A friend of mine has used two different methods to catch the seeds since, as he explained to me, the seeds will get flung quite a distance during pod dehiscence. One method was to tie a small piece of old pantyhose around the flowering area of the plant. This allows the plant to 'breath' still and prevents the seeds from getting away. In method two, (which I believe is the only method he uses now) he takes a small "blob" of the fiber fill used for stuffing in things like pillows and stuffed animals, streches it out into a rather wispy 'cloud' and mounds/gently wraps that over and around the pods. Again it allows for good air circulation, and catches the seeds thereby making seed recovery easy. He said he also finds this easier to apply than method one as well as less worrisome with regard to damaging the plant.

Sorry to dampen your enthusiasm but I'm afraid you've picked one of the hardest subjects for your first cutting experiment. Rhododendrons are not easy to do. Layering is a more reliable method. However, here's a thread on the topic from GW. Here is a link that might be useful: Rhododendron cuttings

It is interesting to read this lengthy list of so-called adverse effects. No information is given as to how many women in a control goup also had these same adverse effects. I would venture to say, the incidence of many of them would be the same in the control group. The drug company is required to list every complaint presented by a test subject whether there is any correlation to the trial drug or not. Elaine 8. The truth is that women are not all the same. After hysterectomy, there is no way to predict which form of estrogen, and/or which combination of estrogen/progesterone/testosterone will most benefit an individual woman. Some experimentation has to take place if the the first prescription is not satisfactory. For many years the general medical belief was that estrogen alone was needed after hysterectomy because there was no endometrium to protect. When Premarin was first touted as the panacea for women's menopausal woes, many cases of endometrial cancer were found in the women taking Premarin. Since progesterone was not absorbed when taken orally, Provera was invented. It is a drug somewhat chemically similar to progesterone and did work to counter the endometrial cancer problem. So when women had a hysterectomy, it was thought they did not need anything but estrogen. Today, more is being learned about the effects of all the sex hormones on all the tissues of the body. Since some women after hysterectomy feel better with both estrogen and progesterone, some doctors are prescribing it initially. Prometrium is the first oral progesterone chemically identical to the progesterone our bodies make. It is called "micronized" progesterone because a patented process makes it able to be absorbed from the gut. I believe it is a completely different drug from Provera and other molecularly altered progestins and can not be compared to them, yet most research makes no distiction between real progesterone and the altered "pretend progesterones". Many naturopaths and other alternative medicine practitioners turned to otc natural progesterone creams because it was the only way to obtain the molecularly identical progesterone. Drug companies did not want to manufacture and market this cream because it was not patentable, therefore not profitable. Also many doctors are skeptical of the transdermal route. My own internist, who is pretty open minded for a medical doctor, had the audacity to say to me when I was having excruciating breast pain from transdermal estradiol patches, that perhaps I wasnt absorbing it well through the skin. I looked incredulously at him and asked, why was I having the breast effects if I was not absorbing it; he became embarrassed and said, oh, I see what you mean; well it's my experience that many people do not absorb drugs well through the skin. I believe he has a set belief about transdermal drugs and leaves no room for differences in this area, even though he is open minded about others.

Look at the vivid choice of color and bold strokes - he's obviously inherited your artistic genes.