Hi all, Those Elvas flowers are breathtaking. Cindee, yours looks different from the rest, maybe more ruffled (or is that just me?). I also purchased a couple Elvas from Parks this year, but all of my Amis are very slow to do anything. Perhaps it's been too cool in the greenhouse, not sure, but I'm mostly letting them do their own thing (they'll probably bloom by July!). Everything appears to have roots because when I give them a slight "tug" they are all fast. Yesterday, I brought my Appleblossom and one from the supermarket I believe to be an Orange Souvereign into the house because the flowers were just not opening like I thought they should.

wsd both of these last yr.the statice did not come back and I didn't know where the seed were.The phlox will have a beige ball after the bloom fade.inside each pod is 4 seeds..learned this after I planted whole pods..lol moonphase

I'm w/ Denise on this (Hi Denise), I keep mine growing all Winter as well. Norma, she has greenhouse in Omaha, I have west windows in NYC. Mine never sheds leaves. I've got several E. milii including a milii x marlotti (or moratii) w/ variegated leaves (lt. green & dk. green) w/ coral blooms. That one usually restarts blooming in January for me. Against the snow out the window, a nice treat in Winter. A few yrs. ago, an elder at my Indoor Gardening Society said that unlike other Euphorbias, this one (milii) excels w/ lots more water than one would expect for a succulent & to fertilize it often. Since I've started doing several yrs. ago, my milii moratii blooms 9-10 months a year. Great return on litte effort! Dandy, I agree its likely to suvive; these guys are some tough old birds at times.

Most of my books are older, but some I haven't seen surpassed in good solid information by the newer full-color oversized books, so I'll list my favorites. Perhaps someone might like to seek one on the used-book sites. Penny Black's books are great! I have "A Passion for Flowers", "Dried Flowers", "Book of Cards & Collages" and "Scented Flowers". The first listed is a great read as well as inspiration toward imaginative use of all sorts of botanical treasure. Very well illustrated. My best illustrated (mostly in b/w drawings) and most wide-ranging book is by Maureen Foster, entitled "The Flower Arranger's Encyclopedia of Preserving and Drying". She shows a few finished arrangements but it's primarily a fine resource for how to prepare the material. An older book is Arno & Irene Nehrling's "Garden for Flower Arrangement". My copy is of a Dover reprint in 1976 but I'd urge that if you could locate a copy, it would be invaluable. Back cover states it covers methods for drying 371 different plants. Also covers fresh arrangements, and forcing 53 different types flowers/branches. Only a few b/w illustrations. Somewhat later book (1987) is Malcolm Hillier & Colin Hilton's 'The Book of Dried Flowers". Nice color illustrations and fairly wide selection of plants covered. A very useful book is the RD Handbook "Flower Arranging", also edited by Malcolm Hillier, which is about half-devoted to fresh, half to dried flowers. Very well illustrated. Mine is dated 1990 but may still be in print. I have even more, but these are the most thorough and wide-ranging. I haven't bought any in recent years...possibly there's a great new one that covers even more material. jo