Agree with 3 strikes and you are out ------ don't necessarily follow it. After 2 strikes I take pause and try to find out as much as possible about the natural environment of the failing plant. I also try to identify a grower who successfully grows them. I have tried over and over again with Dendrobium cuthbersonii and have always failed . So I finally talked to Tom Perlite from Golden Gate Orchids who grows these things like I grow Dandelion and got some hints from him. Now it takes me 2 years to kill them instead of one. I have finally given up on these little beauties. Dendrobium nobile is another example. No matter how closely I follow the instructions as to how to grow them, winter rest etc, I cannot get a decent bloom. Either they don't bloom or they make a few lackluster blooms. So I finally talked to the grower in Hawaii who is the source of most of the commercial nobiles you see on the market every spring. Success, last spring all 3 of mine bloomed ------------ with a few lackluster flowers! Enough, they went on the plant table of my society and I'm done with them. Miltoniopsis; Killed every one of them in the past. Finally talked to Theresa Hill form Hillcrest Orchids who grows beautiful Miltoniopsis. Her advice was simple, keep them cool in the summer, warm in the winter, they like to be within 5F of 60F. Doing this I am now growing them successfully, meaning the plant is increasing in size. Last year they even bloomed, one or two spikes on a large plant. That should have been 10 spikes or more. So I'm not there yet and unless they pick it up may also give up on them but not yet. Parvisepalum Paphiopedeliums: I just got started with these so have no failures to report. Go to the Gallery where you see an entry I placed yesterday of my first success with Paph armeniacum. They also have a reputation of being a little difficult and I had a discussion with Dr Holger Perner at the San Francisco show who thinks most people are growing them wrong. Most people treat them as cold growers. True in the winter but not true in the summer. In their natural habitat, the ones from China get treated to a bright, sunny, cold, dry winter and a shady, hot, humid and very wet summer. The result of the monsoon season there. So unlike Dracula who should be kept as cold as possible in the summer, these Paphs should go in the warm greenhouse and drenched every day. Since there are 35,000 species of orchids available, I generally don't mess with ones that don't like me. My greenhouse is full of robustly growing plants. Not because I'm a genius but because that is the price they have to pay in order to stay. If a plant lingers, grows poorly and fails to bloom, I will get rid of it. Visitors to my growing area think I do magic because most plants look very healthy when in fact it is a process of throwing them against the wall and if they don't stick, they don't stay. There are innumerable others to replace...

Mr Kapaun, my most humble apology. I am not computer literate, yet, so I was not aware the two items I sent were not to be together for the readers. I had the filler cap off while I was cranking the engine over to get the gasoline out of the cylinder. That's when the air/oil residue came out the filler. It would appear I need to seek a repair person locally to fix the engine, as I am having a difficult time putting in words what the engine problem is. Again, to all, I apologize for my making two entries on the same problem. Thank you all so much.

Before jumping in, I would look back over all of the posts for about the last year. You really need to know what you are getting into...especially "out of the zone"...climate that is, for these types of plants. I'm not saying you can't do it, just be aware of what is required to support the plants. In other words...be prepared for the abyss you are about to leap into! It's doubtful anyone will have mangosteens to trade. That's just something people hang on to like a dog with a bone. They are hard to obtain and even harder to part with. I would try my hand at something a lot more simple to care for to start off with than a mangosteen. Don't be discouraged, just be thoughtful.

Your decor reminds me of my two best friends. They are both out-going, involved in many projects, like lots of folks, and continue to enjoy learning about new people, place, and ideas. We are all very fond of each other, but they would be miserable living in my house [and vice versa]. Like you, they have photos and momentos on almost all vertical surfaces (my walls are plain, with only an occasional picture), and they use bright colors with many prints and plaids in their furnishings (my decor is solid-colored neutrals with brights limited to pillows or picture frames). Their desks look much like yours, whereas mine has only the monitor, a mouse, and a phone. Obviously, we are very different in what we like to have around us. Personally, I think as long as you are comfortable, and can find what you are looking for, and keep everything clean -which is a different issue from keeping everything neat- then why change? If you want to change, do it because it will make *you* feel better, and not because BF, DH, or pals indicated a change would make *them* happy. IMHO, your bottom line should be to have enough 'visual interest' to keep you happy, and enough organization to make it easy to keep things clean. The main reason your desk looks messy is that there are papers scattered all over. Keep in mind that you can't read more than one page at a time, and keep the other pages in file folders (it's easy to flip them open to refer to when needed). Use an L-type bookend to keep the reference books from sliding around (I use several, so I can get out the dictionary or thesaurus without the others falling over). A shallow box to corral the headset, calculator, and small necessities might help if everything can be reached easily. Be realistic, and remember that it usually takes about 30 seconds to clear off a desktop - IF you do it every time you finish. Otherwise, remember that doors were invented for a reason, and the second reason is that they make a room *look* neater -- think about a bookcase and a cabinet, the first is going to look 'busy' no matter how great the amount of organization, while a cabinet with closed doors is going to *look* neat no matter how jumbled the hidden shelves!