here with other things growing around and under them. I'm not sure if sassafras is all that allelopathic. Lindera benzoin, spicebush, is a beautiful native bush. If you want the red berries, which are striking, you will need both male and female plants. I have seen it grow in full shade and full sun. It's quite adaptable. I got unsexed plants and have 4 of them. I'm hoping for at least one male and one female. I've planted Arctostaphylos uva-ursi, bearberry. I have the 'Vancouver Jade' variety and it seems quite resilient and quite pretty. I've only seen wintergreen thrive under mature hardwoods, especially oak but maybe others have had different experiences. Cornus florida, pretty trees. I wish I had a couple of those. We have tons of Cornus racemosa (gray dogwood) here. If you want a real small shrub that makes a dense thicket, the gray dogwood would be a good choice. Birds like it for roosting. I hear pawpaws are fussy about their roots and resent transplanting. With their large leaves they are rather tropical looking. If you'd like to get some fruit as well, there are different cultivars for fruit production. Nobody says you can't harvest from your natives as well! Raintree Nursery has a number of different pawpaw varieties. FataMorgana