I do not always have access to pumice so I mix it up with whatever grit I have hanging around. Expanded shale. , washed 1/4 Decomposed granite , course red lava sand, perlite. I am not anal retentive. I am more of the "what's in the frig" kind of gardener. I do not know if you are in Florida, California or Texas. The quantities will be important to your location and how humid you are. I know Floridians who grow in 100% grit, and inland Californians who use more humous in the mix. Its a mixed bag here in Texas as U sit under the remnant of Hurricane Harvey who might be leaving 20" on me. I have also gone all summer often without summer moisture. Not this year.

Boy half a zone difference make you guys so far ahead ~ just as George (ego45) reminded me! BB just flashed her virginal gown yesterday ~ 1 so far! QF opened tons on Pops' Day ~ so thrilled & tho both Orig ES did each a quick one, our gloomy/rainy/storm days interrupted the momentum ~ got everyone in a napsy mood & clusters are still just that! Today sun did show up ~ hopefully shake everyone up! Oh but Blue Frost Serrata even in his *dip 'n dot* stage is already giving hints on the trio of colors ~ blue, lavender, pinks & loaded! T&S1 ~ that came frost bitten, is the most advanced w/ all sorts of new canes & clusters - ready to flash soon ~ in the most ideal site, the hole I prep'd last Fall. I clipped all the blooms she came in to speed up these new ones! T&S2 & T&S3 are doing fine w/ new canes & new cluster finials tho nowhere close to T&S1's #s Luis - to answer our musings on extra sun exposure ~ definitely affects bloom colors IMO based on observations on these 3 T&S planted in 3 diff exposures ~ then again I'm also considering soil diff in their 3 sites! Sorry ~ for long chit-chat! Follow ups later. OK?!

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

Oh, my. You're making me squirm with the talk of timing... I love making cuttings, but learning with a set time table sounds not much fun to me. I hope you just buy new stock and experiment with cuttings without high expectations the first time. With that said, I'm thrilled you are so adventuresome. Here's my 2-cents about late sprouting and first sprout cuttings: Often times the larger-bloom varieties takes a bit longer to eye up and grow the first sprout (takes longer to bloom, as well). If you want to speed it up for viable sprouts to use as additional stock, it's best to cut the really fat first sprout early, when it is only a couple millimeters high. This allows the thinner secondary sprouts to start at the base of the primary cut. Typically, the big fat primary sprouts (often on giant varieties) take really long to grow and even longer to root separately as a cutting. The secondary sprouts are thinner, grow quicker and roots in 10 days instead of 15-20. If the primary sprout is thin, disregard the above, and cut it at the base when 3-4 inches tall.