Once hired a student out the Jr. college that had a course in horticulture and they gave one credit if a student worked inside the industry during the summer break. I thought it might be a win-win situation where I would get a worker who was actually interested in plants and the business and they would get better pay than one of the big box stores were paying and some college credit also. Went to career day at the college and found a 22 year old man who seem qualified. First day he comes in thirty five minuets late. One of my pet peeves. At the time all of our plants were in pots grown in fir bark. The main task that day was repotting. All you had to do was take a plant in a 4" pot and dump the old bark out, wash off the plant and repot it into a 6" pot. Seems simple enough and all the material was light weight that a child could do it. So I could get to know him a little bit I decided to do the same job next to him figuring that the learning curve here for a college kid was in the first five minuets and then just repeated for the rest of the day. It was obvious that I --- the very elderly man --- was producing much more results than he was. I encouraged him to keep up. After lunch he wanted to learn something new. He had had enough potting up. But while I said we would do many different tasks within the plant industry... today all these young plants needed to be repotted so we could get them ready to be sold. Next morning he didn't show up for work but came around in the afternoon to pick up his paycheck for one day's work. Quote "This is too much like work!" Obviously he thought that a job was getting a paycheck but without any effort. Most of my employees are pretty good overall. But sometimes you come across a situation that you just cannot guard against because you didn't think anyone could survive without one iota of commonsense. Like the time a thirty year old was water the pots and the water was coming out with such force that it was forcing the fir bark along with the plant out of the pot. Had over 100' x 6' of empty pots and suddenly bare root plants. I feel there is not much you can do with someone this to the bone stupid and it will only get worse in time. This guy has the record for the shortest employment, I doubt I could of been able to help him become better in time. Of course when these two first showed up looking for a job they said all of the right stuff... They are pretty good at interviewing for a job. ... but not keeping one. One reason why they are good at interviewing is that they have had so much practice at it !

I've still got a good 6 wks before I start seeing things around here. If I ever make another road trip to Cal., I'm going to find me at least 2 Della Reese's. We can't get it on this side of the rockies. If the nursery that sells it would ship, I'd pay the$50/60 or whatever it cost to ship it to my garden. But they don't, so it looks like if I want a grafted bush, I'll need to come out there. What a bummer. By the way Beth, keep the photo's coming.

US car companies have struggled to produce successful diesel engines, It's funny because their subsidiaries abroad (like Ford and GM's Opel in Germany) have been selling diesel engined passenger cars since forever. I've had at least one, sometimes two, German made diesel-engined cars continuously since the late 70s. They're fast (turbochargers), fun to drive, get great mileage and last forever. US versions are bound to be better now than before, but I'm not sure what their problems have been. I'd avoid bio-diesel. Vegetable sourced diesel fuel contains one or more substances that can cause parts like hoses and seals/gaskets to break down. I know in the two cars I have now, it's a no-no. There is a blend called B10 (which is 90 % conventional, 10 % veggie) that's supposed to be better tolerated but I, frankly, can't think up an advantage to using it. Good luck with your new toys.

Thank you! The name is Rilona-it's supposed to be a light orange color. EDIT: Here's a photo after taking off that outer skin that had some softness, and repotting in a gritty mix with added bark. I feel much more confident about it now! :) Although, the bulb itself had some red spots on it-not soft at all though, will look into it later. For now, leaving the bulb alone so it can recoop!! EDIT, again(miracles are real!): So I went to work and picked up some copper fungicide to douse my bulb since it has Stag, and... some space was being cleared, some spring plants were getting rid of.. and I'm the proud owner of some daffodils, tulips, and another Amaryllis! I was going to write up an e-mail to my bulb seller since the bulb had stag(see pic), but I might wait a day. The timing of this is an oddity. I'd like to think it means something. Besides that working at a greenhouse is a blessing. Anyway-here are the photos! I've twice blessed as my new one has a baby! The variety is called 'Milady'