Sorry Chryss... to the best of my knowledge there is no update to the cancelled NY Orchid Show :-( I'm not a member, but I read their website. Yeah, you do get the best deals at big box stores. The phals in Chinatown that I saw were beautiful, but again I thought a tad pricey. I just went to the flower district on Friday and looked at their phals (mostly in the $25-$35 range).

Maggie, I really can't pinpoint the location of this place. I just know it was on the North side of the highway and it sits out in a field. It is not a huge operation. We were just driving along and I saw the sign stuck up on a fence post saying Orchid Sale. It was a tiny sign, hand lettered, and looked very temporary. You pulled into a field and drove back to the greenhouse facility. There was a shed built on the end of the greenhouse and that is where we went in. There was no driveway, just ruts through the field. I wish I had paid more attention but it was really a chance encounter. The next time we go up that way I will try to get a better location. The people just wrote a receipt on a piece of paper; no business name. I think it is a mom & pop operation run by the little asian couple we met. They just invited us in, left us alone to wander until we were ready to pay for our purchases. I even got on Google Earth to try to locate it but no luck. I did realize that it is on Route 44 instead of 46. We take 46 from I95 over to 44 which then takes us into Leesburg. If you go to Leesburg you should check out the Simon's Seed and Garden Store on Magnolia Street. I got some good deals on Orchids and other plants there. I live in Lehigh Acres. Do you know of other people in our area on GW? We should try to get a group together to share knowledge and experiences if there are enough in our area. I have only been here about a year and we have been putting most of our energy into building walls, decks, walkways, and getting ready to plant. I am about to the planting point now. We went to ECHO Farm Day last week and picked up some good ideas and some citrus trees. I am really trying to get the info-structure completed before hot weather sets in. Bill

Back to the original post. I use so many household items for growing. Just some off the top of my head - Chopsticks for picking old potting media out around the roots without damaging them. Chopsticks are so handy for multiple uses, I keep a pile of them (also from sushi takeout). I also save packing peanuts and sheets of Styrofoam from packing and use them in orchid pots and in large pots for my tropical dirt plants. I use plastic forks and spoons (also takeout) for marking rows of seeds in my vegetable beds. Very handy. I save all mesh bags from onions, vegetables to use inside my wood/metal baskets to keep bark from falling through the openings. I cut up old pantyhose/knee highs to put time release fertilizer in, tie it closed and hang it from my mounts and Vandas. I use Peroxide and bleach to sterilize my cutting tools and potting benches. I save egg shells, dry them out and crush them to sprinkle around plants to keep snails away. They also give off a bit of calcium. I use those sheets of white plastic grids used for lights (Home Depot) as drip trays under some plants. Always used them in NY but like them here in Florida as they raise the pots up a bit and allow air circulation under the pots. Not sure what these sheets are called but they sell them in the lighting department. Cheap! I save some plastic take out containers for seed starting and us them for soaking some orchids to wet the bark. Handy to prevent spreading disease. There's more but that's it for now. Jane

Mike, Wading the Stillwater River in west central Ohio is out of the question this weekend. Just 30-40 miles north of me received 5"-6" of rain this morning, so even with waders and a PFD the Stillwater will be flooded and unfishable for @ 1 week. Very disappointed, but on the good side the 'kids will get out for sure as we're expecting 80's for the next week or so. Like Bill, I have a lot in bloom right now. As of earlier this week, I had 27 of my 70-80 orchids in some stage of bloom. Great time of year for us indoor northern hemisphere growers. I have 2 nodosas blooming right now and it is 'special' walking into the grow room first thing in the morning and smelling their fragrance. Back to the weather: I very rarely complain about too much rain, but it's getting pretty ridiculous here in Ohio, I think we are 10"-12" over average for the year. Lawns looks great!, but I have to mow every 4-5 days, if possible. Will probably be a dry hot summer and we'll wish we had the rain. Bob