Ahhh, got lots of pesky sparrows here but the even peskier grackles keep them in check. The mockingbirds and great kiskadees then in turn keep the grackles in check. While the big birds are fighting amongst themselves the little hummies zip, zing and zoom around without any fear. The hummies are pretty territorial and they have staked out the eastside yard and backyard. I've seen them chase off mockingbirds from the fruit trees back there! I don't have it in me to kill off a bird - even a pesky sparrow...but I have resorted to removing sparrow nests from my birdhouses - everytime I see them starting to build - I grab the ladder and chase them away. They built nests in the neighbor's birdhouses :o) ~ Cat

Reread the previous comments. There is nothing in the Captain Jack's that would cause that sort of damage to your plants!! The active ingredient is derived from a naturally occurring strain of bacteria. The bacteria has no ability to kill plants. But because it is a natural product, it can go bad or separate or lose effectiveness if stored improperly or too long. And Captain Jack's is not the only insecticide that contains spinosad.....the exact same substance is sold under various brand names. It is more likely that the means and timing of the application - too much and at the wrong time of day - adversely affected your plants. Spraying plants exposed to sunlight during the daylight hours with just about anything other than clear water can cause a phytotoxic reaction.

Thank you all for taking the time to respond here! I consider it a red-letter day when GW recognized experts like Casey, worthy, brickeyee, macv weigh in. And kaib, while I don't recognize your GW name, I appreciate the info from someone who's used one. macv, you wrote: In Massachusetts, any structural element that is not prescribed in the one & two family building code must be designed and stamped by an engineer (not an architect). and It is not wise to design one small part of an exterior wall without considering the entire house frame. Start with the whole and work toward the parts or hire a professional. I completely agree with the latter statement about being wise to hire a professional. What makes me nervous now is that I *have* hired an architect for this remodel. According to the MA license lookup, his license is current. However, in light of your comments and my own understanding (admittedly limited), I am concerned now that he hasn't thoroughly thought through this area of the remodel--and possibly has not consulted with a structural engineer on it. Is this something a licensed architect ought to have picked up on? Or at least mentioned to me? He's been licensed for 10 years and working as an architect that long. His drawing has the two window units, each 2 1/8 inches width away from the corner. (The 2 1/8 inches were put in at my suggestion to allow for that much casing--only because it balanced minimizing the width for the view and mimics what's done in the bay in the dining room at the front of the house. But this suggestion to the architect was aesthetic on my part--not structural. I am not an structural engineer, only fairly good at math and analytical stuff.) This is a house built in 1884 in MA. I think the architect is assuming 2x4 studs in the exterior wall. While I do understand that in an existing structure, it's impossible to determine everything about the hidden as-is conditions prior to opening up the structure, I would think that if he is assuming existing 2x4 studs for the plan drawing, that he would have at least noted a 3 jack stud requirement for this header span. I'll post an image of the latest plan drawing so you can see what I mean. Thanks so much for all the great input!

The rule of thumb I use to divide a plant is to end up with at least 3 healthy bulbs in each piece. So I would not divide that plant There does seem to be some problem with the plant in general. I would expect those older bulbs to still have leaves. It’s hard to tell from the photo but the pot appears to be too small. The way the roots are it looks like it was removed from a pot and placed in another a little too high and no new medium? Sunken brown/black spots I would say are bacterial, but could be culture and nutrition. As I recommend in another thread, the St. Augustine Orchid Society has excellent info and pictures on leaf spots. Another great resource is the American Orchid Society web site. They have a catalog of webinars free to the public. They do a monthly Greenhouse Chat that covers a wide range of topics lots of info.