Mike, First I want to say, the plants I received, beginning Jan 1, 2010, were in 3-4" containers, bulbs and cuttings. Only a handful were larger, meaning 8" to 1' tall. Total: 58. :) :( Marguest, your Banana Tree is beautiful. The colors amazing. There's even a pup. Did you find it on Ebay? Mike, to answer a few questions. I MUST stay away from Ebay..It's one addicting site. Not only do they have great deals on plants, but plant supplies. There's also a few online nurseries I browse every other wk or so. The internet makes it too easy to shop for such an exciting hobby. A few clicked keys, next thing, a package is at your front door? One word of Warning for those who really want to stop buying plants.. Well, an attempt. Do NOT sign up for nursery News Letters. It's convenient, swaying us to their site, displaying their wares. Hear the clicking keys to Paypal? lol. As for local nurseries, fortunately, there are two that sell very very nice and rare specimens..luckily, opposite directions, both a long distance drive. An hour on non-congested days, 1.5-2 hours during 9-5, Rush Hour traffic. Although, traffic has gotten so heavy the past five years, the only time to go anywhere with time to spare is between midnight and 5am. Problem is, the stores are closed. lol. Our grocery store, Jewel's, always has plants for sale. Mostly, basic plants like Spaths, certain Dracaenas, etc. My problem arises when they have dollar sales. 3-4" potted plants for 1.00. Every so often, they'll have a rarer specimen. Buy 3, pot them up, and you have a lovely plant for 3.00. Four years ago, they had, mixed in with other dollar plants, Schefflera 'brassaia/actinophylla, a plant I hadn't seen in years...last one) I grabbed it up fast. lol. That's about it. Not too bad for 9 months. lol. Toni

Laura, I've been meaning to write ingredients to rid Mites. Sorry, I didn't get to it sooner. Everytime I was about to, something came up. :) I've used this recepie so many years, I no longer measure. But, adding a little more of this or that won't harm a plant. That is, all but Fish Emulsion. I'll get to that. The night before spraying, I fill (about 3/4ths full) a 16-20oz spray bottle w/warm water and add 1-2 cloves of peeled garlic. Following Day: 1/4-1/2 teas Hot Pepper. 2-4 drops Dish Soap, 'Not Dawn.' 1/4-1/2 teas orange/lemon/lime or grapefruit juice. As a preventative or to kill Scale, and some other types of insects, 1 capful of Fish Emulsion. Mix thoroughly before spraying plants. Spray under and upper leaves, stems, and trunk. This mix can be kept for weeks, but shake the bottle so ingreients are even. Fish Emulsion: To prevent/kill Scale, in addition to above ingrdients, I add 1 cap of Fish Emulsion. WARNINGS: Leftover insecticide w/FE should be discarded. Fish Emulsion has a fishy odor. The smell can last 1-3 days. Although I'm not thrilled about the odor, I'd rather deal with it a few days, than find Scale on my plants. Since FE is organic there's no need to worry about inhaling or pores. It's totally harmless, won't burn roots/leaves. BTW, use a new or well-made spray bottle. Old bottles, especially when used frequently, don't work as well, or can drip. I used to use peeled citrus rind, but the peels clogged up spray bottle. In its place I use citrus juice. Mostly Lemon. The lemon that comes in a yellow plastic, lemon-shaped container. Preferably unsweetened. The same thing happened w/garlic. I used to chop 1-2 cloves, but pieces clogged sprayer top. BTW, before adding garlic to water, I squeeze each clove in water bottle so liquid blends in. Toss in squeezed garlic cloves, too. Hot Pepper. I've been using Cayenne Pepper powder, but any hot pepper will do...the hotter the better. These ingredients deter and kill Mites. Mites dislike the scents, so they steer clear. Eish Emulsion prevents and kills Scale. A friend who owns a Citrus nursery in Fl told me they use FE on ALL their citrus to keep Scale away. Not long after she told me about FE, I ordered an Olive Tree. It was delivered at night. I set it between two Citrus trees. While misting, I noticed a brown lump on a leaf. Taking a closer look, the entire Olive was Scale-packed. Not to mention the closest citrus branches. I phoned her to get the exact Fish Emulsion dossge. The Olive and Citrus were first isolated then sprayed. Within two days, all signs of Scale were gone. Since spraying, none of my plants had this awful bug. Ever. This happened, I believe, 1999. That's it. Spraying every other week should keep Mites at bay. (without FE) BTW, Fish Emulsion is an organic fertilizer. I spray plants w/the complete mixture before coming indoors for winter. Not only to keep insects away, but a last foliar feeding. If a plant is budding or flowering, don't spray, or refrain from hitting buds and flowers. Anyway, this recepie works for my plants. Considering the amount of plants I have, and each from diferent nurseries, I either have a Plant Angel or plain lucky..lol. Give it a try..can't hurt. I avoid chemicals, 'except a few fertilizers.' Let me know if you decide to give it a try and how it works..Toni

Have you ever seen the big tall poles with a propellor on them. They produce energy and for most people who put them in they produce more energy then they use and they start getting a check from the electic company instead of a bill. Problem is for most people the amountof money they are saving is not even close to the cost of the generator. (Est. $10-20,000_ With a bill of $500 dollars a month it would pay for itself in four years and then your electric is essentially free. I don't know about electric heat, but I would imagine you may still need more power than a single wind generator can produce. If you plan on staying in your house for a while it may be a worth while investment. In my case (or my fathers case) it would take too many years for the generator to pay for itself than is worth while for us and we don't have that kind of money upfront. It is easier to pay for the electric bill each month which is a smaller cost than the wind generator even though the long term costs are higher.

patty_cakes, that sounds really pretty. Thanks for the idea! newhomebuilder, I'll see if I can find SL magazine and look at that picture. I like your flat round basket on the ottoman (and the doggie). I used to have a really large basket on my large square ottoman in my previous decor. Maybe I should consider something similar here. demifloyd, I have been having trouble finding larger trays. They don't seem so easy to find, aktillery, beautiful room! Yes, that ottoman and basket looks similar to what I used to have, although my basket wasn't quite as deep and was larger. Maybe I should see how it looks on my current ottoman, although I don't think it will work very well. I'll have to take a picture.