The very moment one of mine opens, it will be posted! I promise! I'm getting impatient, too... but part of gardening is having that patience, so... we wait! Well, Kitty... it just so happens that we go by Oak Hill Gardens on the way to see my grandbabies! Let me take a peek when we're in the area and see what kind of Paphs they have... maybe a couple of them will follow me home, and one will ask if it can go stay at your place! You just never know with these orchids! :-) Aside from Clivia, Amaryllids of all types, rare bulbs, orchids, a few cacti, some vines, and several very interesting tropical houseplant types, some of them bulbous... well, I collect what I call "friendship plants", which are plants or cuttings or seeds that are sent to me by very dear friends! I treasure them all, and when one doesn't make it, I feel terrible about it. But, we do the best we can, and we keep that thought that a particular friend cared enough to share their love of gardening! Today, we went shopping for a few needed groceries, and we happened upon Sara Lee pies on sale! We bought a cheesecake, sweet potato pie, chocolate creme pie, and a peach pie! They were ridiculously cheap, so we couldn't pass them up! I checked for bulbs, but they still have the same three common varieties, none on sale. Leftover turkey, green bean casserole, candied carrots from the garden, and baked potatoes for dinner... delicious! Tomorrow we'll bake one of those pies!

I know, based on second-hand testimony, that a galactically-known grower of Mesembs, and at least one of his ardent disciples, uses MG moisture control, and they grow some of the finest plants we've seen EVER. It's what you do with it that's the heart of the matter. Once again, making statements saying 'xxxx is bad for your plants' or 'yyyy in your soil is the worst thing you can use' is generalizing. Your external cultural conditions, and I include watering here, will shape what soil one can use to grow healthy plants. One's level of experience, along with available materials, will largely shape what one can grow well. I too have been guilty of saying 'Peat's bad' or asking 'Why in the world would you use bark chips?', but it's all in the conditions and experience of the individual grower, to boil it down. Since CB is a beginner, I would suggest to him (?) that he keep his soil simple. The more experience one gains, the more one can evaluate effectively what one can and cannot use in the culture of healthy plants. Yes, you can say a few things are irrefutable - succulents for the most part don't grow in salt, never watering a cactus is not prudent and you really don't need a seventh Kalanchoe orgyalis (the last statement is completely false, btw). But since you can use shredded tires to grow plants in (that's not recommended, but it can be done), to say that MG soil (or whatever) is inimicable to growing plants is highly dependent on the situation and all of those other intangibles which we hopefully learn about as we grow these plants of ours.

Im in zone 9 southern california (in a valley of hell named Perris) so alot of things can stay out during winter :D But there is, of coarse, those that need cold protection such as Kalanchoe, pachypodium, and Asclepiads. As of now, we are still having 90�s during the day, and around 60�-70� at night. Last year was really the first year i got into succulents, and i started to bring thing into my green house in mid october, and that is finally when temps start to get 40�-50� at night here. The average winter temps here are around 40� at night, but sometimes it can dip to 26�. We even had snow in 2007, and that is when i almost lost one of my beloved aloes D: Id say, bring them inside the green house is good for you right now, just to be on the safe side, as the temps are reaching 50 and lower. I really wish i could start having a cool down here...

christopherh, Yes, I understand what you're saying. We had a similar emotion when we delivered all of those turkeys. My DH spent two nights this week serving at the Hospice booth in the local shopping mall, he's rang the bell for the Salvation Army, his bank does the Angel tree like your community does & people are very generous, we donated an antique painting this year for a silent auction benefiting Make A Wish (a charity close to my heart), I've made thousands of phone calls for the hospital since T-day, QVC always has a Today's Special Value during the holiday season of Weekly Reader books & I always purchase a few sets & donate to our local libray & hospital, I've been playing Christmas carols at the nursing home near my house twice/week for a month, & we will be serving dinner to the homeless on Christmas Day after breakfast with our family. Sure, we make financial donations & many organizations prefer that but there's huge need for volunteers. Organizations are always chronically short on volunteers. Thank you for giving freely of your time & money to the needy. And, it's true...we can't forget after New Year's. People need help twelve months a year! My DH also can't give plasma. On his third attempt the nurse told him to return to just giving blood. He gives every three months unless medications make him ineligible. I can't donate blood due to health & medications & I greatly admire all those who keep our national blood supply going. So, kudos to all of you who donate! To keep this OT...charities are reporting donations are down pretty much across the board this year & they are attributing it to people having less disposable income due to higher food & energy costs on the home front. It wouldn't surprise me either if some of those who've lost their homes to foreclosure are also part of the increased need at the food banks. /t