You'll want a medium sized pot, and a half perlite and potting soil mix. If they don't have perlite, a cactus/succulent type soil is okay to substitute. Stick the cutting in a few inches, and then put a layer of pea gravel in for stability. Water once and then leave it alone until you see leaves growing (more than what's already there, since you said there were a few sprouts already). Then you'll want to water sparingly (I have good luck with once a week or so during the blooming season) but even less through the winter, as your plant needs to go dormant until spring. So any leaves that start growing could potentially fall off (this is normal...they fall off in the winter and grow back in the spring). I'd keep it outside until temps drop into the low 50's, and then if days are still decent keep it out during the day but bring it in at night. About the only real way to extend your growing season is to get a seed mat (bottom heat to promote root growth) and/or a grow lamp for light if not enough natural light is available. I'm sure more knowledgeable folks will add whatever I've forgotten to mention. :) Aloha and happy growing! Mark

Maybe the door would be good in red? But I always think that. Still.... Or how about a teal or soldier blue door? It's a cute, cute house. Maybe that horizontal rod going across the storm door is removable. I've had storms like that. If you could take the cross piece off, it would let the nice wood door show better. And the light that awmo3 posted would look great on your house. A variegated red-twig dogwood would be good, maybe on the left hand corner. They have nice bright red stems in the winter. (Oh-oh....there I go again with the red.) I'm in zone 4. My dogwoods are the nicest color I can have in the winter. Otherwise it's pretty blah in the middle of winter. You might also consider some Annabelle hydrangeas. They are so pretty in the summer and have a nice old-fashioned look. If you want to, you can leave the big pom-pom flowers on all winter and cut them back in the early spring. The blooms turn rusty brown color and it gives you something out there in the winter. And also one or two small evergreen shrubs would be nice out there so you have some dark green color during the winter. Then plant some daylillies and some asiatic lillies for summer color. If you expand those planting beds out a ways so they are deeper, and make them a curvy shape, that will add to the look too. If you leave the stained porch as it is, you could get some golden or medium brown cedar mulch for the garden and that will tie the porch color into the landscaping.

The leather name is Mont Blanc. The sofa arrived at my house with no wrapping. The leather feels the same through out. Even where the bug bites marks are. On that same panel is a cut scar which I know is normal and not concerned with. The leather it self feels great and smells great. They are sending out a repair restoration specialist to look at the sofa. I appreciate everyone's input. One question I do have on an unrelated note. As I was going around the sofa, I noticed that their was not a tag that actually states who the manufacturer is. There is the typical tag that says, do not remove under penalty of law, blah blah. But nothing saying who manufactured it. Is this typical of furniture companies? Why would they not want to have their name on it? I even looked under the sofa. This is a mid/high end sofa in my opinion. US made.

This recipe got rave reviews and demands for the it when I served it for a get-together. It is from the Dr. Oetker website and the link is to a word document with my translation. Amounts are in grams and I would highly recommend Italian (prune) plums. Prune Plums are the most common plum in Germany and I have never made or had a plum cake with reg. plums. Plum Streusel Cake