Thanks so much for finding that info on the Scottsville Rose! I'd had no luck finding it in my search, and knew I recalled something about it being the oldest rose in Texas..... They really have some good things in that sale - Greg Grant [whose brother is my horse veterinarian - talented family!] is always coming up with some new and interesting plants. I have a Pink Marechal Niel [hope to see it bloom this year] and a climbing sport of Belinda's Dream, now called Farmer's Dream. Hope it blooms this year - Greg thinks its a once bloomer only, but foliage is really healthy looking. This year they are offering Fragrant Snowflake Rose, a single of the white banksia double one, Queenie rose - a rambler [wichuraiana], Thousand Beauties Rose [Tausendschon], Big Momma's Blush Tea Rose and Satin Cream Tea Rose - cant wait to get my hands on every one of them! I will post photos of them as soon as they bloom. If any of you all are within driving distance of the sale - April 5 - you REALLY should try to make it. Its really a hoot - they make you stand back of a long plastic ribbon until the exact stroke of 9am....there is a blue grass band from the college that starts playing Foggy Mountain Breakdown when the sale starts - the announcer begs everyone not to run over the helpers [people tend to stampede, its like the Oklahoma land rush], there are hundreds of people, all dragging various contraptions to haul plants in - rain or shine, there is a huge turnout. I wouldn't miss it for anything! I pore over my list for days, then print it out. I have 2 hard core plant friends that come with me - I load my golf cart up and bring it with me - I can haul more stuff on it and its a really long walk to get from the parking area to the plant sale. We have this wagon we pull behind the golf cart. We usually go the day before and find out where everything is that we want - we are always there early to get up at the front of the line. This is one of my absolute must do things of the year - they have one in fall too. Plus.....the Mize Azalea Garden, when in full bloom [who knows when that is going to be this year!] is unbelievable! Then in fall, the Japanese Maples are a sight to behold. I have some good photos somewhere of both seasons that I will try to find and post. I wonder if anyone has this Scottsville Rose, never heard it mentioned. Once mine gets going, I would be happy to share cuttings with anyone that wants them - same with the other roses. Judith

Definitely not A. zebrina reticulata, but does look like it stands a very good chance of being the Scott #1, aka "Aurora". I expect there'll be a lot of names being used for this particular Alocasia as ebay sellers and others hope to cash in on the fact that the plant is not yet known commonly in the trade. LariAnn Here is a link that might be useful: Aroidia Research

Hi Joey, Yes, we were all pretty excited about Pixie and most of us ordered a couple and all turned out to be a small white or something similar (I forget the name) not a one of us ever saw a Pixie. It seems to have fallen through the cracks..... Poor Living Gardens, they were sent so many incorrect bulbs over the years and were very good about doing right by us all, that this year they are no longer selling hippeastrum bulbs. (are they still in business?) One year we thought we were ordering Ruby Meyer and we all got Quito, not bad but not Ruby Meyer and last year there was the Thai Thai debacle, with only a few of us lucky ones winning the lottery!! There were other mislabels also so it is any wonder they gave up the ghost!! Donna

I am no longer powerless as of 4 p.m. yesterday. Lights came on just as I drove into the driveway from work. Since there's such extensive damage to trees, poles, wires, transformers, etc., I won't be surprised if there are sporadic service interuptions in the coming weeks. I hope to be back online from my home P/C later today. My closest neighbor ran a heavy-duty power cord from his house to mine but I couldn't really use it without leaving the door part-way open. The refrigerator has been warm for ten full days so there's nothing salvageable in it at this point. We don't have city water--the artesian wells here in CT provide lots of excellent fresh, clean water when there's electricity to run the pumps. No power = no water other than what you run ahead of the outage or what falls from the sky. Thanks to WS, one thing I have lots of are clean gallon milk jugs. A friend who didn't lose power saves them for me and sent me home one day with 4 gallons of water from her house to use for washing. I went to Outward Bound...twice...in Maine years ago and learned a lot of wilderness tricks that come in handy in these types of situations. First course was wilderness bushwhacking (hiking, climbing, rapelling); second course was sailing. A key lesson is not listening to your Little F*ck-it Voice when your back's against the wall. Morz8 - didn't need the space heater since the woodstove down cellar is so efficient, my upstairs was 69 degrees the whole time. Being warm was half the battle--it was folks that weren't who suffered a whole lot worse than I did. Somers, CT doesn't allow homes to be built on less than an acre of land and many homes are built on larger properties. Carlo's house next door is 200+ ft. south of mine. I do come from tough stock--Dad's family arrived in Massachusetts in 1621 aboard the sailing ship 'Fortune.' Mom's family came in 1631 when there weren't even any roads. Thanks for the generous offer Nancy. I'd be lying if I said the idea would make me wish the power was still off! tomva - thanks so much for the good wishes--they're much appreciated. Wendy - your prayers were answered!! Thank you so much! Not too many folks heat with wood around here--they mostly rely on noisy generators to KTLO (keep the lights on) & power the water pump. With extreme weather conditions becoming more frequent, I'm guessing the wood-burning stove business is going to be on the upswing. Couldn't sleep last night so I got started cleaning & doing laundry around 1 a.m. I'm just one person and I've got six loads of laundry piled up + bedding. Imagine what a family of four is facing! Oh, and Carlo's cousin he's staying with, her washing machine cr@pped out just as the power came back on so they can't even wash their mountains of laundry! I heated up a can of vegetable soup last night and rolled a biscuit to have with it--first hot meal in almost 2 weeks other than McDonald's & shelter food. I went back & ate a second bowl of soup it tasted so good. Tomorrow I'll empty the 'fridge & freezer & use Carlo's dumpster to get rid of all the spoiled food. This experience has taught me a lesson about keeping things in the freezer too long & buying multiples just because they're on sale. I should have Internet access later this afternoon and if there's time, I'll download photos from the camera to share. I'm also staring down the barrel of trying to make up work hours I missed.