this is my system. Neuter the flower by using scissors to cut just the open pollen casings(anther -- stamen). I do this by putting an envelope (I re-use the paper ones my bills come in- so I have plenty! :)) just below the pollen, covering the pistil to avoid dropping the pollen onto it. Record the flower name on the outside and place it in the door of the fridge. I would then select a donor pollen, use tweezers to remove pollen from the envelope and apply it to the pod parent (like all the highly scientific tools and terms?)usually several days in a row. As far as record keeping I cut plastic blinds (from the thrift store- 50 cents or so) into 2" lengths (easily done with scissors), punch a hole in them with a paper punch and label with a pencil (easily re-used by wetting and erasing with a regular pencil eraser). Pod parent first with pollen parent second (pod- "Novella X Picotee> -pollen). Use a twist tie to tie it just at the base of the flower close to the main stem. Rather unsightly for show but highly effective when pollinating all the flowers with different pollen. I could have 4 crosses on one scape all different donating parents and never lose track. About 5-6 weeks later when the pod is ripe I then cut the pod off with the label and again store it in a paper envelope. I test germinate 10 by planting in seed starter mix and newspaper tubes under lights. Generally I get 80% germination. (hence all the babies). I trade, and sell the seeds. last year I had about 3000 seeds! A few too many for the spare room. I have also successfully used the water germination method. Float the seeds in water. It is okay for them to touch but not overlap. I keep an eye on the water and add or change most of the water. You should start seeing results in about 10-14 days. What I don't like about this method is transplanting the seeds with such a fragile root into soil. I find it more finiky (that a word?) than just straight into soil. When I plant them in the soil I stick the fat end of the seed, papery covering and all, into the soil standing it upright (vertically). Really good results and very strong seedling. The soil method takes much longer to see results. I believe up to 6 weeks for some, even in the same batch. All depends on your patience level. I found unsuccessful pollination occured when I applied pollen only once and then there is that diploid issue which I have not figured out yet. One of these days I will do research on it. I remember quite some time ago it was mentioned in some news group but I didn't know enough then to understand let alone ask an intelligent question. I do know it would explain why Papillo butterfly did not cross with anything that I tried. Having mentioned Papillo butterfly. I bought two from RC last year and gave the one with the scape to my mother for Christmas. The second one came with some rot, I notified them (and was told on my next order they would fix the problem- and they did on the next order!) I did not get flowers of course on that one. This year I only got leaves again! I thought I read somewhere here that they can be difficult to get to rebloom. Any suggestions of how to get it to perform?

*Grin* Yes, I'll be back again too (Apr. 17th?) and the wife (would that be DW in forum shorthand?) might also come. I've been looking at parentage with the AHS database combined with Google image search the last couple weeks, and I've even traced some of my cultivars back to the 1950's or 1940's when the information goes back that far. It's really interesting to see where the current plants came from. I've also been comparing some of my plants with their half-sisters and offspring in the same way. It's all very interesting, and I still haven't decided exactly what crosses to try out yet. Of course, with my small collection of young plants, my crosses may depend more on which flowers happen to be blooming on the same day. :) Nate

I plan on teaching another 2-3 years, while DH does part-time (sometimes full-time) consulting mostly from home. We work with a "wealth management planner" and always planned on retiring when DH was 60. That time came, we decided we "want" to keep working. I think the key is that it is now a choice, not a requirement. We have met (or exceeded our goals) and tend to be fiscally conservative. We are in our early 60's and are healthy and active, with hobbies and interests outside of work. I have never defined myself by my profession, and had the luxury of working part-time while raising our family. We planned for college, planned on paying off the mortgage, pay cash for cars......yes, we are planners! We live within our means and always have. What scares me, is that like Pal, we both have longevity genes and could live a long time. That was the case with my late father, who spent the last seven years of his life in a wonderful assisted living facility. He had the money, it met his needs and it was the best place for him. That came at a price (about 80K year at the end). He had the money and could afford that lifestyle. How does one plan for THAT? We did not buy long-term care insurance and are now to "old" for it to be affordable. We do not want to be a burden to our children-ever! If we have grandchildren at some point we would like to help with college tuition and "gift away" our assets as allowed by the IRS. In the meantime, we are in a sweet spot and are enjoying life in general. We feel very blessed!

From what I remember during the is chia a good thing to add to my diet days...I figured they were a good alternative to flax seeds in smoothies when I didn't have any pre-ground up flax in the house (I grind about a week's worth at a time and keep in the fridge). The reason being that chia seeds didn't need to be ground to get the benefits, of which there are many, from what I read. I would suggest that next time you buy a bag, get the unground variety and see if that helps with the teeth situation. I will get the seeds stuck in my teeth sometimes, but everything gets stuck in there anyways... ETA, I don't soak mine, for what it's worth.