Schucks! I guess i waited too long to repot my phals, at least for one of them! I repotted one last night and there was only one viable root in the whole pot, there are however 3 or 4 aerial roots out of the pot. The plant is in spike now, but has shown a maked slowing down as far as progressing to full bloom. The spikes do show the unopened blooms etc. i bought some Miracle Gro Orchid planting mix yesterday that I would never PERSONALLY use now that ive opened it, it is almost like the stuff i just took the phal in question out of, to me it is "Like" Pro Mix, iam an "avid" waterer some times so this would not work for me AT ALL i dont think. The plants in question are NOIDS that i got at a green house a couple of years ago on sale they have rebloomed for me which iam grateful for but i will know now, i hope to repot sooner especially on discounted or sale items, they must have been in the same potting medium at least 3 years. Shame on me! The NH Orchid Society Show is soon in Feb so will pick every vendors brain fo the "Perfect" Potting media for ME! HA HA HA! Only if there was such a thing..The oiginal potting media i was going to get for phals never arrived at the green house i was originally going to get it from. i think what i will do is get a bark based mix and add some moss to it as suggested. Wish me luck, and thanks again!

I checked out the Pro- Mix website for information and it seems Pro-Mix for Orchids is probably no better or worse than any other national brand available. When you say, "mini", do you mean a miniature phalaenopsis?

Thanks all for your suggestions. I think you are right that chamaecyparis might be a better fit. Boxwood would be great, too, but they are of course notoriously slow-growing. Yew would be nice but also a waste of time in my garden since we have many, many deer. The location is in part shade so I will have to check into the likes and dislikes of chamaecyparis. Ilex glabra would work well, I think. I am strongly considering chryptomeria and pinus koraiensis "Morris Blue" I like the look of cephalotaxus as well and they are supposed to withstand deer browsing better than taxus. I don't agree that all junipers are ugly. Used with care, they can make a great statement in a mixed border. Marianne

I've looked for it too. Its not available. But there is some pro mix potting soil available it Christina's Flowers located at Preston/George Bush. I used the web site for the Pro mix and it took me there. I went to check it out last week. They do not have the seed starting mix. I asked the girl working there and she said they don't use it. They start all their seeds and plant all their pots with the potting mix. Here is a link that might be useful: Cristinas' Flowers