I live in the North-East Bronx, just South of Westchester, NY, and I find that most of the local nurseries, garden centers, and Home Depots/Lowes etc. suck, if you're trying to find anything that approaches an "exotic" ingredient for making Al's growing medium. None stock Turface-MVP, and they never heard of it. I've been to them all, and haven't found anything that could be called "pine-bark fines"...just shredded mulches....that will mat down, and clog the mix. After you factor in the cost of gas, your personal time, phone bills, cost of the products, time used to screen out unwanted materials -which doubles the cost, if 50% is wasted- the mix becomes very expensive. I can't be bothered hunting down all the ingredients anymore. I cut my losses. I just buy premium grade Repti-Bark at the local Pet-Co/Pet-Smart, a 20 lb. bag of aquarium grit, and a bag of Turface-MVP, and make the mix. NAPA Auto has oil-dry compound that can sub for the Turface. Some of the bark nuggets are too large, but, what the hay. Most of it is usable out of the bag. Hit the big pieces with a hammer. Yes, there are cheaper alternatives for the ingredients that I have mentioned, especially the Repti-Bark, but I'm not driving all over the state just to collect the ingredients that I need. Re-read the 2nd paragraph. Just my two-cents worth. The mix is great,...if you could find what you need, EASILY. My Clivia love the stuff, and you can not over-water plants! No PWT either! Frank PS....When the bark breaks down, just wash out the residue, and re-cycle the Turface-MVP, and the grit. Use new bark chunks, and you're good to go. Just the bark-fines break down.

I would recommend musa basjoo that you can leave outside during winter. If you don't protect it, it will regrow from the roots, since they are very cold hardy. However, if you want to have more beautiful and taller specimens, you have to protect them from the cold. Another quite interesting and nice looking one is musa velutina that quite cold hardy as well. Personnaly I have never left it outside during winter. What is particularly nice with this one is that it can flower in one growing season, even in cold climates. Mine flowered indoors in October! If you want to bring them back indoors, your choice is bigger. Good luck with banana growing, Nicolas, Switzerland

Hi MIke, Thanks for the nice compliments!!! I know that u have as many beautiful Plumeria...are they ready to Bloom? You had said that you had a few inflos showing, so i was wondering if they are ready to put on a show!!! That White Plumeria is a Noid (Meaning no id on this tree...LOL!!! Not a named variety) For those that dont know what a Noid is!! : ) I will be more than happy to send u a cutting of this White if u want one...it seems to have the scent of the "Scentsational", but since it was sold without a tag...i can only guess. You know only a cutting can carry the true name. MIke did mention the great buys that he found at HD (Home Depot) : ) He is very lucky to have found some real beauties!! We even laughed about skipping lunch just to pick up a few more for that price! He really had some great restraint not to bring home a truck load!! LOL Thank you for thinking of me, things are getting better here! I have K up and walking around the house and she seems to have made the turn ... Your thoughts and prayers were greatly appreciated... Many hugs to you and Sissy! Her words of enncourgement were so helpful! Give her a big Hug and Kiss for me!!! Take care Mike, and to everyone else!!! Laura in VB (Virginia Beach) : )

Central Jersey here... We installed fiberglass last year. I would never have thought of installing anything else. You'll probably pay more for a fiberglass pool, but you'll save both on maintenance and chemicals. We've got an 18' x 37' fiberglass, and for two years in a row... $49 gets us crystal-clear water all season. What little algae there was trying to cling to the fiberglass when we opened the pool a few weeks ago was absolutely gone with a quick brush-off. Try that with any other types of pools... It all depends on the quality of the installer, as you probably know. Installing a pool is a one-time thing, and you want it done right, NOT for the cheapest price. We set a budget, and overall, we came in right under the budget, and have had zero problems in the two years we've had it. Hope this helped a bit. Best of luck to you!