Toni, Actually... I don't remember what time of year it was lol. Sadly, our local nursery (there's only two here and the one rarely has houseplants so I don't bother driving over a half an hour to look there) that does sell houseplants, seems to sell the same things: Pothos, PLs, Spider plants... the usual stuff. I probably seem a bit weird to them considering I still come in to just look despite the plants almost always being the same kind. Ha, just about every person at the BBSs here and nursery knows me. One lady calls me the "cactus lady." I used to have a good number of cacti until a couple years ago when the apartment people hired someone to pressure wash our apartments. We didn't get a notification and I had my plants outside. Everything I had outside died because the guy used a "bleach derivative." It was kind of my word against the apartment people (hard to prove I didn't get their e-mail, they could of just said well you just deleted it and didn't heed our "warning"). Oh well. That's interesting, I've never seen any HD plants around here marked down (I just went to HD the other day too lol). I love to buy stuff on clearance, but it seems like lately by the time plants are marked down at Lowes, they're already 80% dead. I was really surprised to see this PL on clearance not half dead. I haven't seen a Flash Fire before in person in a super long time. I think the last time I saw one was when I started getting into houseplants and thought it was one of those "exotic" plants and I avoided it lol. That's been some years ago now that I think of it. Maybe almost five years now. I've read that they're super easy to care for too. I don't know much about taking care of them though (in response to not knowing what to do). Is it a "man-made" hybrid? Maybe that would explain its slowness. Sadly, I've cut down on my plant collection substantially in the last year. I got to one of those points I started feeling overwhelmed and plants were more of a job than an interest. I have no more outdoor plants (unless you want to count three cacti and a Gasteraloe that I'm going to be leaving in our South window this year)... well, I did just buy some lily "bulbs" the other day. I need something that blooms frequently. Inside, I have a Maranta, Pothos, PL, Chlorophytum "Zebra Grass" (the one that doesn't make babies), and an African Violet. :\ I purchased a couple other plants this year already but had to take them back due to issues (I wasn't convinced another African Violet I bought didn't have mites!). I've discovered the hard way only having one window/room for plants is limiting. It's great to have such a bright window, but it limits what I can put near it without burning something. I told Hubby once we get a house, it might just look like you or Purple's house... a jungle. ;) I could post some pictures for you of my plants if you'd like. I don't have anything special though lol. Planto

Well, I sort of agree with that "superstition" but then I don't - there are certainly people who with very little effort have lush and beautiful plants and flowers, and then I, for example, have no trouble with some plants, but kill every ficus tree I have ever had in my life...but I don't know, do plants really sense the difference between owners? Maybe it is a combination of things, a weak cutting or lack of humidity, forgetting to water or watering too much... There is a book called "The Secret Life of Plants", written in the 70's, that claimed that plants really had feelings and recognized people and even knew when a nearby plant was being harmed - they actually hooked a plant up to a lie detector and then burned another nearby plant's leaf with a match and the plant that was hooked up responded! Really "trippy" stuff but made you think - they ARE alive, right? So who knows Gabi- maybe generations of the calcyina variety have it out for you for some reason, maybe you were a little rainforest monkey in a previous life and they were your favorite plant to munch on...If we look at it from that point of view, like a buddhist, you may be doomed to never have a nice hoya calcyina. I have been studying since 4pm and I think I better go to bed, I am starting to feel delirious.

Bought 16 trees six years ago; bareroot apples mostly but also pears peaches plum and peaches and received bareroot starters about the size of a number two pencil. I have nurtured them into beautiful trees and they started fruiting last year and two the year before. All crabapples and ornamental pears; I was heartbroken for all the work. I think that some sold as apples are an ornamental cherry. I went on line to complain and read your posting. Thanks for doing this great service. My plan is to graft this spring and I have been studying how on the net.

We are struggling with a similar situation. DSS 14 is supposed to visit EOW but he hasn't in 8 weeks! This is the longest DH has gone without seeing him, ever. It has gradually worsened. At first, DH gave in to allowing DSS not visit and stay home when he wanted to go to certain events with his friends b/c when he is "forced" to come, DSS spends the entire weekend looking like he is in pain and not talking to anyone except when asked a direct question and then, the response is an inaudible syllable. DH is afraid it is too "tramatizing" to force him, not to mention how unpleasant it is having to be around him. Suddenly, however, things have changed to where DSS does not ASK DH if he can not come, he just TEXTS or has BM send an e-mail stating that he is not coming! For visitation this weekend, my DH found someone willing to sell tickets to a sold-out college football game Saturday to see a team that DSS 14 and DSS 12 love. That same day, BM sent an e-mail that DSSs were going whitewater rafting and he could pick them up on Saturday evening afterwards at 6:30 pm. (Not only will they be exhausted after rafting all day, but they live 2 hrs away, so they would have had to be back in less than 24 hours.) DH called DSS 14's cell and told him about the game, and said he needed to know that night to confirm on the tickets. DSS 14 said he'd discuss it w/ DSS 12 and get back with DH. DH heard nothing that evening. Then, when he arrived at work the next morning, BM had e-mailed him stating that the boys were still going rafting. DH is simply going to see them a few hours on Sunday. DH only says it makes him sad that DSS 14 doesn't "miss" him. (DSS 12 has been coming anyway.) I have tried to tell him that it may be more circumstances of not wanting to be away from his friends, rather than not wanting to see him. It has really caused an emotional strain. We are considering whether we could possibly move closer to them so that the "couple hours here and there" visitation would work. I am just afraid that even that will not be close enough and they will shut out DH entirely, after we have uprooted our family (we have 2 DSs, 7 and 14 mos.)not to mention our jobs. (We are professionals and would be seeking to open a satellite office in an area closer to them.) I know none of this is black and white. I also agree that it's important to keep trying. Good luck on your situation.