Thanks for your responses everyone. Sorry I haven't gotten back - when I get on the forum I start reading everyone elses posts and then get called away to something else before I have a chance to respond. What a nice group you seem to have here. And what beautiful plants! karmahappytoes - are you offering cuttings? What a sweetie! I checked out your web site. Lots of great info. Unfortunately I'm so intimidated by my 2 NOIDs, I'd be afraid to take on any others at this point. Of course I'm also looking at everyones pictures and wanting more. Maybe next year if I succeed in overwintering the ones I have this year. So I never had the nerve to cut the leaves or stems off. The leaves are falling off on their own in the garage. When I counted 6 nodes up from the Y I also realized that there is not much left to cut off, and it wouldn't be woody. So in light of the info you guys sent, and my own wimpiness, I'm thinking my way might be to not cut them back this year and see what happens. I did notice that there are already aphids on a small podlike structure coming out of the tops. At first I thought these were new flowers that weren't going to bloom. Now I'm thinking they may be seed pods. I have a couple about where the flowers were. So I'm thinking I'll spray something for the aphids and put sand down on the soil.

Vermiculite is another product crisis. Home Depot nationwide has also discontinued carrying the 4 cu ft bags it was selling for $18 (in fact, they don't sell vermiculite at all now). I prefer vermiculite to perlite (unless I was going hydroponic) and have looked high and low and all over the net and it is hard to come by unless you want to pay big shipping. However, Worms Way in Tampa (east side just off I-4) has the 4 cu ft bags but for $25.50 (course grade). I don't mind the price so much but it takes me 30 min to dive over there and more if traffic. That's not so bad compared to the rest of you because that is the only Worms Way store in SE USA. I am glad to support them and they are open 7 days a week.

I've given up on vermiculite. The so-called "coarse" stuff these days is always medium grade, whenever I come across it. I use bark mulch instead. If you can get it graded and delivered, that's probably your best bet, but I've had to use the bagged stuff from Home Despot - not the dyed stuff, this is Mountain Magic Premium grind. There is a good bit of wood chips in there but it hasn't caused a problem. If you have the space, aging it for a few months before use is a good idea for any bark mulch you are going to use for raised beds or potting soil. I live in a desert, there isn't a lot of choice for mulch here.

Since this is a frequent question, I'll ususally run a search to see if I can spot something obvious that's been missed; along the way I've gotten a good eye for finding potential compost dealers. Too bad this one was also was a dry well. The other option is to start calling landscape supply companies (the ones that carry stone and statuary) or concrete and materials companies (many of whom also stock bulk fill) and see if they either carry bulk compost or know who does.