I bought two of those at Home Depot this past winter and decided to combine them (too many plants/not enough room)So I took them out of the pot, bought a bigger pot that would fit both of them and re potted them together, they didn't make a fuss at all. as a matter of fact they both had new growth within a few weeks after repotting and they weren't at all root bound. My sister in law just wacks hers off at the top, as far down as she desires her plant to be and sticks the cut off part in the dirt and gets more plants that way. Her stem seems to be a lot thicker than mine and maybe that is due to the whacking she gives it a few times a year.

Thank you all for your outpouring of support and the sunflowers, both visual and virtual. I have been in touch with sister C2, who is in touch with Michael. Things don't look too good at this time, but she is still functioning,, although very impaired. I had my daughter Linda and grandson Trevor visit for the day, that was a nice distraction. Trevor rode Joann's quad all over the place, Linda, Joann and I had some good visiting time, grilled chicken, ate corn from Linda's garden and tomatoes from Linda's garden - 100 miles south makes a big difference on how things grow, my 'maters are still green. It all sounds trivial, but it is part of life as lived and Trevor has turned into a fine young man. The circle of life goes round and round...as it should. I will know more tomorrow.

Here is a message my sister sent me for more discription. Hello, it only has one trunk. The leaves growing off of it are coming from the trunk. It bumps out under the bark like a vein then the leaves grow out from that. It didn't have mites. I had to cut it because all of the top leaves died from wind damage being on Sue's(my other Sister) front porch(very open & bright sun) and the transport from Ma's to Sue's then Sue's to here. There was about a 2 feet of tree with no leaves. It looked horrible so I cut it off. Since then it has filled out nice like a bush. Before I cut it there was only one off shoot on the bottom of the trunk and the top leaves.

Thank you all. I forgot to tell you my sister's name. When you are offering prayers, they are for Phyllis. She has been so upbeat and positive during this fight with lung cancer (for the past 3 years or so) but she's having a very hard time right now. I think she's afraid of the unknown, for the first time. I know your prayers and the prayers of many others are surrounding her and that they are helping her.