Hi Andapanda, I live in Northern California, near San Jose. This plant was outside all winter and our winter temps are right on the edge of being able to kill it off (its minimum is supposed to be 28 F). We don't get too hot in the summer, usually only 80 during the day, 55 at night. I understand a lot of people grow these in the South. This is a picture of my plant on Saturday; one flower mostly closed up but another opened this morning. As far as the kiwi, 'Issai' is special in a couple respects. It is smaller than both most hardy or fuzzy kiwi (Actinidia deliciosa). The latter in particular is a real monster. It is also somewhat self-fertile, so that you don't need a male plant. So with one small plant, we can fit it into a much smaller space than two big plants. And we don't have much space. So that's the only kiwi I'm interested in. In terms of pollination for your plant, I understand the larger fuzzy kiwis are just as good as one of the smaller hardy males. The only thing is they have to bloom at the appropriate time for there to be pollen (although I imagine there's a way to save some...). I also remember reading that you'd have to wait at least a year for a rooted cutting to bloom. I've never personally rooted them, but I'm under the impression it's pretty easy. If water alone doesn't work, you might want to consider some sort of mix of perlite and/or vermiculite and/or peat. I'm sure there are all sorts of recipes on line and everyone has their favorites. I like either pure perlite, perlite + vermiculite or perlite + peat. I'm trying to trade the rooted cuttings I have right now for a couple very specific things, but the Aristolochia vines grow fast and I'll be taking more cuttings (probably quite a few) in the next few months. So if you're interested in a cutting--rooted or unrooted, depending on what I have, check back in 2 or 3 months. Actually, since I don't give my "normal" email address out here, if you think you might be interested it's probably best to drop a note now to my plant only address--I look at that pretty infrequently most of the time. It is: looking4plants@yahoo.com Then you can contact me their in the future. By the way, if you think this flower is big, there is a variety of this plant--usually it's considered its own species these days: Aristolochia gigantea var. brasiliensis or Aristolochia brasiliensis. Unfortunately I don't have that plant.

Ann, this might help: Years ago, I lived in a tiny cottage behind a big house, with fields behind. We had a terrible hot spell, and a black snake (though probably not the same as a Tennessee snake) got into the cottage and took up residence between the metal shower stall and the wall (I discovered this while taking a shower, but I'll say no more about that...). My mother took to calling me on the phone and saying, "And how is Mr. Snake today?" And, of course, after she did that there could be no killing - I would see his little head poking out from his nook behind the shower, and I would be hopelessly anthropomorphic... So just try to think of them as Mr. Snake (or, of course, Mrs. Snake), and maybe you will feel more kindly towards them.

The only thing with Crossley's Raptor guide is that, for relative beginners, it's photograph overload. Turn to any particular page and one could quickly feel overwhelmed by intricate plumage differences that ultimately jumble together to form one big complex hawk in your memory. Kind of like a library without a card catalog. There's very little you can do other than commit some field marks, flight styles, and behavior to memory. Or, just get good pictures and ask me. :-) Although there are times I have trouble IDing a hawk myself. Depends on how good of a look I can get. I think what else may be helpful is to always know what you might be likely to see in your area. In CT, your Red-taileds are going to be easterns. They pretty much all look the same. You probably have many year-round Red-tailed residents and the guy you photographed up there probably has a mate on a nest right now. A nesting (adult) pair of Red-taileds have the rufous tails. A juvenile (last year's brood) bird will lack a rufous tail and will show brown and white tail bands instead. A clean, lightly marked underside is more indicative of an adult- juvies have more brown markings and look streaky underneath. Some adults are heavily marked too though! Adult Red-taileds will also show a thin dark rim around the back of the underwing. You can see that on the bird you photographed. I recommend Dunne/Sibley/Sutton 'Hawks in Flight, 2nd Edition'. I have to say that I bought the Crossley guide for pleasure rather than purpose. I love the photos! But when I first sat down with it, I could already score very high on the "quizzes" he embedded within it. So, I learned my skills elsewhere. Hawks in Flight was a huge help with that.

Feather, I'm also into photography. (Altho you can't tell it by the photos I am posting on this forum!! LOL) I just got a new zoom lens and I'm learning how to use it now. I hope to get lots of GOOD photos of birds, someday soon! I'm sorry you suffer from carpal tunnel. I have it too, but mildly enough that I can still draw. I'm planning on doing some bird drawings with graphite pencil, colored pencil, and water color. Those are my mediums of choice these days (I gave up oils and acrylics years ago). Did you do your artwork from photos or just from memory? I have to have a model or photo or I can't seem to get things right and I doubt that I can get a bird to sit still long enough to draw it! LOL Re: the hawks Thanks so much everyone for your input. I'm just not sure. I have seen photos of juvie red-tailed hawks that had lots of spots on their backs. To me the eyes don't look as hooded as the eyes of a red-shouldered hawk, but I would have to bow to your opinions because I've never seen one in person, just going by the photos I've seen! I'm on the lookout for more hawks...there's just something so cool about the raptors!!