Hi Susan, I'm so sorry you lost your emails! The list for me was nearly complete, only iron cross oxalis, acidanthera and fulva iris were left off. Pretty impressive you were able to reconstruct so much! See ya tomorrow! ~Heather

Toni, I'm not 100% sure, more like 90%. If Gary has a shot of the ends of the branches and flowers, we could tell for sure. The key trait (beyond being a tree form) is the distinctly four-sided stems. The mature growth looks much much different than young growth, so it is difficult to compare to most of what you see on the internet. The other compelling reason to believe it is E. ingens is that there simply weren't that many tree species available in Southern California when that tree was planted. Now, I understand that it is a botanical garden, so they might have gotten a more esoteric species, but I still think that E. ingens is more likely.

I'm so sorry for your loss. I can't imagine how difficult it is to lose a child. I can understand your sense of loss though, as I just lost my beautiful mother and friend 5 months ago at the age of 50 to a horrible auto-immune disease. At times I feel like I can get through my loss just fine and I am still the same person, then other times the loss hits me like a ton of bricks. Sad to say but I know we will be dealing with our feelings of grief for the rest of our earthly lives. If theres one thing I learned from the passing of my mom, it's that each day is a gift from God. None of us are gauranteed a tomorrow, and we need to live in the moment and live for each day. Make your life and your actions count, and be a person your son would be proud of. I know it's probably hard for you to think about the future without your son, because it's so hard for me to think about my future without my mom. I cannot imagine not having her at my wedding, seeing me have children and all the other milestones I have before me. All I know is this- take things one day at a time. One day you will be reunited with your son. He is not gone forever, just as you will not be in this earthly life forever, so the pain and sorrow can only last so long. I know he has passed much sooner than he should have, but some day we will be with our loved ones in paradise. Until then, treasure your time here with your other son's and loved ones because as we have learned, our world can turn upside down in a heartbeat, and things rarely turn out the way you thought they would. Your son knew you loved him, and he would want you to be happy. Cry when you need to and remember him always, but always keep in mind that you WILL see him again. Right now he is in heaven with my mom and they are both thankful to be in a perfect place where they can avoid misery and grief like we are dealing with now. Hang in there, and remember you are not alone. You are here for a reason and make the most of your time on earth so you can fill your son in on everything you did here when you see him in heaven someday. That's what I want to do with my mom too. Take care, Lisa

OlympicEagle, the Maytag toploader you'd buy *today* is virtually *identical* to your KitchenAid toploader (and to Whirlpool, Roper, Estate, Admiral, some Amana, and most Kenmore toploaders). :-) Consumer Reports data is in reference to a toploader design Maytag used toward the end, before Whirlpool bought the company. Maytag's Neptune frontloader design, which is the source of their tarnished frontloader reputation, is still being used (or was until a short time ago) under Crosley label, and possibly Amana. There were some redesigns that largely fixed the original problems. Maytag-labeled Neptunes were still on the market until late last year. My neighbor bought one from Lowe's. The Maytag Epic frontloader (NOT the Z) is essentially identical to what was previously the KitchenAid Ensemble frontloader. The "Z" may be akin to Whirlpool's Duet Sport offering.