Josh, I see. When I first clicked on the picture nothing happened. The second time it enlarged. To be honest, I didn't notice it was Photo Bucket, not that it matters since I don't know anything about Photo Bucket anyway..lol. Nico. I thought you said you had the PL 6 months, sorry. IMO, air conditioning isn't the best for tropicals, but what can you do? Make sure the air isn't aiming/hitting your plants. Garlic water won't harm your plants as long as you don't add salt in the water. Salt will kill a plant. I sometimes spray with veggie water, especially after making sweet potatoes. Garlic will deter some insects. Where are you located, if you don't mind me asking. Do you know anyone else who uses the packaged soil your Peace Lily is potted in? Does the bag list ingredients? If it was my plant, I'd use a little of the bagged soil, (if the package says for indoor/house plants, orchid bark, Perlite, and tiny stones. The temperature is okay. Maybe a bit too warm. Your PL doesn't look bad, but it's best you change soil. Don't over-pot. Use a container 1-2 sizes larger than the root ball. Peace Lily's do best when tight-fitting, they tend to flower more, too. Yep, if leaves are more than half damaged, cut them from the stem closest to soil. They won't return to green. For the time being, stop fertilizing. Water only when soil is almost dry. If soil is staying wet at the bottom, something is obstructing the holes, plus the current soil is too heavy. We've already covered that. Repot with above ingredients. Apply fungicide only if your Peace Lily has fungi. There's no sense in adding chemicals if they're not needed. When you repot, check roots. Do you know what to look for? Toni

Hi, everyone! great news is that the Rosarian couple were very nice. I actually tried calling them last night but couldn't get through because they had their fax machine on. Then tonight they explained that they couldn't return my call because the number I had left them had been cut off by their answering machine. They too have not grown tree roses because like Karl had feared, rose trees do terrible in Kansas. Stupid me should also have thought far ahead about our tornado problems as well. I didn't think about this issue before the terrible winds this past weekend. Flower2sew, in Overland Park we got hit real bad. There is still debris from knocked over light poles on Hwy 69 from people crashing from the ice... But the snow lasted just one terrible day, it was very thick snow,and we were blasted with both ice and snow at once and in some parts of Overland Park, the cable lines and phone lines were down ...then argh, it shot up to near 60 degree warmth right the following day, then dropped down again the following evening. The rosarian couple agreed that they would never leave out the tree roses at this point because of last weekend's extreme swing of temperature (including this week) but they too felt I really needed to speak to a Master Rosarian, so they gave me the emergency helpline for the Rose Society. The nice rosarian couple I spoke to explained that they themselves have never grown tree roses because of how erratic Kansas weather can be in the spring and they said that the people they know who had rose trees all had either greenhouses or would go to a nursery and "rent" out a space for the winter. In other words they wouldn't know how to advise me on how to keep my roses indoors in my particular situation. They did feel that since my rose trees still have buds sprouting, that keeping them in a completely dark, cold, poorly insulated garage at this point is a question that only a master rosarian could answer. It is a tough call because no sane person/gardener would ever be in the crazy predicament that I am in now... I am doing crazy stuff like lightly spraying my roses with warm water in the morning and when I come home, then again before going to bed to keep them as close to a greenhouse effect and reducing my house temperature from 68 degrees to 65 so that I don't shock the roses when I bring them outside to 58 degree sunshine (but that makes me super cold indoors and I end up having to wear a few layers of clothing in the house and shivering under the covers when I try to sleep LOL). So hopefully I can reach the helpline before I get "outta control" and do more crazy outta control guesswork. Anyway, thank you EVERY One and All for your help and ongoing support! Hugs to each of you... P.S. forgot to say that to me the membership dues for the American Rose Society is very reasonable, and wouldnt have hesitated for a second had I not been so broke from all the training with Eluane and house payments but in due time if I can just make the baby steps and get both trees to survive.

I second all Jane's thoughts. If you can be prepared, bluebirding is an extremely rewarding experience. Many of us(correction: MOST of us) have had to deal with house sparrows. I can't tell you how many people I've known who, in the first year hosting bluebirds they have success, and for some reason, the house sparrows become a bigger problem in the second year, and people are taken by surprise (or shock) when the house sparrows kill the male in the box, or the female as she incubates eggs, or they smash unattended eggs, or toss the eggs out. In my first experience, a male house sparrow killed 6 newborn hatchlings by pecking them on the head. So if you decide to proceed, just be prepared. Bet's web site, www.sialis.org is a wonderful resource, and we will be here if you need us. Another option is to add hole reducers and host chickadees, if they are in your area. The proper hole reducer will prevent house sparrows from entering. You might want to read up on that at the website linked below. P.S. The little round wooden thing that many bluebird nestboxes come with (some people call them "predator guards") which extends the entrance does not protect anything from predators. BlueBars Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.sialis.org/

It tried to rain here last night.......hopefully we will get enough to wet the ground tonight. Warm and pleasant today and the low last night was around 40. Suits me. We really need the rain. OldFixer....I don't 'do" snow.