The message
from "Brian" --- 'flayb' to respond contains these words:

Take care! Loss of leaves is a 'growing' process. It takes growth to
make leaves fall. Leaves on a dead branch might rot but they don't fall. The
earliest to have lost leaves might be the most viable.

I know why - the first one to drop leaves was just beginning to harden,
and the second one showed signs of browning near the cut. The other two
were quite green.

The autumnal processes had started, and I'd wager they would have
dropped leaves if they'd been left on the bush. The other two are
showing no signs of the leaves dying, still less rotting.

--
Rusty
horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co full-stop uk
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/