Now you know EXACTLY why I will do anything -- ANYTHING, I tell you! -- to get out of jury duty. Same runaround about calling the night before and finding out I'm not needed after making preparations that rival a NASA space launch. Same assignment to a courthouse out in the west boonies when I could WALK to the courthouse downtown. Same general lack of understanding or consideration from local government regarding how inconvenient this is on some very basic levels. (Namely, if I don't work, I don't make money. There is no boss to make up the difference because I am self-employed.) How ironic that they will accept travel reservations as an over-the-phone excuse. But financial hardship must be proven, in person, to the judge before a prospective juror may be excused. Yeah, yeah, I believe in upholding my responsibilities as a citizen of this great free nation. But tell me: who is going to pay my mortgage and buy my groceries while I'm wasting three or seven or twenty-one days making $14.00 daily while serving on a jury? Karen

That is totally acceptable, to note a synonym of a species on the name tag. Mostly listing of synonyms is done when referring to a species in a piece of botanical literature, a paper or article. In horticulture I would say it is more important to know the current name and then be familiar with the most commonly used synonyms. Many names that are now synonyms are very old and not in use anymore anyways. Take a look at the link I provided. This is an orchid page but it's just easier to use because all the really thorough Hoya sites are in other languages. Notice how the synonyms are listed, written in the proper way with the names of the person/people who originally published the plant under that name and the year of publication. Ideally the name of the publication the species was published in should also appear so that anyone interested can reference the original publication. This is all very important to understanding where the names came from and how we have arrived at the currently accepted name. Many times plants are described by more than one person/people under multiple names and this can be spread apart by years, decades, or longer. Many plants are initially lumped into Genera that they actually do not belong in and through the years as more research is done species get moved around and corrections made. The tuff part is that like you mentioned above there are often multiple names that are associated with one plant. Hoya stoneana and Hoya longifolia are two separate and unique species but there has been confusion between them. Their names are not synonymous and their association is a different kind of mistake altogether. The Hoya tsangii and Hoya odetteae reference is however a good example of a synonym (odetteae) and the currently accepted species name. On the topic of the name Hoya motoskei. I think too many people get caught up on leaf colour. Leaf colour has nothing to do with species identification and a dark leafed Hoya carnosa is simply that and not another species. Environmental factors are obviously strong factors but so are genetics. Plants grown from seed are individuals and just like I have brown hair and my sister has red hair, we can show a range of characteristics and still be the same species. Mike Here is a link that might be useful: Bulbophyllum auratum - Synonyms

yg - unusual? Why? Seems to me to be common enough of a lot of my posts - a rather strongly expressed opinion :-) Here's what impresses me about 'Big Smile' (Sweet Chris) - it is a very robust plant with a compact habit, great foliar attraction and considerable PM resistance. It has dark maroon stems and distinct leaf veining and develops a very rich fall color. These features contrast beautifully with the lacecap flowerheads, which tend to pinky-mauve in my area and often with a darker edge. It's a coloring I find partcularly useful in the garden as it offers a lot of possbilities for combining with other plants. They fade to a pleasing (to me) pinkish tan color. Like oakleaf hydrangeas, there is a lot more to this plant than just a flower show in season, a requirement for any new addition to my garden. Except for winter when the plant is dormant, it has a lot to offer over and above just seasonal flowers. And it's not very gimmicky, which seems to be a failing of a lot of new plant introductions. And, finally it is not a mophead with big, basketball-sized flowers, which I find overblown and blowsey. As I said, I don't have room for many new shrubs and hydrangeas are only one of my many plant passions. Inclusion into an already overplanted garden requires a shrub that makes a statement for itself over a long period, which Big Smile does in spades. Now I just have to figure out what comes out so that BS goes in :-)

Goodness! The wine opener! I'm packing my (whole) two drawers tonight. Everything else is packed up and ready to go. I'm pulling that out now. We tear out Saturday morning. You must be very excited! When do the new countertops come? I'll have not only no heat, but no outer wall on the northwest end of the house and I live near you! Figures it's the coldest weekend of the year! Stay warm!!