hee-hee, Granniek as soon as you mentioned checking the heat I ran to my orchid and felt it, lol! Calvin, Granniek, and everyone who wrote, again, thanks for the cross-our-fingers-well-wishing... Calvin, I am glad you reconfirmed about not paying attention to what I originally read about the spritzing (I didn't read it on this forum but on some online orchid care instructions)... When I first read those instructions I was thinking hmmm, spritzing, that's odd... You see spritzing roses is a huge no-no! it will cause blackspot and a whole array of nasty fungus...But then I thought well, maybe the reason why the online instructions stated this was because orchids are "immune" to these fungus vulnerabilities because they originate in jungle, tropical areas...Well so much goes for my "invented" theory about why someone would suggest this... Kansas by the way is very hot! and the sun glares like heck! if I were to stick them outdoors the poor orchids would roast! unlike the lovely cooler weather of Toronto...My orchids are pretty close to the air-conditioning vents which is not ideal because it dries out the plant, but that! is so much more preferable to yucky fungus. Calvin, two of my immediate cousins live in Canada. One lives in Newfoundland and the other now is in Ottawa. I love how beautiful autumn is in Canada... you just can't get those Canadian rich candy scarlets, brilliant oranges, tangerines here in the Midwest U.S.A... All we get is murky browns and muddy reds at the best... I have wonderful childhood memories of visiting my cousins in Newfoundland. The ocean cliffs are sooo gorgeous! And oh, by the way, everyone, shame on me...there were quite a few online warnings to keep the pot on the small side, but nooooo, pigheaded me thought o.k. I better ask the experts here at this forum as the final say-so... Sort of reminds me that I'm like the pesky kid in the classroom who won't shut up and asks the stupidest things and can't seem to listen, hahahaha! But now I can sit back down on my seat and shut up! LOL!

I'm always amazed at how far those tiny guys can travel if they get a mind to. You're doing exactly the correct thing by not messing with them. When I clean my containers, I take out all the leaves, shake the container gently over a paper towel to remove the loose fras, and wipe the bottom of the container with a slightly damp paper towel if there is still lots of fras left. Then I just put all the leaves back in, plus some fresh. As the leaves get eaten and dried out, you can eventually tell which are too dry or old, and which they're still eating, and remove the old. Just check the leaves carefully for any strays that might still be resting on them. If they are, I either put the whole leave back in, or trim the excess off and just put the cat and a small portion back in. If you have lots of cats, it can be painstaking work when they are small. Martha

There are several species that are escaping home gardens and wreaking havoc with the natural ecosystems-give these baddies a wide berth. The link below is not a comprehensive list, doesn't include banana poka (passifolia tarminiana)for example. You can also go to www.hear.org for information about invasives. OK, now on to the fun stuff! I wish i had never planted...psittacorum in my garden. Looks terrible most of the time and is really hard to contain or eradicate. Congratulations on your new project! Sounds like you will be having fun. Here is a link that might be useful: Hawaii's Most Invasive Species

Oh, my! I somehow found this thread by following one of your links, Chandra, and there is so much information here. It's gotten me excited to really get busy and do some serious work on the garden. I can't do a lot with it for the remainder of this season, but I can certainly make plans for next year. Naturally, this year is the first time I've actually grown a 'garden' in OK and not just put in a few tomato plants. I had to pick one of the hottest, driest years on record to start with. It hasn't been a complete loss, since I did manage to put some beans in the freezer and we've been eating a lot of nice fresh squash. We might still have some cantaloupe also. It's looking okay so far, if I can manage to keep it watered. All in all, it's been an educational year. My next step is to take soil samples to OSU to find out exactly what I'm dealing with. My father used to always say "If you can manage to get a shovel into it, red dirt will grow anything". I suspect that I'll find I have more N and P than I need, but the test results will tell me for sure. I also need to see what the Ph is in the two distinctly different soil types. One is sandy and under oak trees, the other is clay. Now that you have grown crops in your beautiful raised beds, did you find a difference in the way the different soil amendments worked for you? Or did you decide on a single one from the beginning and just use that one? You said that "Mix C" was by far the best, and it certainly looks like it from the photos. I tried following the link to Minick's but it didn't work. Are they still in business? If they opened the new location at Hwy 9 it would be really easy for me to get to it. I'm on a very limited budget, but I don't think I need a lot of amendment to start with, and we can haul it in the pickup truck. At least I'm off to a decent start with the heavy mulch that was put down this year. If we can rent a good enough tiller to turn it all in properly and then add some amended soil to it also, I should have something that's not bad to work with. (The tiller we rented this spring was a pitiful wreck. It barely did anything at all, other than being hard on the operator.) So, I'm getting very excited about the possibilities for next year. Thank you so much, everyone, for all the fabulous information. Dawn, you are a wonder! Pat