We are getting off the topic, but I remember the lush yard of my childhood w/ all the clover and watching the honeybees, and the exciting days when we would take the honey out of the hives... I planted clover and I wish all the weedy grass would go away! (No neighbors are going to care here as our lots are set in the middle of woods, and we are out in the country.) My clover has had a tough time (doesn't like sand?), but there is one low-growing weed that I am encouraging as it does not need to be mowed. No mowing is my goal. As for my clems (many of which you all enabled!), they are doing fairly well. I was most impressed w/ Arabella- the best bloomer! I have mostly watered from my rain barrels this summer and it is not very satisfactory because the sand soaks up the moisture so fast (great for watering pots and small areas though). I too have to figure out where to plant the ones I stuck in pots in the spring. Most are going into the rose garden (if the roses don't make it maybe the clems will). I have planted several to climb up my deck railings. I know there is a lot of controversy about adding soil amendments, but I am with the other readers who see the fence as a prime planting ground. Maybe someone who knows more about amendments could help out? I wish you the best of luck in finding them a good place, and would appreciate it if you will wish me luck as well. Thanks, Brandy

The stage of flowers you are describing are females and you will not see pollen at this point. The flowers do not turn into males with pollen until the flower is completely open. There is no mistaking which phase the flower is in because the pollen will be noticeable. You must collect the pollen at this point. I have an old 35mm film canister that I put the pollen in. It's small and easy to see the pollen inside. Gently snip off the flower by the stem with your fingernails and again, gently shake the flower over the canister. I then grasp the stem with one hand and the petals with the other (all 3 together). I then twist the stem around inside the petals trying to shed every bit of the stamens and pollen into the canister. Now you have some pollen. It is probably good stored in the fridge for maybe 24 hours. Tapping the canister quit a bit will help release pollen. I also take my little paint brush and swirl around and bang it inside the canister. You can definitely see where pollen has been released. The females are opened a bit. There's an old post on cherimoya pollinating by Eggo you can find if you do a search. It has excellent pics of the flower stages. The only thing I do different when pollinating the female flowers is to remove all of the petals first...where Eggo just clipped a single petal so he would know that the flower had been pollinated. I read in a publication that removing the petals on sugar apples is better and there's no mistaking which ones have been visited. I then make sure I get plenty on the brush and then remove the petals from the female. Swirl and roll the brush onto the remaining flower parts...holding the canister below to catch any pollen that drops from the brush. I treated the pollen like gold dust!! I believe there are certain stages of female that are more receptive than others...the flower is separated a bit more but no where close to opening fully. Same for the males. If you wait until the flower starts to turn a little brown, I don't believe the pollen is as viable...or it has been released already and is gone. I've noticed plenty of pollen and stamens resting on leaves below older males. You have to be on the ball in this game as well. Most publications state that it is best to collect during a certain time and to pollinate during a certain time. This may be true in general but I've found that the flowers usually advanced to different stages on their own terms. I would try to collect pollen and if possible, pollinate any females I could every morning before going to work, after work, and before bed. If I was home all day, I would constantly be on the lookout. The males are sneaky buggers! You can miss one hanging right in front of your nose! The first two years mine started flowering was a very harsh learning curve for me. The trees didn't produce many flowers and I was just not getting the timing down. But repeated readings of publications and Eggo's write-up, AND crap-loads of flowers this year, I was able to get it down pretty good. Don't get frustrated. Have fun with it but pay attention to what works and what doesn't. It will pay off in the end.

I don't "think" it is LB....It really is just the top of the plant...all the bottom seems to still be healthy and green. It is fairly isolated since I moved my PB that seemed to have fert. burn. Reading more, grey mold fits better...not perfectly, but better. I have already chopped off anything that looked like it had brown or fuzzies on it, but maybe I will try to give it, and my others, a shot of copper and give it one more week. There are some tomatoes on the lower branches I would love to have ripen if I can. May be all I get off of this one since I don't know if suckers or side shoots will reestablish themselves. Although the skies opened up this morning so it may be a moot point. Some raw wounds where I clipped the stems, and who knows if the rest is actually infected, I may go out tomorrow and find it covered in gray... Been having such weird weather here in Portland, OR. 80s to 90s for a few days, then it pours for 2 days (but is still warm), and then it cools off into the 70's and then repeats. Thanks everyone for your suggestions!

I’m definitely going to get the sunset book! It’s clear that I need to understand more of the basics and I actually didn’t know that about the USDA zones! I thought that if it wasn’t in my zone, that my zone was too hot for it! Btw, I’m fine with disclosing the trees but I’m still thinking about it and there’s a bit of backstory... We have a big yard that’s mostly dirt and a large number of dwarf fruit trees. While I love the fruit trees... there’s so many of them and they are inviting rodents into the garden. My plan is to remove some of the fruit trees and have them only in one section of the garden. Preferably far from the house! But even before I do that, we have a different issue that is the priority. We are on a slope and we currently have little privacy from our uphill neighbors. So I want to plant a small-ish tree that can be kept under 30 feet. The tree must be evergreen, have very dense leaves, not be poisonous (we have dogs) and preferably something with an umbrella or round shape (either through trimming or naturally). The umbrella shape would provide maximum privacy from the neighbors but I’m not finding any trees that I love that meet all of the criteria and are umbrella shaped. I’ve asked about a bunch of trees on this forum and I’ve ruled out many of them when I’ve gotten more information. The ones I am still considering are: Bay Laurel (Saratoga because it grows wider), Carrot wood, and Cinnamomum camphor. These are the ones that meet most of the criteria and that I can get in a large size (over 15’) that would immediately fix the neighbor issue. I’m leaning toward the bay laurel because the other 2 are such common parking lot trees in SoCal and I suppose I want it to be somewhat unique. But I’m still thinking about it and if anyone has any suggestions, I would appreciate that!