Win some, lose some;-) For many orchids a sudden drop in temperature after a long period of warmth is a trigger to flowering.Some clones are just naturally easier than others though (Phals). In the case of Brazilian orchids (Cattleya, Oncidium) the trigger may be drought rather than cold, however. - Ian.

I use the deep litter method, whereby you clean the house out annually, forking the litter, and adding materials through the year if the house starts to smell. I can no longer find an article from Ohio, on the web, about the method, and how deep litter supplies the chickens with vitamin B, and that the method attracts a small fly which is a house fly predator, keeping flies down in the house. The first year I did it, it was very successful. I started with about 8 inches of hay, pine shavings, and leaves, and added more as odors arose. I made the mistake of flipping it in January, though, and cooling the steaming, sawdust-like in appearance, composting litter down at a time when the chickens could have benefited from the warmth. I should have just covered it with straw or leaves until the weather improved. By spring the stuff was beautifully broken down. The second house with more chickens could not be managed in this way. The house has lousy ventilation and there are a lot more chickens in the second house, plus I neglected to flip it in a timely manner last year, so when the cold temperatures hit, the deep litter froze solid. It was a disaster. This year, I flipped it more often, but decided last month that I needed to empty out the house and start over with 8 inches of material. Unfortunately, the shoveled out house contents are not as composted as the year-old stuff usually is, so I won't be using it until next fall. I'm quite pleased how much compost my chickens produce. I gave a bunch to a neighbor last year and I'm giving a bunch to my brother this spring. My almost four-year-old hens are thinking of retiring from the egg laying business, but they're still great little producers of manure.

The purple leaved plant in 55 is Canna Australia. This is my first year with it and I am positively loving it. I saw it at the Atlanta Botanical Garden a few years ago, and even in July it was that deep glossy purple with no greening out at all. It bloomed today: brilliant red. It is fast becoming one of my favorite plants. The pink flowers in 5l are six Nearly Wild shrub roses. They bloom extraordinarily heavily all summer with dead heading. They're an Antique, so are low/no maintenance. The grass in number 60 is Feather Reed Grass, Overdam. It is a green and white variegated grass. I tried it the first year in full sun and nearly lost it. Then after getting advice here from gardengal, I moved it to morning sun afternoon shade where it is totally happy. Thanks! I love my porch too. I and my dog spend lots of happy moments sitting and swinging and looking at the flowers. My husband keeps reminding me that that's what all the work is for. :)

Hi MM! My evil gardenia is greening up real well, it also helped green up my pineapple plants, jasmines, tomatoes, hyacinth beans, bamboos, tomatoes and basil. Only thing that didn't like it was the roses and lavender, turned the rose leaves brown!! I had a serious nitrogen deficiency in the potting soil hubs got this year, pee saved the beans, they were all completely mellow yellow! Also, my lemon, lime and orange tree likes it, though the orange tree I have to put a drainage hole in the bucket, it gets water logged and then is very unhappy with me! LOL! Don't worry, our yard is pretty private! :)