I did. A list of families is great, and clicking the "sort" is even better, but not sure what I'm supposed to learn from the list. ...besides the names of 3 Dracaenas I've never heard of before. Now I just want more plants! Some of this just seems like how something is planted. Like Mirabilis jalapa, the 4'o'clock. I've never seen one put its' own tuber in the air, but if I plant one this way, it's a caudiciform. Here's a Solenostemon (which is probably now a Plectranthus) that's listed by virtue of underground "potato-like bulbs." The structure in the drawing looks nearly identical to spider plant roots, Chlorophytum comosum (shown below.)

We are interested, would like more pictures, email to rbfmindy@yahoo.com What brand/make is it? thanks, Mindy

Clarification of the Rutgers Education info. about horse manure, regarding the high iron of 3614, that's ppm dry weight, and different from % dry wt. ratio of NPK, calcium, and magnesium. The equal measurement is to the far right of the table. Here's in % lb/ton: N of 2.8, P of 1.4, K of 2.4, calcium of 1.2, magnesium of 0.4, sulfur of 0.2, and iron of 0.5. Now it looks much better, and the iron is not out of whack. Adding lime to deodorize the stall varies with stables, so aged horse manure varies from 7 to 10 in pH (someone reported a 10 pH in a soil forum). The most accurate test done on the effect of different growing medium is found in this website: http://www.uky.edu/Ag/HLA/anderson/orgfert3.pdf The above experiment is to learn about the efficiency of organic fertilizers and composts: fish emulsion, Omega 6-6-6, horse manure, cow manure, and worm castings. Highlights of this study: "Pepper plants treated with Peter's are normal. Plants treated with cow manure are somewhat better. Plants with horse manure are smaller. In tomato: plants grown in the worm casting, the horse manure, and no fertilizer control are stunt. This demonstrates that the worm and horse manure were probably NOT fully composted and they stole nutrients from the mix. The composted worm castings had a high pH, and very high nutrient levels. The composted cow manure had a very low pH and low phosphorus, and high levels of nitrogen, calcium, and magnesium. The composted horse manure had a very high pH and high phosphorus and potassium, with typical levels of nitrogen, calcium, and magnesium. But the plants performed poorly in horse manure, probably because this was INCOMPLETELY composted. Their conclusion: Omega and fish emulsion fertilizer can be used to grow vegetable transplants. A 20% to 30% of composted cow manure may be effective for transplants ... but worm castings and horse manure were NOT effective. My conclusion: it's always good to measure the pH of any manure before using. Someone reported a pH of 4.5 in their cow manure, while others reported a pH of 8 in a composted horse manure (it depends how much lime the stable uses to deodorize the stall). In the UK garden forum, someone reported a low pH in the horse manure - so it all depends if lime is used in a particular stall.

Don't you just love butterflies? So do I. Here is South Florida I am seeing a lot of Zebra longwings though, don't know for how long since it has been cold. The Polydamas are getting fewer each day, Queens, sulfers and, black swallowtails are very abundant right now. I usually have at least a dozen butterflies in my garden at a time. Let's not forget about the skippers too! I am anxiously waiting for the Monarchs. Haven't seen any yet this winter. They usually stop by on their way to Mexico. I raised butterflies for about 3 years until I started working. I still raise the hosting plants along with, plenty of nectar plants. I really miss the butterfly gardening. It was an exciting hobby. I really need to get back into it but, my cage disintegrated after 3 years so I need to get another one. I am fairly new to this forum but, will be watching as I find it so interesting. It helps to fullfill my passions of raising butterflies.