One of them, the decora which had the little shrubby growth at the bottom recovered and made new small shoots in the late summer, and this spring they made shoots nearly as big as the originals making a full recovery. the other one, makinoi which had only 2 large culms with very little foliage eventually lost their leaves and didn't make it so it was a goner. It seems like severely root bound plants can make a full recovery as long as they still have viable buds and the rhizomes haven't dried out completely, but there is a point where the shoot buds are no longer viable and the plant is pretty much dead as they become a living stick. Many commercial nurseries take over-sized divisions sticking them in pots with minimal soil which leads to root-bound plants very quick, and as these divisions dehydrate very easily, the lose viability very fast. Many times, nurseries are only worried about the bottom dollar so they don't care if the plants die because they already made their money and apparently aren't interested in repeat customers. If you are planning on getting bamboo plants, I would suggest first trying to find a local grove of bamboo you can dig from, and then perhaps looking on bamboowebforums to find a forum member you can make a road trip to to collect many bamboos at once. It is definitely worth the time. If you can't find anyone then I would suggest bamboogarden in Oregon because I know it is a legitimate bamboo nursery.

It is always a treat to hear David speak whether on horticultural topics or anything else for that matter. The first time I met Senor Bahia was when he was doing a slide show talk for the Succulent and Bromeliad Society at the Strybing Arboretum. He was showing gorgeous slides of places that he has traveled to that were jammed packed with 'succulent' horticultural treats. I have since heard him speak at various horticultural events sponsored thru the California Hort Society, On the various Hortisexuals tours and events , at the Arboretum and in writing here on The GardenWeb. He is an excellent speaker and when using slides to illustrate a point , they are beautifully composed and in perfect focus. He is considered "The" Horticulturist's Horticulturist. While on the last Hortisexual trip down to L.A., he was the most sought after person in our wild and crazy group for horticultural identification. And that says a lot considering whose who in that group.. ( some of the most knowledgable and talented horticulturists on both the east and west coast ) >>>> ( as a matter of fact Cady, I think you will be speaking with one of the east coast editorial Hortisexuals soon ) ,, good luck ! we'll put a good word for you.

Mike mangos do very well in containers in the GH. Make sure you get a grafted dwarf variety. They are almost as easy as papayas. Some varieties do better in pots then others. I still think the flavor of container grown fruit up north is inferior to inground and container trees grown trees from down South but it's fun to be able to pick fruit off your own tree. I got rid of most of my fruit trees a while back so that I could devote more GH space to flowering plants. Years ago there were few varieties available in the grocery store and they weren't that ripe or tasty but now I can get a wide variety of ripe mangos at the Asian markets. Have you taken a look at the Tropical Fruit Forum? You can get a lot of good info there.

Dcarch and Pilllog, Thank you for your responses. I agree with the interactive and sensory comments. I am hoping that having an IPad or a laptop on a router so it can be positioned anywhere will open a whole new world of "hands on" instruction. I found that when I watched the freeby knife skills course, I only retained the techniques the second time through when I stood at the counter, knives and chopping block at hand, and actually practiced the motions described. Lots of use of the pause button while I played with angles and motions. The first time I just watched and the information didn't "stick." The second time I actually learned some new skills--maybe!! (I know I rejected some!) I think the same will be true of the cooking courses. I may well take the Mother Sauces course, partly because I really like James Peterson. If I do, I like the idea of actually making what he is demonstrating. Easy to do with modern technology--pause and rewind and fast forward. FWIW, the Craftsy (what a dreadful name!) offers permanent access to all materials--no time limits for how long you can return to review. I like that idea. Pilllog-- I have not searched Youtube for demos. Sort of at a loss with how to use Youtube. I have mainly accessed only when it was linked to whatever I was reading. Maybe I should check that out more often. CathyChex-- I didn't know Craftsy offered special prices. Nice to know! I really like that there is no time limit on access to their lessons. Glad to hear you found Mother Sauces useful. That is the one I am considering. Can you comment on it? I noticed that it had won an award--not sure how significant an award, though. I agree the free KnifeSkills was good. A really clever way for Craftsy to entice people into their programs by offering such a good freeby. Have you tried to "cook along" with any of the classes? I am really intrigued by the possibility that with modern technology we might have a virtual chef to cook alongside us in our kitchen, just rewinding him/her if we get confused and fast forwarding when we don't need him/her :-) Truly, this seems to open a whole new vista of possibilities. It all will depend, of course, upon the content of the "class" and the ability of the instructor. I will welcome James Peterson into my kitchen! We shall see. I would love to hear if anyone has tried cooking along with any of these "classes." Or has any other input or suggestions into online demonstrations and instruction. This post was edited by Bellsmom on Thu, May 8, 14 at 11:43