Shelli, Early mornings get pretty hectic. I make my first round with that first cup of coffee to see whats new and if something is ripe to photograph. I will dead-head and prune those plants first and do the photography. If you get out early enough, before the sun comes up, you get beautiful colors in the indirect light. Especially the pinks and purples. All this before the pollen ripens! Then it's time to hybridize. I focus on the tets first, because they are much more temperature sensitive. I do the dips last. I do occasionally have to wave off the little black pollen bees or the bumble bees, but I usually don't go to the trouble to collect or save pollen. You have to use common sense; look for the anther that has the most undisturbed pollen to use or pass up that bloom. Even if a bee has took some of the pollen, there's usually still plenty left. I think there's probably enough pollen on an anther to pollinate 100 flowers, if used judiciously. If the pollen is important enough, you can come up with a way to protect it. I protect blooms from rain moreso than bees. You can buy these little green stakes that are about 4 feet long. I use a piece of copper 12 gauge wire to suspend a plastic grocery bag over the bloom. If the wind is blowing hard enough, put a twisty around the bag below the bloom. That would also work for bee's I think. Improvise. Good luck! Hi Debra, I honestly don't know why flowers don't have pistils. Since tets have more chromosomes for everything, it's logical that they would suffer with the problem less. I tend to see it with the first few blooms on a plant and then I start getting pistils. So far hasn't been a problem as I usually get more pods on each plant than I should! ;0) Ed

It's so unique and beautiful. I'm curious if it blends with the rest of the room. I just want to make sure it doesn't come off as "cartooney." Thanks!

My hardwood floors are probably filthy, but look really good. I have them throughout the first floor. I sweep them daily, and run the occasional Swiffer WetJet on the kitchen portion of the floor in front of the sink, dishwasher and stove. I have tried a lot of things when mopping, and found that I prefer to use hot, HOT water and a damp rag mop once a month to get them really clean. I often have to refill the water, as it is black during this cleaning. Should probably do it more often, but I don't have the time.

2. Protect Oven: The excessive debris building up on the bottom of appliance can be prevented by the oven liners and washed and reused time and again. This is begging for trouble when those liners melt. I don't know of a single oven manufacturer that doesn't say, "Don't use liners!". You can see some of the threads here for more on the problems they create. Also, for #4, randomly pouring drano et al is foolish, wasteful, and not good for the environment. Keeping a plunger available for if you have a problem and using common sense like not pouring hot fat down the sink are both better ways to avoid clogged drains. But working methodically to avoid going back over where you were is a good recommendation.