Thanks everyone! I tried to put info in "my page" but it's not showing so I'll brief it here...I've gardened all my life but recently had to downsize to a Studio Apt which I share with my 12yr old Tortie Point Himalayan Queen buddy.We share a nine foot SW exposure bay window to grow Hipps in.Yah,her Cat tower is in the middle and she will soon be sorrounded by pots and blooms.Currently I have a Samba,Moonlight,Madrid,Faro and a Dancing Queen in bud.I had no blooms for Christmas because 2 of 3 shipments arrived frozen via UPS and FedEx.The 3rd from JS was cancelled because they use UPS exclusively.(bummer eh) Fortunately I received a few replacements and also found a few bulbs here locally in our many Garden Centers.Local selections had been on sale for sometime.Most bulbs had been picked thru and looked very unpromising.I had already had my fill of bruised,dark,oozing sick partially frozen bulbs already.From what I've read here ALL of you have had this lovely experience eh? A great gal named Kathleen at Easytogrow is sending me a few bulbs Monday.We did a test run of a few bulbs via USPS already and that worked great.No frozen crispy soon to be mushies! I went to RC today to order a few more.I'd especially like to try "Showmaster" and "Exotica"Unfortunately they are not accepting any USA orders at this time.It's really quite sad that JS is sitting on all those Bulbs that they cannot get out because of Temps.I've bought from them before and always recieved FAT healthy bulbs from them.If they would opt to ship USPS by buyer choice.They'd have a customer right here! You think? funny eh..In the last few weeks here (sans blooms) and bitter cold of Minnesota.I could come here and see all your posts,the pix and read.I'm blest and humbled by all the experts that keep this Forum alive and blooming.You're unique and amazing people.It's going to be an adventure hanging here with all of you.There are many bulbs that I want to try and that will all come in time.I heard mention of Importing from Maguires? Count me in! One I'd like for sure is "City of Grafton" See the wish list has started and I know of this CHAD syndrome.I must keep in mind my window space and if my Cat buddy gets ticked I might be asked to leave......lol Peace.Mark Pix will come with Blooms Also,I travel Quebec,Quebec and to the North at least twice a year.I have done so for many years and it's home away from home.I love the Culture,People and Natural beauty there.You bet I speak Canadien French also

Happy 2014 BO!! ROBERT!! EVERYONE !! Gosh. Things have gotten a bit busy for me.. but I'm hoping to catch up with all of YOUs soon. Okay Bo, yes, yes, yes, yes, and YESSS to all 5 of those plants. I haven't stalked Logee's website for a while but let me see... -My favorites for fragrance are the Jamaican Lady and the Chinese Perfume. But the other Lady of the Night (brunf. gigantea) is so easy to live with, has a nice scent and wafts incredibly far. -If you like the smell of Banana then Michelia figo is perfect. Grab a Rauwenhoffia siamensis too! (Similar scent. I like both.) -I love Jasmine Maid, but maybe you could sub it for a Jasmine Belle?? Belle's bloom lasts longer (2 days) comparing to Maid's. Belle has a stronger scent too. Bo, you need to stop by Portland Nursery and grab a pot of Daphne! Mine has started blooming a few days ago (since Christmas). This is its 3rd season, and its jasmine-ny & ginger-ry (lol) fragrance is so beautiful. You too Robert; yes, you need to have a pot of daphne as well! Lol. :)) I wonder how fenius's daphne is doing? Happy New Year, everyone! :))) This post was edited by kemistry on Wed, Jan 1, 14 at 21:09

i do feed the satin balls raw but then, both destiny and samson are on a raw diet. still can't get olivia interested although she does love chicken necks. but, a girl can't live on chicken necks and love along, right? LOL samson has been eating around 4-5# of raw per day, most of that being chicken leg quarters. he gets a fist-sized satin ball with each meal. i can see a difference, his spine isn't as noticeable and his ribs are getting some padding. once he has gained a sufficient amount of weight, i will be able to cut him back to around 3# per day.

Thank you. As I recall we had a record high of 80 last Sunday (1 January). Tonight and tomorrow night (6 and 7 /January) will get down to 24 and 26, then back up into the 60/70s after that. The ground is always workable. The lows are very short in duration. The day temps normally warm everything back up. This is a great time to garden. Weeds grow slow, and no mosquitoes. It is a gardeners paradise from oct to march. April, May and June starts to warm up. July, August and Sept are too hot and too many bugs. In the recent past, I tried a second tomato season in late fall. Looking back, it makes no sense to try to grow in July, Aug, Sept when it is so effortless now. Of course, I can't grow tomatoes now. I am thinking I will just grow extra tomatoes in the normal season and freeze the extra. The ones I froze from last summer did real good in Sauces. I don't have a lot of time to can/make sauce to freeze, but I can always make time to quarter tomatoes and throw them in a bag in the freezer. The sweet white turnips, hakerie (name is close to that), are one of the lesser cold hardy varieties. They are very tastee, especially roasted with the carrots. I have a small patch of them and few remain. I will cover them. Everything else is very hardy and remains uncovered: Kale,broccoli, collards,onions, carrots and Lettuce. I expect some Lettuce losses, as there are many varieties. I expect half to survive just fine. I watered real good yesterday getting ready for the cold snap.