"Hmm, I think I'll make myself vulnerable to a violent person who will destroy me." I don't think it happens that way. Women who are beaten or killed by their significant others are not to blame. Those guys are con artists, *& they're very good at what they do*. Just like men can be tricked by skilled & believeable con artists, so can women be tricked by men who are very believeable when they say, "My ex is a crazy bitter woman who hates me because she's so needy, & everything she says is a lie; do I *look* like the kind of person who would (fill in the blank: beat/hit/kick/choke) the woman I love?" & "I don't know what got into me; *it'll never happen again*". They're believeable. They're often more believeable than their victims, since their victims are likely to be hysterical & confused. I haven't read anything about this woman's history or experience with the man; maybe they hadn't been together long enough for her to realize that everything she thought about him was a calculated illusion. Maybe she became pregnant with the second child & then found out. Maybe she told him he had to help raise the children, had to contribute more financially, & he didn't like it. Maybe she told him to get lost & he didn't like it. Maybe he just made a business decision that he didn't want more children, more responsibility, more accountability, more strings. He'd gotten away with everything he ever had done, why wouldn't he figure he could get away with this? Whatever happened, it's not the fault of the murdered person. It's the fault of the person who killed her.

Kevin, I grow the Lepanthopsis astrophora in a 1" plastic pot in sphag (I change the sphag every 6 months). Medium shade, warmish temps, high humidity. I don't grow any of the others, but I do grow a Dryadella edwallii, a warm grower. It's mounted on cork with a small bit of sphag and hung in a clear plastic highball glass with a 1/2" of water in the bottom. I believe the zebrina will grow the same way. Also grow four Barbosella species -- australis, dussenii, handroi and an unidentified species from Peru -- which are mostly bareroot mounted and hung up in medium shade the GH. The Restrepia sounds interesting. I am growing three different ones, including a hybrid, bareroot mounted. Restrepias don't mind going completely dry for a couple days at a time; they are not as picky as most Pleurothallids. I killed a Trisetella triglochin once so I guess any advice wouldn't count.

What wonderful news about CJ. You all must be so thankful and elated. Thanks for sharing this great information! And a very happy belated birthday to you.

berndoodle, it's partly my fault. I had the bands in pots for over a year. They were doing fine out on my deck until we had that disastrous 10 degree day I think in February. By the time I got home from work, Devonesis was already frozen solid and died. The rest seemed fine and started to come out of dormancy. Then we had tons of rain. Some of the pots got too saturated and I guess didn't have great drainage. I lost Monsieur Tiller and Marie Van Houtte. A few, including Mrs. BR Cant did not look great when I planted them, but did have healthy root systems. So it's been struggling along with the weeks of rain/no sun. Then 90 degrees searing sun and had just started to sprout (DH calls it the wee wee rose LOL). So that's what made it especially frustrating when I saw the one itty bitty cane with little leaf sprouts lying on the ground. But so far so good. It hasn't shriveled up yet. I do have a trip planned to Roses unlimited, so If I do have to replace her too, I will. I've planned this bed for over a year and I am sure what roses I want where, so I have to replace them. I have the fence up now, which is good because my neighbors little dog keeps running in my yard and then the kids come in to chase it down. Yikes.