Oooh, that's a great Aeonium. Many people, including me, would kill for such a nice, large specimen as that! And it does not look too poorly from here, with the exception of a couple things. Summertime is the time Aeoniums go dormant and most of the time want a major cutback on water, or to go basically dry with just a sip of water periodically. Summer is also when the rosettes ball up like yours are, which could be perceived as them sort of shriveling up. That is completely normal for this time of year. Full sun could be fine. I happen to do only part-sun with mine over the summer, to try to encourage them to wake up faster when fall comes and temperatures start dropping a bit. My conditions aren't ideal, so my plants are potted and I move them around in an attempt to please them at various times of the year. What isn't normal are the few branches that have flopped over. Where the branches have flopped, are they kind of mushy? If so, they're rotting, and you should remove them/perhaps cut them back to the main stem, to where the tissue is green and healthy inside. Also feel around the base of the stem for any mushy, rotting areas, and I would pray the root system is healthy and there isn't any rot going on below the soil line. My Aeoniums generally start waking up in the fall, and they do most of their growing through the winter and spring, until hot weather hits. Aeoniums are characterized as winter growers, which just means they don't like the heat much. If your summer doesn't get very hot, they can decide to not completely ball up and go entirely dormant, but instead only partially ball up and keep slowly growing through the season -- most of my Aeoniums went completely dormant this summer, but in the exact same conditions a couple of them didn't, and that's just a fluke. Aside from the few problem stems you have going there, I would hope it's one healthy plant. Just make sure you remove what has rotted so that the rot cannot spread. Don't let the balled-up look of the rosettes scare you. The leaves will open up and really start growing soon. Out of curiosity, I'd like to see a closer view of the plant. It has a look to it a bit like Aeonium balsamiferum, which I quite like. This post was edited by teatree on Sun, Aug 4, 13 at 19:55

I saw your pix on the lawn forum. I tried something this year that worked for some of my weeds. It is a three part process so it might not work for a large lawn, but here it is. I had oxalis in full shade. 1. Sprayed with soapy sugary water as a sticking agent. 1 tsp of dish soap and 2 ounces of molasses to a quart of water. 2. Dusted the wet leaves with baking soda and allowed it to dry. Load a sock with baking soda and tap the side to let the dust fall out onto the weed. It does no damage to the sock so you can use any sock. 3. Sprayed with strong vinegar. Even in full shade the oxalis melted away. Here are the pictures. My apologies for the picture quality. I set up the tripod and did not realize how bad they would look until it was done. The target weed is on the left side of the tree trunk. In the first one I had done steps 1 and 2 the previous day with no ill effect. Second one was taken immediately after spraying with vinegar. You can see the foaming on the leaves. Third was taken after 5 minutes. You can see the yellow flower petals wilting a little. The rest of the leaves were doing the same but you can't really tell. Fourth was taken at 30 minutes. Wilt is evident. This one was taken an hour later. The plant has wilted away just like I would expect on a hot, sunny day. Here's the first one again for direct before and after comparison. Again, this was in full shade (north side of tree) on a day in the high 60s.

GOTCHA!! I see the whole picture here! Thank you all for your imput! It is very understandable and I see things a lot clearer now. Choosing non-married couples makes sense for a lot of reasons. I am no longer miffed and will be very supportive. Actually, I am kind of glad it happened this way because it will allow my fiance a better understanding of the relationship I have with my own god daughter. He is such a wonderful partner and father, that any child he is able to have an intimate relationship with would be truly blessed anyway. No - I am not Catholic, but the rest of my family is. To Carla35 - Yes I do know what it means to be a God Parent. I am a God mother to my best friends' daughter. We baptized our son last July so I am very familiar with the Catholic religions practices regarding God parents and the sacrament of baptism. To Colleenoz - My fiance's neices and nephews not calling me aunt doesn't bother me. I used it as an example for you all to better understand my relationship with the children. It is up to their parents and them as to what they call me and if they ever decide to even call me "aunt". Also - we DO have tentative wedding dates set for either November 1st or 8th of 2008. We plan to marry in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Thank you all for your comments!

hello I can understand your situation. My dad died in 2005 suddenly and very unexpectedly. My mom and he were married 39 years. He was only 68 and now my mom is a wreck. She moved out of her apt. because she couldnt afford it with my dads income cut. Then she moved in with me and my husband and 2 kids. It was disasterous. I love her very dearly but we just clash. She is now living with her older sister. She has bad anxiety. She is depressed but wont admit it and she is convinced she is sick. The doc put her on meds but I dont think she takes them. Anyway it seems she quit living life and she doesnt even want to help herself and it makes hard on everyone around her. She drives but she wont work or join social activities. She is only 65 but is acting like a 4 yr old who needs looking after. I dont know if something triggers this behavior when someone is thrown a bad apple in life. Like your sister, one day, they had normal lifes and the next day everything was gone and I guess its very hard to try and start over. I worry very much about my mom. I think she has no will to live anymore. I quess we just have to be there for them and try and help when we can. I wont go out of my way anymore and I told my mom she needs to start living again. They are the only ones who can help themselves. I dont know if this helps you or not but I just wanted to let you know that you and your sister are not alone. Alot of people are put in life changing situations and you just have to make the best of it. ZGOod luck and God Bless