Hi Susannah It is good to know that you are recovering from the storm, just like you I started with just a lawn when we moved to this house, year after year we have been changing into something that we like, however the garden is always changing and when something does not do well in the yard it gets a replacement. Fruit trees are always welcome in any house that I ever lived, they are so worth it. From the trees that you are growing I consider one time to grow the macadamia, but it takes long time to grow. When it produces for you it will be great and is ornamental. The bananas in your zone will produce like crazy! unless you can use a lot of ripe fruit keep just a few. If you like organic fertilizer, compost, greensand and others should be a good choice. If the fig is small, I would cover it with a light insect cover. At this time of the year with the rains they get rust anyway. Figs are very hardy and I think it will recover. Glad to hear about the progress with your dwarf poinciana and your sapodilla, I wish your yard has a fast recovery and look lush again. Silvia

Yes, Bubbe, they are like giant tangerines! And I mean giant! These puppies are the size of softballs! Everyone was moaning and groaning while eating them at work! Juice running down their faces and arms! Tim had one after dinner tonight and had to eat it over the sink it was so juicy! Andi, I am stunned and amazed at this very generous gift. Thank you again, so very much! Linda

I should have mentioned that over here we have ante-natal classes that first time mothers are encouraged to attend. Nurses discuss how to bath/feed/change a baby etc and what will happen during labour, breathing techniques . . . all believed by the lambs going to slaughter! After the mother is back home she is visited daily by a 'Health Visitor' for, I think, 10 days. She weighs the baby and generally checks that everything is OK. Of course these days, not only are husbands encouraged to be present at the birth, which some may see as a mixed blessing, but are allowed a couple of weeks off work to help at home. I found the best advice I received was from a part-time nurse at our local hospital. She said when 'burping' a baby, instead of putting it against your shoulder and patting it on its back, until it vomits down your neck, sit it on your knee holding its back and neck so they are in a straight line, with your other hand holding its head level. And bingo! It burps straight away; even the smallest baby. Another excellent idea was when bathing a new-born baby . .. instead of putting it in the water facing upwards when it straight away goes into a sort of spasm with feet and legs stuck out . . .put it gently into the water on its front, just holding it by the chin and it will be much calmer and go through 'swimming' motions. If anyone has a spare baby knocking about at home try these; they really do work. Cindy the 'rooming in' idea was all the rage when I had my three. Except that in the UK no one has individual rooms (unless there is some big problem) you are in open wards of about 6-8 beds. So, not only do you have your own little bundle of joy to attend to and listen to in the dark in case it has stopped breathing (remember that?) but all the others as well. One starts to cry, they all cry . .. and cry. The hospital had plenty of nursery facilities but chose not to use them; I never found out what the nurses did. By the time I got home I was exhausted through lack of sleep.

Hi everyone. Maria Elena – Firstly let me tell you about your Aechmea gamosepala; this is one of the many bromeliad species (as they come from the wild). It is an easy to grow plant but if not contained in a pot can become quite invasive. It’s hard to say which of the plants in your pictures is a gamosepala without seeing a flower, but it would be one of the green leafed plants in picture 1, 3, 4 or 5. See pictures below: This what the flowers of Ae. gamosepala look like.......... .........and this is how they can become invasive when not in a pot. Red Torch is the common name usually given to Billbergia pyramidalis because of its beautiful red torch shaped inflorescence. It too is hard to positively identify without seeing the flower, but it is definitely one of the plain green leafed ones in your plant collection and has a much wider leaf than Ae. gamosepala. Billbergia pyramidalis Here in Australia it is often grown in the garden and will quickly make up into a nice clump which becomes a blaze of red when it flowers. Unfortunately, like most Billbergias, the flowers are short lived. The other problem it has is that it can be a bit tender if grown in cold conditions which will mark the foliage. Although there are many spotted types of Billbergias you are probably correct in saying the plant with the spotted foliage is Billbergia ‘Fantasia’. It is a beautiful plant and you will find that when it flowers there is a magnificent contrast of colours with the red flowers against the spotted green and white background. See: http://registry.bsi.org/?genus=BILLBERGIA&id=830#830 You say, “I got into bromeliads 'by mistake' through working with air plants and dyckias”. The thing is that air plants (Tillandsias) and dyckias are bromeliads as well. Because Tillandsias have had the common title of “air plants” due to their growth habit and dyckias more resemble succulents in their growth habit, it's often not realised they are bromeliads as well. You mention your desire to own one of the black coloured Aechmea chantinii plants – What can I say except “join the club” as I too would love to grow one of these beautiful plants. The big problem I must warn you about though is that they are very cold sensitive; I have tried three times to grow them but each time winter comes around they mark badly and start to go backwards and eventually die. Consequently I’ve given up on trying to grow them. If you have somewhere you can put them away from the winter cold you shouldn’t have a problem, but just be warned. You say, “I am a little afraid of that last one with the light stripes on the underside of its leaves because the way it connects to its pup is via a very thick and hard whatchamacallit” – Firstly the “whatchamacallit” is known as the “stolon” and your plant could either be an Aechmea or Billbergia and again it’s hard to say until you see the flowers. As for it being invasive, they are nowhere as invasive as other types such as Ae gamosepala and similar plants. Usually these stoloniferous type plants do very well when mounted on a tree or grown in a hanging basket so they can spread out naturally as nature intended. I must apologise as I didn’t set out to “write a book”, but I’ve tried to answer your questions as well as I can and I hope I've been of some help. All the best, Nev.