In my experiences with runners and clumpers, a bamboo transplant will frantically put up floppy culms and whipshoots and populate them with leaves that provide the energy to the plant. It seems there is a good spurt of growth as the plant tries to obtain some traction and achieve viability, at least as soon as the weather permits. If you've got 2 Phyllostachys that have not shown any new growth in SC by 1 June, I share your concern. nothing you can do but wait. Sept is late. Better to have some months of warm weather following the transplant. That said, I translanted a Ph. aurea in Dec 04. Leaves stayed on, and I had a few new shoots in spring 05, and a lot more in the past few weeks. Still not running, just clumping. I hope to see some remote culms next spring after the rhizome running of this year.

Well, first off you need to be able to put your pictures on the world wide web. You can post them on one of the photo hosting sites, or if you have one, your own web site. If you have only a picture or two, you can upload them to the GardenWeb Gallery. Once you have pictures on the web, you can then copy the link that appears in the address box and paste it into the "Optional Link URL:" that will show up on the second page of the form that you use to start a new thread. If you are on a photo hosting site, you have to do something to make the pictures public, so we can see them without logging in. If you want to embed your link in the text, you can follow the directions linked below. Good luck, we are looking forward to seeing your pictures. Here is a link that might be useful: How to make a clickable link.

You haven't been in the middle of this project very long for all of that work to be completed. And I'm not sure why you want to paint your deck. That does nothing but create a lifetime of maintenance issues for you. Decks should be stained, not painted. And that should wait about 6 months for the pressure treated lumber to dry out enough for the stain to stick. Stain it too soon, and it will all come off. Combine paint, and doing that too soon, and you'll be painting it every year rather than staining it every couple of years. Did you have the structural engineer's report about redoing all of those window openings and wall openings? That should have told you what wall depth was possible and wasn't. If the wall needs to be reinforced for support, that will add depth to it. If it didn't need to be reinforced, then that should have been spelled out as well. Did the contractor talk with the engineer directly about the requirements? Lots of contractors have poor communication skills. That's not unusual. It would be unusual to have poor construction skills and poor communication skills and still be a licensed and insured contractor who gets decent references from people who've used him before. What does your written contract say about parting of the ways? The written word rules. Did he pull the permits? Or did you? If he pulled the permits, you need to talk to your local codes office and see if it's possible to transfer them to a new contractor or if you will have to apply for entirely new ones. If you aren't careful, you can have a lien placed on your home by the contractor. Getting someone new may be difficult. Most contractors do not like to come in in the middle of another's job, so you may find it difficult to find someone to pick up the pieces here. They don't know if the homeowner or the contractor was a problem, and they'd rather not take the chance that it was you. Checking out a contractor's license, insurance and references and past work does help to prevent getting the duds. Not always though. I'd recommend trying to communicate with him about your expectations as the first solution. However, some of those expectations are a tad unrealistic, so I'd also recommend that you talk to some other neighbors who've had renovation work done to be able to get some perspective on exactly how long things take and how expensive it is. You are in one of the most expensive locations in the country, with some of the most difficult to access property which makes it hard for contractors to get work done. It takes twice as long, and twice as much money to do the same project in NYC as it would in a suburb with plenty of parking and plenty of room for materials to be delivered, etc. And if it does come down to a parting of the ways, you will want to be sure you do it correctly so that you don't create more problems for yourself. It might be worth it to consult a construction attorney before you go down that path...

About 25% of the book. Though there have been occasions when I have enjoyed the book up to the halfway point and something then happens that totally POOFS! the magic feel, and I will fasforward to the ending. This is mainly for closure. If the ending is just horrible I then toss the book, but if it is intriguing, I will go back and skim to the finish. Woodnymph, I have both Hilary Mantel's novels and am having the same problem as you. These are books I should enjoy but somehow I'm missing the bus. I havent given up yet though. Re: Garcia Marquez - I really x3 tried with One Hundred Years of Solitude, but was just baffled. I hated it. It was for book club so I did manage to get through the whole thing but decided that this type of magic realism is not for me. :)