With arid plant survival in moister climates, the short version is: it varies. In some plants, the only danger is root rot, and in this case they'll accept as much water as you give them if there's enough drainage. In others, a dry dormant period is required; a lot of shrubs fall into this category, and can't survive constant moisture even if drainage is perfect. I've heard of people putting transparent canopies (clear plastic or the like) over arid plants in order to simulate dry periods outside, but I don't have any experience with this personally... Regarding the plants you collected: 1. is more likely than not Machaeranthera; probably quite easy to grow. 2. sounds a bit like Liatris, but I'm not sure. 3. sounds like it's probably an Artemisia (sage brush, but actually related to sunflowers rather than true sage). 6. probably manzanita, genus Arctostaphylos, and most likely kinnikinnick (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi) or a closely related species. Some of the other manzanitas are very difficult outside their native climate, but kinnikinnick is supposed to be one of the more adaptable ones... The others don't sound familiar offhand. Kinnikinnick, Machaeranthera, Liatris, & Artemisia are all cultivated reasonably frequently, so there's probably some information around online about them. Patrick Alexander

Once they leave the box, they don't go back in. Sometimes if they've fledged to soon, and can't flutter to a bush or low tree, you can throw a towel over them, pick them up and put them back in the nestbox. But you have to put a temporary hole reducer on it so they can't get out for another couple of days. The parents can still feed them though, through the hole. This gives them time to gain the extra strength to make it to safety. Then after a couple of days take it off. I'd say they're at least 12 days old then, and they fledge at 16-21 days old. Leslie

janie, we are suppossed to be up there thur nov 20 - tue nov 25, assuming my DH's test schedules' comply w/ my vacation plans lol. we need to get up there after Nov 16 but before sometime late dec. to catch all 3 art exhibits i want to see. dh has finals till dec. 12 and we have a cruise from dec 13-18 so i know we won't be there those weeks. i grew up in chicago and have lived in orlando for 10+ yrs now and really miss the mix of modern and old you find in big cities. atlanta has alot of beautiful old buildings and alot of skyscrapers mixed in too. we often pulled off the residential roads to get out and take pics of some of these old houses, there were amazing details to these places. there were some not so good neighborhoods and some very nice ones too but everything seem to blend in well. everyone we encountered was really nice, infact outside of huntsville AL i've never meet so many people who went out of their way w/ southern hospitality! the company i work for is setting up another very large nursery location in Dawson GA and i'm looking forward to seeing that too. maybe even transferring up there between atlanta and dawson someday...i have a co-worker living outside peachtree city right now, we'll see! ~ liz

Here is a close-up (from last year) of one of the cuttings I took from my mother's ~ 60-year old shrub (which was about the same size as the ones in your photo, Jackie), prior to selling her house in Santa Rosa. I believe my mother's was Philadelphus coronarius, which was a favorite, old-fashioned variety, aka "mock orange". It is astoundingly beautiful in bloom, with a scent to die for, and it is tough as anything. It is relatively easy to root -- nearly every cutting I made took. So now I have five planted in various places in my garden, two at my neighbor's house, and a few more looking for homes...