Pruning Callicarpa dichotoma 'Early Amethyst' and Why I Dislike Creeping Euonymus

Does anyone really get those pruning diagrams where they have lightly shaded areas indicating the branches that should be removed?  Someone should post videos on pruning every plant that is available (maybe someday?)  I have a Callicarpa dichotoma 'Early Amethyst' and today I took a crack at pruning it.  I hopefully followed the AHS diagram correctly and pruned it to its "low permanent framework."  Below is a picture.   I'm thinking that maybe I left too much stem.  The problem with gardening is that it takes a few months to really know.

Callicarpa dichotoma 'Early Amethyst'

Other than pruning, I hacked, rather than pruned, at my creeping Euoymous vine and hopefully have hacked this one to death.  Last year, it had a horrible infestation of what I think is scale.  I never really like the vine anyway and the scale infestation was a good excuse to get me to remove it. Wow, what work.  I've lived in my house for 16 years and this vine was there before I moved in.  It was actually growing on itself without any support.  From a distance, it looked like a 2 foot shrub.  What surprised me was that here on March 29th that I could still see the insects all over it.  Here's a pic.  I don't know much about scale, but from what I read, the white insects pictured all over the leaf are the males.



Scale



Wave Pansies

I've grown a lot of pansies and these are truly different.  My understanding is that one of the criteria that Ball Hort uses for determining an appropriate use of the Wave brand is that the plant have a trailing habit.  These pansies definitely do.  I started these Yellow Wave by seed and as you can see in the picture the stems are trailing rather than growing upright.  These will look great in a container. 

Bulbs Are Peeping Up 2013

We still have snow on the ground in Chicago, but the bulbs are coming up.  Snowdrops and crocus are blooming.  Also, the hellebores are starting to push up.