Thanks for providing a link, Kent. This is such an interesting plant! Flowered-, Go for it! I have not grown this myself, but have been tempted to try too! Here are some things I learned about it: From Larry Hodgson's excellent "Annuals for Every Purpose": "You can buy amaranths in six packs or cell packs, but the secret is to get them while they are still young. Plants already in bloom rarely thrive when they are transplanted, although pruning them back harshly at planting can help". For your zone Flowered-, you would need to start seeds indoors (don't know about winter sowing) but Larry says you must transplant them while still small and sowing in peat pots is best as the more plants mature, the more they resent transplanting. He adds that "Most amaranths will self-sow but but the resulting seedlings rarely reach full size in shorter-season areas". They are most colorful grown in full sun and soil that is not overly rich. It hates wet feet. They could be on the invasive side in Z10-11. Larry suggests combining them with Celosia spicata, Nicotiana 'Lime Green', and clouds of Cosmos bipinnatus. Hope you give them a try. Good luck! PattiOh

Pepperseed is right....I do have both Jamaican Black and Ice Cream mangoes and I did write about both previously. I have been searching for the thread that I wrote about the Black mango but cannot find it. I did say that I would not have purchased it, in hind sight, based upon how it has turned out. Not being from Jamaica, I have no idea what the real Black mango is supposed to be. I bought mine from Maurice Kong (who is Jamaican) and it is a very small and uninteresting mango. The tree is also a small one and a very slow grower......close in size to Ice Cream.....so in that sense, they are similar....at least at my house. The fruit, however, is nothing like each other. Ice Cream has that strong resinous taste and complex flavor, is light color, almost white fleshed while Black has yellow/orange flesh and little or no resinous twang. The fruits are shaped totally different. But who knows, for all I know, maybe what I have was mis-labeled. As far as the doudouce mango....I have never heard of it. Based on its size and fiber content, I don't think I would be interested in growing it. Harry

I can highly recommend Outdoor Challenge. In fact, we think it's better than WiiFit (which we also have) We bought ours at Amazon, but I've seen it at Target. It was around $60 The sports games that come with the Wii are all good and can keep you busy for a while. If you wanna see how to make the strike on the last ball of the bowling TRAINING section which has 91 pins, check out YouTube. It is soooo cool when you can do it. Guitar Hero is one the g'kids like, but even though I love music, I don't especially care for it. Prefer something that makes you MOVE. The g'kids also like Boogie and I like watching them do that one. At least they get exercise with Boogie.

Al, firstly, why do you assume that my intentions were to hurt you? That is not very charitable; I assumed your tone was light and kept to that. - 'I would confiscate her (oxalis) plants' - I only mentioned your mother because she was part of the discussion, which my father certainly wasn't. I did genuinely feel for your mother, though; it appears she only had her plant for five months out of the usual twelve in which one can enjoy Oxalis regnellii aka triangularis. I have personal experience of growing this plant, longer than yours, for obvious reasons, since you only allow them a few months of active life annually. It is not necessary to give this oxalis a resting period, and it will often actively resist this if you try. If it appears to get tired, more likely from not being watered correctly or otherwise cherished (they do like the odd feed or renewed soil), it can be magically revived by trimming the foliage back, repotting and replacing where it grew happily before. People have enjoyed this plant almost continuously for years on end, and according to their own testimonies they often have them much longer than other houseplants. Now there are oxalises with bulbs or other storage organs which do appreciate a resting period (I think particularly those originating in South Africa), but as one of the most beautiful house plants available, Oxalis regnellii does not. So you can send your O. regnelliis to bed early like a naughty child, and I will allow mine to flaunt their glory for many hours longer; this very tolerant plant will put up with both treatments, but I think I know which it prefers :)