Plant_lover w/ photo above, hi, I am new to them and can say some of mine in the pots like that did the same thing, but they had to stay inside because unusual hard freeze on the coast, so brought them in, sunny window, along with a few outdoor cyclamen, and only lost one. I would say get them out into the pot or ground asap, as I am about to do, since they may be unhappy inside a pot! They do like the warmth above 30 degrees F for sure, 20 degrees no. So happy planting, advice from a tried and true friend who runs her own nursery on the coast also near me, is they survived best if planted along her house, meaning guess here they require some attention to protection, as well. But she says they are adorable and good in pots for now, too so I am hopeful they will make it! (photo of them still in the little black pots, together w/ the hardy cyclamen which I pray comes back cause I left it outside when the 20 degrees F hit! That was not smart! Anyway they look great together, supposed to come back, not demanding either one so before long maybe into ground or pot??

I collected some seed pods off a plant before it was completely ripe and placed them on the counter in the kitchen in an ashtray. A couple days later I was standing in the kitchen and heard a small "Crack" and what sounded like something bouncing around. I started searching around and noticed there was now only one pod in the ashtray. I started searching and eventually found all three seeds and the pieces of the empty pods. It DID explode and sent things flying! You won't necessarily find seedlings especially if they dont land in a good spot or if something IS collecting the seeds after they land on the ground. They DID end up a several feet from where they started and maybe if they were above the ground and not siting in a surface, they may have shot farther. I'd suggest just picking the pods when they look large but not quite ripe. Don't wait so long and let them dry and open in the house in a paper bag or try covering them in something outside.

You are a bunch of swap addicts! And I'm not! Really! Anyway, I was looking if there was a subcategory on GW for medicinals because I have a whole book on Tropical medicinals written by a Tahitien (wow I'm reading his biography-here all the Tahitiens consider him their own , looks like one too, but he's French all the way, not even half!), an awsome pharmacist(who travelled extensively throughout the world as a French naval officer), who learned and recorded many of the ancient remedies of all of Polynesia (and from other parts of the world), from the Marquesas, the Tuamotus, and the windward and leeward islands, which include your more familiar Tahiti and Borabora respectively. So even when our old medicine men and women have mostly left this world, because of his efforts, we have many recorded for our posterity. And the plants he has highlighted are ones that you guys have been trading forever, and I want to leave a record somewhere , accessible to all about what treasures of pharmacology you are growing. For example, would you not want to know that your: Sesbanian grandiflora: .In India the leaves are used for head colds and migraines, but mashing them and inserting them in the nostrils. At first profuse secretion drainage, then the sinuses will fell better and the migraine is gone quickly. Hig in Vit A B1, C, young bugs are cooked and eaten by them and the Burmese, Vietnamese. Cassia alata: A paste made of dried leaves and water or fresh lime juice are rubbed vigourously on snake(cobra) bites in Malaysia, at the tikme the book was written it was among the promising plants that proved to retard cancerous tumors in rats. Cassia occidentalis: Decoction of leaves for fever, add some roots it also becomes a diuretic. The fresh seeds are poisonous but roasted become a caffeine free coffee. Tamarindus indica:boiled fruit pulp for fever and constipation. the decoction of leaves are applied topically for rectocilitis, enteritis. an infusion of leaves for conjontivitis, anticancer properties as the other cassias in mice. Averrhoa carambola(Star fruit) The juice of the green fruit rich in potassium oxalate is used to shine metal surfaces. Ficus prolixa (Banian):Chinese tradition says that leprosy is a boold disease activated by hot and humid climate where banians trees multiply, from their roots a poison is exuded to the soil, then to the water, and passes to humans. To diagnose leprosy, Chinese from the Yunan province would then confirm this diagnosis by making the afflicted with a decoction of its roots and wait for 10m days for the telling signs on the person's face. In polynesia the white tips of aerial roots are used for bronchitis ( I remember my mother sending me in the neigborhood to get some for my brother),gingivitis, for yeast infections,and anthrax! The subterean roots , a diuretic used especially for tuberculous persons Phyllanthus urinarius (red /puple), or amarus(white): considered the plant for ear problems, the whole plant is mashed and strained thru a coth the suc is then mixed with coconut oil(mono'i)heated over a lamp and applied around the ears nad sometimes on the calix (on the head)too. Shoot, I thought this is what you girls called the 'sensitive plant, but one of my seed packet called that mimosa pudica, so i' don't know if the two are the same, all i remember is that my mom would send me to get the former especially making sure it was mature enough to have the round nodes on the underside of each leaves and she even justused those little round nodes to make the remedy for my borthers ear infection, but she mixed the juice from them mixed with coconut oils and heated over a lamp then put the drops right in the affted ears and around the ears too. I am quite interested to draw the parallels between the uses of these tropicals with their uses here. Am I wasting my time for wanting to put this on GW?

Ok, you win doggiemom. I have something else going on here that I can't quite figure out....usually by this time every year I have most of my assorted boxes and nooks and crannies filled with nests of all shapes and sizes. THe ONLY boxes that have any activity so far are the two duck boxes, which are both crammed with new nests and eggs. The only thing to be found in any of the other boxes is the usual tree frog and that has me puzzled. The boxes are always cleaned out well ahead of the nesting season, so I wonder where everybody is. Like I said, maybe it is the surplus of natural cavities here. Still, the one bluebird box at the corner pole usually raises at least 3 broods a year without fail, and not a thing is going on out there yet, though there are blues everywhere in the yard.