Hi! Let me show you what happened when I allowed the below flower, a red scabious zinnia, cross randomly with other zinnias in the garden (we will presume pollination carried out by insects). The mother flower, or at least, one similar example from the same plant, shown below: The offspring (shown at different scale): This one above has full, orange scabious flowers, about 1 1/2 inches across. This one above not a good flower at all, but it may be damaged by the weather conditions we've had, too. Not like it's mother.... This flower above looks like it may have had a whirligig dad...has a good supply of disc flowers. This above flower seems to me to be most like the mother flower, but the florets are a shorter red, and there are guard petals (damaged, I think) of a shade of fuscia. This is the only plant that has inherited the relatively narrower leaves of its maternal parent, too. The above flower seems uncertain of what to do--funny florets in the center, somewhat curly petals here and there, but keeping the red color for the most part. Last, but not least: This might be an interesting one. Daisy-like, some of the central florets turning brown due to too much rain, and more to come! I couldn't believe what sorts of flowers came from that red scabious mother! It's kind as if anything goes when there are random crosses. I have four or five plants that resulted from planned crosses with the red scabious and a red cactus. Will see what happens.... But I sure would like to get another red scabious like the one I had last summer.... ZM, when you said "recombinant" flower I thought you probably meant home-bred, but I asked anyway. I think what you're doing is the right thing. I am going to eliminate those plants that produce mediocre flowers to get better lines going here. For now, though, I am nipping off the undesirable first flowers without destroying the plants. I think some ugly flowers may be resulting from poor environmental conditions! I wonder if we should move to Part 11? ZM? JG

MangoHelios - Remember the old saying if you play with fire you're going to get burned LOL I learned the hard way LOL can you say burlap fabric LOL On Feb. 22 you will see why Orange County is known as the land of fruits and honey LOL and of course La Habra the home of Hass Avocado....Palm Springs: the Wind Capital of the West?? LOL Only kidding with you Bro, here is a nice article about the mango farms in coachella valley http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-marketwatch-20100813,0,5060129.story Market Watch: Coachella desert's Valencia Pride and Keitt mangoes have arrived Customers have been wondering for weeks when they'd show up, and now Wong Farms' desert mangoes, among the most exotic and eagerly sought fruits grown in California, are back at the Wednesday Santa Monica farmers market. Juicy, sweet and aromatic, they're expensive and tricky to obtain, but worth it for diehard mango lovers. By David Karp, Special to the Los Angeles Times August 13, 2010......

caryscott: "Always consider the source. Some appliance repair folks of a certain age and gender often have an attachment to yesterday that can impact their recommendations." Do not discount the effect of advertising on "conventional wisdom." Ask 100 randomly selected tire store salespersons what is the best category of tire for driving on wet roads at 40-50 degrees Farenheit, and 99 of them will "recommend" an all-season tire, which is precisely the worst of the possible recommendations. The salespeople, who have never seen objectively conducted tests on the relative traction of all-season vs. "summer" tires on wet pavement, therefore do not understand that the very same chemical technology that makes a tire with a non-aggressive tread stick to snow also causes water to stick to the tread (that is, causes the tread to fail effectively to shed water) under rainy conditions, creating a water-to-water interface where the rubber (consequently does not) meet(s) the road. The salespeople have been influenced by tire maker advertising -- every tire that we make is perfect for all conditions -- and the salespeople know that the customers also have been influenced by the same advertising, and "the customer is always right." For an appliance salesperson, the incentive to give reinforcement to an urban legend -- "there are problems with any washing machine that is not exactly like your mother's washing machine"-- is an attractive path to a commission on a sale that might be made by encouraging the customer to feel good by reaffirming the urban legend with "insider" information.

A forensic scientist could estimate how long the bird has been laying on the ground by examining the stage of the magots. In my opinion, the carcas has been there for at least 24 hrs. Since you did not see any injuries, this suggests the worst: The bird died of a quick acting disease, probably a virus. Our DNR has asked people to collect and turn in birds that have died from no apparent reason. They want them for lab tests. They are tracking a few diseases. There are some other causes: 1. Old age. 2. Not likely for a purple martin, but the bird may have struck a pole or other object and broke its neck while in flight. 3. Struck a vehicle on the street and made to your back yard before collasping. 4. Struck an aircraft and fell in your yard. 5. Was shot by a pellet gun. 6. Poisoned. 7. Got too drunk on fermented mulberries.