I need to start more cuttings *NOW* before it gets much later in the season.

I looked in on the cuttings that I started earlier:

The bougainvillea cuttings didn't take. I tried starting these in a tray of soil, but I think the soil just washed away, and the cuttings just dried up. I also tried starting f. benjamina and f. retusa in the same tray, both attempts failed. I had a difficult time starting f. benjamina in 4 inch pots, but some took. The f. retusa cuttings I did in the same 4 inch pots took pretty good, it looks like.

The ivy and moss is growing really well. I continue to make ivy/moss bonsai with great success. Like my other cuttings, I continue to feed weekly with full strength miracle grow. I was looking back at my notes from last year, and I think I was feeding at double strength weekly. YIKES! It wasn't intentional, and I will not be doing that again, lest I burn my little wards.

The grape I brought home last summer from San Diego is starting to bud. I doubt the person I bought this grape from would recognize it as his. I've clipped it way back and I cut off almost all the growth that was left, leaving one strong growing branch. This branch is pretty close to the ground and it bends down a bit, so the growth looks almost cascade. I'm probably going to repot this so it grows more upright, but with a good twist.

All that growth that I cut off was substantial. I placed it in some soil and I've been watering it. It started to bud out, so we'll see if it takes root. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Turns out my olive was another casualty of that week in Sept where I lost water. Well, it didn't completely die, it only *mostly* died. I had to severely prune it back and I lost YEARS of growth. That's the bad news. The good news is that it did survive. When I pruned it back, I took the opportunity reassess its growth and I scaled it back a little more than what was necessary. This was an attempt to position the surviving material in a better foundation. I also took a few heel cuttings and I tried planting a section of trunk. Almost all the cuttings were unsuccessful. Planting the whole section of trunk appears to have had some success; I think it's taking, but I'm not sure. One thing for sure, olives are a pain in the ass to propagate!