Hi All...yes, I have an electric heater that keeps the bulbs a toasy 40+. And, I have a back-up "Little Buddy" propane heater after Noni recommended that I get one in case of electrical outage on a really cold night. ONE OTHER THING that I think is really a great advantage if you cut the leaves back, and then subsequently trim the neck up, you can tell if there is any internal problems with the bulb. If you just let it die back, you have no idea what's going on IN the bulb, but if you cut the neck down, you can see if all the layers are healthy or...GASP, if there is the start of any problem. If I see any black or brown layers, then I can either 1) leave it alone and hope it's nothing, 2) cut a little further till I see all healthy tissue, or 3) if it's a really precious bulb, do a little more cutting/bulb surgery and pour on the powder to ensure healthy healing. I'll try and send photos tomorrow. Pouring rain today ...YAY! Kristi

Been a few days since I checked the forums... "In the ground they remain moist so I wondered if you'd tried keeping them in pots if damp medium in a cold but not freezing spot?" No, I packed the roots in freezer bags filled with hamster bedding & added just enough water to moisten the medium. That method has worked well to over-winter other bulbs. I had considered transplanting the roots into pots, but the roots spread so much that damage is unavoidable during lifting, so I doubt the results would be any better. Had Annette not sent me fresh seed, and had Big_gee stopped offering, I might have tried it. "Runners are usually eaten as green beans here and all the photos show beans which I would consider past the point where I'd harvest them for that purpose." The purple color develops late, at its darkest when the pods have swollen. The mature pods are nearly black now. When the pods reached snap stage in my garden, they were green, or just lightly blushed with purple. Floral_uk, those are really beautiful beans. If I could get pods like that, I would probably eat more runner beans as snaps... but in my climate, the "French" beans are much more productive. I still eat a few runner bean snaps late in the season. For the most part, though, I eat runner beans as shellies. Some are better for that purpose than others, Gigandes & Insuk's Wang Kong are my favorites. I'll be testing some APS that way when frost approaches... which apparently will be later than usual this year.

Aww, I had the post almost finished and then pressed the wrong button and poof. To all those who said no to beadboard, I think you are right. Dh didn't like it either. To those who said the tile in the first picture was too dark and too busy, I don't think it is really. But as I said there, it's hard to tell when the photos aren't taken at the same time and in the same place. And since it was a sample, with no grout, the shadows there make it appear even darker. Here is a photo of the same tile. But on this one I took a photo of the tile next to the counter and then edited both of them onto my photo and I filled the grout lines with a lighter color from the tile. The dark areas are shadow so try to look past that. This one is #8 which is a very light gray, also with grout lines filled. This one is supposed to be crema marfil though it's hard to tell on houzz if it really is or if someone just makes a guess. A white deee, I think you are right that a solid cream would look good. That's what I wanted and when I couldn't find it at big box stores, I got all these to look at. Yes, all these have the same color tones as the counter with either the yellow gold or grays. Annie, I thought I bought a crema marfil, but I guess I put it back because it was marble. I'd rather have a ceramic than a natural stone that has to be sealed and shows food stains the way marble can. The one I keep editing into my kitchen looks like stone more than any I've seen, but it is ceramic. Tile #4 has the best colors for my counter, but I don't like that the pattern looks like a screenprint. Oaktown, when I found this counter, I got the last 3 pieces of this particular color, and after that I couldn't find enough even for a small cabinet. I don't know if it is easier to find now. Maybe they found another pocket or whatever they do - I haven't looked again. But when we did the counters, we briefly considered putting it on the backsplash, but it was just going to be too thick and the edge would show on each end. mtnrdredux, thanks for the link. There is one bisque color on there that I think would look good. There is a DalTile in Dallas but I'd rather not drive that far if I can find it locally. I'll look on their website and see if there are any local stores that carry it. You'd think that would be common everywhere. Sixtyohno, you're right, and every monitor probably shows color differently. And as I found this morning, even cameras don't show colors the same. Even with the good camera I have to look at it twice to see why it looks more yellow in photos than it does in person and I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that in person, the eye picks up on all the colors where a camera merges them all together into a single image. mdln, yes the cabinets are custom; they were here when we bought the house. Several of our neighbors have the same cabinets and even a friend in Dallas has them. Maybe that style was popular around here in the early 80s. We added cabinets last year and had a hard time finding someone with the right bits and willingness to make more doors. Evidently putting them together is a little tricky. I wouldn't choose them if I were building, but I like them. They are one of those things that belong in that thread about things everyone used to have but couldn't afford it now. hhireno, what I have no is not enough - it's still bare sheetrock that hasn't even been painted. lol I need something that can take some scrubbing. I thought about glass behind the stove, but it's just too modern looking for my house. Do the above pictures appeal to anyone or should I keep searching?

Well, I've been trying to think about what I might put on Evening Butterfly's two flowers. I do have some fresh Giraffe, I have just about every fresh pollen this year including Santos but I don't know which to choose. Two flowers is such a tease.... Fred, this bulb is about the size of a lime, still small but certainly larger than many of my other Komoriya bulbs. Carl, I might try Giraffe as the colors about the same but much more saturated on Evening Butterfly. When I only have two flowers to work with I'm always so tempted to mix at least 2 pollens so as to double my chances. I suppose I could mix Santos with Giraffe, it should be easy to tell which took when the seeds start to germinate. Should I mix something for the second flower or just stick to papilio? Too many pollens and not enough flowers, now that's something different for me!! Donna