Hehehe!! When I saw this thread by me, I couldn't figure out when I posted it - I didn't remember posting this one at all! But after reading it, I do remember that spicebush swallowtail dancing all over the palamedes. If they mated, the resulting hybrids would have to be called Sherry swallowtails! :) I never did see 'em mate, though, so I guess they weren't that confused! That reminds me, early this spring when the male hummingbirds had gotten here, but the females hadn't yet arrived, I heard a male buzzing the "shuttle" which is a mating ritual/dance they do for females. I thought surely a female was here, then I heard the same thing a little later, and he was courting a chickadee! I guess he just courted the littlest bird he could find! MissSherry

Yes Kristi! I would strongly recommend it. I will tell you how I found this place. It was about 5 years ago. I wanted a banana tree in the worst way. I was coming back to my house with roomate, and he said look! There's a banana tree! I did a u turn on a busy street and flew into that driveway and walked out with my banana tree! That was it, I was hooked to that place. I ave bought my vanilla orchid there, a navel orange tree that didn't make it due to cold temps when our aparment was being remodeled. I got my first mango tree there, it was a Southern Blush. That tree was over 6 feet and I paid $25.00! I also got my giant gardenia tree there. That was also over 6 feet and about 5 feet wide. Now, I can call them up and request any tree I want. I can't wait for January so I can get my red navel orange tree. Jim (the owner)had a tangerine...huge for $75.00. He offered it to me for $50.00 and it had about 7-8 almost mature fruit! I passed on it. I was very tempted but was'nt going to buy it just to buy it. I only have limited space for maybe 2 more trees. I strongly advise calling. If they sell any kind of tropical fruit, chances are you could get another tropical fruit. Good luck!! Andrew

How interesting! Solanums are a huge family. I've seen Naranjilla juice at the market in cans, I'll have to get a can next time I'm there. Goji is also known as Wolfberry, I do have an Iranian tomato called Goji Faranji which is one of the best I've grown. I think most people know tomatillos which are in the Solanum family but are Physalis phildelphica. I have seeds of Solanum burbankii ~ Luther Burbank's Wonderberry, orginally called Sunberry which is not frequently grown despite being very nutrient rich and tasty. I'll paste in your link so everyone can easily review the information. Here is a link that might be useful: Wikpedia Solanum

We fool ourselves into thinking that our environment is a lot more sanitary than it is. I worked in several very nice restaurants during college and know that there is a wide range of cleanliness out there, and few places meet the standards we would hope. This is true even if they pass health inspections, because I've seen health inspectors walk right past things that should have gotten the restaurant severe warnings and fines. Working in a restaurant with a salad bar made me swear off salad bars for the rest of my life. I have never seen anything as disgusting as the food storage practices that restaurant used for the salad bar. Between the blue preservative liquid they soaked the lettuce in to keep it from wilting to the way they refilled topping containers over and over without ever dumping the old stuff and washing the container, I can't stomach the thought. Blech! I've also seen first-hand a facility where plastic utensils were packaged into those little handy packs with a napkin, etc. Well, that shattered my illusions of those things being somehow sterile! I won't even tell you what I saw a worker do right before he picked up a set of utensils. All that is to say we live in a germ-filled world. There is no way to really avoid germs, and avoiding them is not always the best choice anyway. Unless you want to live in a plastic bubble, the best you can do is wash your hands frequently (and thoroughly--very few people take the time necessary to wash their hands correctly) and use good old common sense. Attempting to sanitize the world around us truly is futile.