Thanks nickelsmumz8 for posting the picture, gosh it's been so long I've forgotten how to post pics! He's 2 1/2 months old here: 2 Weeks old This cracks me up everytime I see it. :) This kid is going to love gardening, I'm buying him baby gardening tools, gotta start them early! LOL

Hi Jover, I underwater because I have too many plants and not enough time or energy to keep everything properly watered, potted up and the garden watered. So, I just try to keep up. I guess what I meant was that sanseverieras do well in large pots if they are allowed to dry out between watering, just as we do with smaller plants. Sanseverierias do like to be grown with some care though they are tough. If given water on a regular basis they grow much faster. If dried out too severly they start to die back. For example, I have had full sized leaves on masoniana just dry up and turn this amazing golden color. I had thought of giving them to someone for flower arranging. Lighting for sansevierias is also a little controversal. I have many of my plants in pots in my living room, which has a long east wall of big picture windows. I found that they all can take this bright light, though the trifasciata types really like to be in lower light. So, if one is underwatering and also exposing a plant to very bright light, then a big pot like a five gallon nursery pot is OK. Here in California, our typical outdoor nursery containers come primarily in one and five gallon pots. The one gallon is about 6 inches in diameter and about 8 inches deep. The five gallon is 12" in diameter and about 14 or 16" deep. They are made of black plastic and have rather large drainage holes that are on the sides and bottom of the pots. Since these pots are designed for use with bulk potting mixes they have drain holes that are too big for our dry gritty succulent mixes. I am always trying to pot things up while the potting mix is pouring out the drain holes. A bulb pan is a term for the shallow type of round pot, either in terra cotta or plastic. They are thus much wider than they are deep. They also have their drain holes on the bottom whereas a typical deeper plastic pot will have drain holes along the bottom rim, with some of the drain hole area on the sides (like the nursery pots). So, an eight inch bulb pan might be about 3" deep , while a regular 8" pot is more like 6 1/2" deep. Sorry for all these measurements in inches. As for pictures of my plants--one of these days I'll get a digital camera and start posting--maybe this year! ;) I generally don't see rhizomes dry up rather than sprout. When that happens I think that something wrong has happened. It generally seems that rhizomes will find a way to light eventually. What is frustrating are those species that want to make long rhizomes that need to wind around and around before they sprout. This is particularly true for the nice small foliaged but very long rhizomed S. concinna (with spoon type leaves). I actually got a nice looking pot of this by putting a number of growths together in a 10" plastic bulb pan and then letting it slowly fill in as the rhizomes eventually sprouted within the pot. Biwako, those fine roots that attach to the screen won't be missed when you repot. Or, you can transplant leaving the screening attached to the roots. By the way, on the subject of big nursery pots and sans, I have one plant that I put in a black plastic cymbidium pot. These are large, heavy duty pots that are wider and shallower than the five gallon pots--in about 3-4 gallon sizes. They are hard to come by but great for large plants. I have one that a S. kirkii v. kirkii has just distroyed. The pot has several large cracks and holes, with the soil spilling out. But, the plant continues to grow and I have yet to do anything about it. The pot sits in a plastic saucer which contains the overflow of soil and plant now. Jon

If I needed an architect Mark would be my first choice! I have never seen his work, but I like his ” style”. Your MIL’s home is gorgeous. Kudos to you for caring so much for her.

Magpie, I don't remember that well how many feet the canes looked bare...I think it was at least 3'. Yes, there are trade offs for being in a dry climate. I think an own root Alchymist might not be as huge . Mine was an ungainly grower...sent out very long stiff canes. I still liked it. A climber I bought this spring is John Cabot. I think Frances in NJ's plant is gorgeous. Another couple of climbers I like but which are not very big plants: Penny Lane...seems to be a tough plant Courageous Love Polka... mine has been in a lot of shade but still is healthy and blooms and grows. I put another one in more sun to replace dwindling MAdame Alfred.