Mollylou, depending on where you are, Caladiums are perennial. There is one in my yard that was here when I moved in 4 years ago. Most websites will say they are hardy down to zone 9 or 10. If you were wanting a year-round houseplant, look for a syngonium, which is a trailing plant with Caladium-like leaves, although I don't think they come in that beautiful reddish/pink color. Caladiums need some sun and especially like morning sun. If your plant has been inside for months, that's not enough light. Color and variegation commonly fade on plants that are not getting enough light. If you have a place outside where it can get some sun before noon, you can leave the plant there until light frosts cause the leaves to drop. Knowing where you are would make storage (or possibly perennializing) advice easier. As mentioned, it's natural and normal for them to go dormant for the winter. The white fuzz is probably related to decomposing organic matter in the soil and will probably go away if you let the soil dry out more fully before watering. With so little light and such cool temps, the bulbs are probably using very little water.

I went to a local nursery today and spoke with the manager, who was very helpful, they had a variety of citrus trees there which he told me had been there for quite some time, and should be safe for my gst cats to eat. So i purchased an Improved Meyer Lemon tree, it has lots of new growth on it, and I remember reading that GSTs like the leaves of this tree, i think. Anyway, the manager at the nursery told me that the only required insecticide or pesticide by the state of louisiana for citrus trees, is sprayed onto the leaves, and that it is not a systemic type, so that was good to know, Missherry had mentioned that was probably the case seeing as how a systemic could contaminate fruit of citrus. I have already ran out of new growth on my second navel tree, I thought it would last me until these cats pupate, but did not happen, so now I have some more host leaves for the remaining cats, I am just going to make sure I rinse the leaves thoroughly before I give to the cats, to make sure there is nothing left on them that could harm them. THe cat with the damaged mouthparts was able to eat a little today, he seems to be able to eat the stems better than the leaves, I cut little slits along the tender stems, and pinch them to where pieces are still attached but easier for him to pull off, I am hoping this will get him through, he has not given up, and seems to be fine, just hungry, poor guy. There are only two left from his group that have not purged and started hung sling, so I am hoping that he is getting enough nourishment in order to pupate, he doesn't pass hardly any frass, maybe once per day, but he hasn't lost as much weight as I would have figured since he is eating so little, so maybe his body is hanging on to all it can and that is why he isn't passing much frass or waste. He also doesn't move much at all unless he is trying to eat, so he isn't wasting his energy, I am hoping that he will make it, surely he cannot starve to death if he is getting some nourishment everyday. And maybe he will adjust better in order to eat more with each day. I have driven myself crazy trying to figure out what happened to him, because I cannot think of how in the world he ended up with part of his face missing. Unless maybe it was deformed to begin with and I did not notice, and just deteriorated with time, because up until a few days age, he was able to eat just like the rest, so it doesn't make sense. His cage is not real deep and I have papertowels at the bottom, so he could not have fallen and injured himself, there are no other cats in there with him, and he isn't one of my free spirit cats that try to escape frequently, I don't think I have ever found him on the tulle that encloses his little habitat, and had to move him back inside, he has been one of the easy ones that stay put, so I just don't know what in the world could have happened to him, and i wonder if he is in pain, because it looks like he is missing part of his face or mouth, could he have injured himself while eating?? and if so, how? I wish I could find info about this, but haven't been able to, just wondering if it could be a disease, or even a parasite that would cause this type of deformity. SInce i do not know what is wrong with him, I am keeping him a good distance from the others, just in case. If anyone has any ideas or suggestions on how to make it easier for this guy to eat, please let me know, I will try anything. cutting slits into the sides of the stem seemed to help him out a bit. I watched him trying to eat the middle stem of the leaf earlier, and noticed he had eaten about an inch of it, but then he moved his had back and all of it came out of his mouth, so apparently he was able to get it into his mouth but was unable to sever it and could not swallow it. I have tried cutting slits into the sides of his leaves, not sure if that has helped out though, and i also tried cutting a leaf up into tiny pieces like the size they sever off when they eat, but apparently, he only knows to "tear" pieces off and either physically cannot, or hasn't figured out how to eat little pieces that are already torn off. Like I said, if anyone can think of something that might help, I will try it, so let me know!! And thanks

So....I finally get to a big piece of info that I didn't know about. Apparently ALL our plants are on the same drip line. The landscape guy only put in one line back there when he did the wall. UGH! I had no idea about this. So, this means I can't do anything right? If I bump up the water on my palms/tropicals, I drown my roses, right? If I water the palms seperately say with a bucket or something, how much and how often? I didn't go down a full foot, but I was able to try and go down a few inches and it's pretty dry, yeah. About the Philo, yeah, all the tropicals minus the palms went in March/April-ish. The philo was really doing good and now it's just become so hot. I am trying so hard to find out what to do. I am upset w/the nursery we purchased all our stuff from because they're not calling back at all to help w/advice. The bird of paradise and our canna are doing amazing. Everythign else I am trying so hard to figure out what to do so I can save them. This heat sure is not helping me either. --Terra

I think I may know what you are doing wrong. The lip of the cording is not made of the same material and is sewen on, and therefore both sides are not the same. If you look closely you will see the one side (sewn side) sits flat on the cord. When you sew it on, sew on the the other side and you have to kind of pull it to the left as you sew to get it as close as possible. I hope this makes sense. Bonnie