"Olpea probably could answer that for us." Thanks Appleseed. Really though, I just been following the directions on the Lorsban label. Like Milehigh, I've seen borers go unnoticed until I've dug grafted trees up to move to their permanent planting. Borers can be hard to spot. I've not seen any borers on tree trunks I've sprayed w/ Lorsban. It's the only organophosphate I use, but I only spray it on the trunks. My formulation (75WG) calls for 4lbs. per 100 gal. for a trunk drench. When I spray the trunks, I let a little puddle at the base of the trunk, which is the recommendation of fruit extension specialists. Lorsban is very toxic to borers, hence only one treatment per season is needed. It used to be labeled for subterranean termites, but isn't so any longer. It stinks really bad.

I find the "bad" information going around about carnivorous plants to be some of the worst out there. It's hard to understand why common sense wouldn't prevail, or someone wouldn't think to ask, "but why?" Seriously, a lot of new growers come here 1st for information/help about their first, new, carnivore. This is a problem in the fact that there really aren't many experienced growers here to help, most of us/them are at other forums. So we've not noobs giving advice to noobs for the most part. What can you do but jump in when you can and correct people. I rarely come here or post much (had another username years ago,) but clearly you three (dethcheez, tommyr, and hunterkiller03) are some of the very few knowledgeable growers that still come here, and have been growing for years. You put up with some of the worst posts I've ever seen from either children or adults who cannot possibly fathom how to "google" an answer to the most basic of questions. I don't know how you do it without a lot of smacking your heads against a wall!?!?! You have 1000x more patience than I. Please continue to stick around, you're clearly needed. Thanks for reading guys...carry on!

Hmmm....where to begin. When I shared the letter with Dave I didn't know that it would be shared publicly. I don't have any problem with folks knowing the good deeds of Rosie--I think she's a fabulous young lady and we all should be thrilled by her selfless, inspiring accomplishments, but I am concerned that her name and address were innocently and openly published. I sent Dave a new copy that has the name edited out and when possible Dave will change the letter over to the one that doesn't show her address. (I personally believe that gardeners are good souls at heart but for the sake of Rosie it's important to remove her address from public view.) After the change is made anyone who wants to help Rosie can contact me for a mailing address to send her a donation c/o WinterSown and I will forward your personal letters of encouragement and seeds to her as they come in. Many people aware of the internet presence of Trudi_d at GW (friend or foe that I am to some of you) and/or know that I freely offer seeds and info about the Winter Sowing Method, and that I also maintain a small, donor based, free and open-to-the-public tomato seedbank at WinterSown.Org. Sharing seeds to individuals through SASEs accounts for less than half of the seeds which are dispersed through WinterSown. The majority go to organizations that have requested them--foodbanks are working with extensions to create community gardens for their clients because there is a need for fresh produce to prevent mild to moderate malnutrition, budgets have been slashed and/or dues for youth clubs can no longer be raised, seniors on SS can't make ends meet so they need to grow a salad garden to help put food on their table, people are fired from closing factories and they can't find work--they need to supplement their food stamp allocations with homegrown food. These are the most dire examples, but there are also community beautification projects, senior clubs and other worthy organizations whose good work must continue despite collapsing budgets. Recently I've shared seeds with some VA Hospitals--one along the Canadian Border that is doing horticultural therapy to provide psychological benefits for Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans that are suffering from acute PTSD; another VA Hospital in the midwest is currently celebrating Women's History Month with a "Going Green" theme--they received tomatoes with women's names (Isis Candy, Juliet, Liz Burt, Aunt Ruby, etc). Many people across all the tomato and gardening forums have donated vegetable, flower, ornamental and tomato seeds and/or their funds to WinterSown which is a registered 501c3. Seeds never stay here long, it's sometimes like the revolving door at a downtown hotel--I am just spinning. Prepacked seeds start going out in SASEs immediately, the others, as soon as I've packed and labeled them, go out right after that. Funds are pooled and go for supplies like ink and toner, labels, cases of 20 and 24lb weight papers, the little 2x3 mini zips which I used to order in 10K amounts but I just bought 15k because before when 10K would last three months it's now gone in five weeks. The economy stinks and people who never before gardened are now faced with having to grow some of their own food. Across the whole country it is an economic horror story. SASE requests have increased in a near mirror image of the stock market. I am grateful to everyone who is helpful and supportive. Together we get the seeds and the info on sowing and growing them to beginners, people who are facing hard times, or to organizations who use the seeds for education and rehabilitation, or to little girls who have a big heart for helping wounded animals. Sometimes the seeds are only for growing food to put on plates--this is very important; some people only want tomato seeds based upon their climate and location because heritage or heirloom is not foremost on their minds (many don't know what that is and they don't care), reliable croppers are what they need and what they ask for. Tomatoes are many things to many people, to those who can afford it they are a recreational hobby, to some others they are a source of education, to some they are there to keep hands busy and create a means to uplift the soul through the success of growing them, and to some they simply are a food that can be grown cheaply. God bless little boys who aren't sure they like lima beans, God bless little girls who want to help rescued animals, and God bless everyone who makes it possible for good things to happen through seeds and horticulture. T

This is an actual story not an urban myth... Dog's death leads to a push for quicker tracing of cellphones 5:00 PM, September 4, 2008 After her SUV, phone and dog were stolen at a cemetery last month, Hemet resident Mary Michael tried to get Verizon to track the phone in the vehicle carrying her beloved pet, Rebel. Verizon said it couldn't do so without a warrant. Rebel was found dead, prompting Michael to take aim at that regulation, The Times' David Kelly reports: A distraught Michael said Rebel would be alive today if Verizon had traced the cellphone she had left inside the car. "They could have saved Rebel's life," she said Tuesday during a news conference outside Riverside County Superior Court. "It's my phone. It has GPS capability. We should be able to use it." Michael, who is originally from London and lives in Hemet, has started a campaign to make such tracking easier. Many wireless companies now require warrants before tracing phones, but Michael argues that obtaining a warrant takes too long when a life hangs in the balance. Verizon spokesman Ken Muche said state and federal privacy laws make it impossible to trace a phone without a court order. He said criminals and stalkers had impersonated customers in the past to try to find cellphone users. "We work with law enforcement and will respond to requests from the court like subpoenas and warrants," Muche said. "We have a policy in place so our customer service people are not in a position of having to determine a person's identity." Had Verizon traced the phone, it could have pinpointed the location as close as 50 to 100 yards, he said. That was cold comfort to Michael. "If this had been done, Rebel would not have had to suffer, and we would not be going through the pain of losing her in this terrible way," she said. "I can't bear to think of what she went through during those last hours. I can't go there, it's too horrible." -- Francisco Vara-Orta Photo: Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times I have a couple of comments. One - who ever leaves a dog or an unattended child in a running car is ASKING for trouble especially in Southern California. Two - If she had wanted to leave the dog in the A/C cooled car she should have locked the doors and taken her remote control key or second key with her. Three - Although the dog and this woman were traumatized and victimed and it is horrible that it ended in the dogs death, THIS WAS COMPLETELY AVOIDABLE had the owner used common sense. I frequent Southern California and there is NO SAFE place you must be on guard everywhere.