These are very hardy and incredibly easy to root. I pruned both of mine in spring and I have so many plants at this point that I just set them aside with other "to do" plants. Well, it turns out that they sat for almost 2 months! I am NOT kidding, I then stuck a rubberband around the whole bunch and just stuck them in my "junk" pot. My junk pot is a planter where I put plants that I don't have time to take care of because I need to mix mediums for them, clean and bleach a new pot, cut screen for the bottom, etc...Right now my junk pot has a Lipstick plant , a wax leaf red bloom Begonia, a small Kalanchoe and now a Pedilanthus or as I call it a Jacob's Ladder. I am astounded at the resilience of this plant. By the way, my original came from my friends Grandmother's tree, who gave it to her daughter and she in turn gave it to her son; my friend. One more thing. The full tree that I got my original cuttings from had some hardening of the stems, which I was told is no big deal. Well, this year, all of the stems and pieces that had this hardening, died underneath. It looked like a dried up husk, it was awful! Luckily, the rest of the tree did not suffer the same fate. Is this normal?

I had a wonderful mother in law.....she never gave advice unless we asked for it. I know she must have really had to bite her tongue not to tell me what I was doing wrong but she let my DH and I raise our children. I am trying to live up to the standards my MIL set. I trust my DS and his wife to raise their children in the best way they know how. I would say something if I suspected child abuse or sexual abuse but nothing else.

PS. Another thing that really gets to me is that I have a child on the way. My first one, though it would have been my great-grandma's FIFTH great-great-grandchild. Family was more important and specail to her than anything else in the world. She was SO HAPPY when I told her that we were expecting. She was just thrilled. We found out ourselves a couple of weeks after she had broken her hip. However my great-grandma already knew! She tried to talk one of my aunts into believing that my wife was pregnant, and after my aunt kept telling her that wasn't the case, great-grandma said "we'll see" and had a very smug look on her face. She knew before we knew! Oh how I wish that Great Grandma Annie could have lived long enough to hold my baby in her arms at least once. It's not due til July, but I thought she might be able to hang in there. I really did. I thought she'd be up and walking again too after her hip healed. Even if only for a while. I thought she had months left, not just weeks. And the fact that she was taken from us right at the beginning of the holiday season also just kills me on the inside. We were so close to having just one more with her. So close. Why were we robbed of it? I know she'll be and is with us all in spirit, but I can't hug a spirit. The loss of the physical touch is the most painful of all. Oh what I'd give to see her smile, hear her laugh, hear her voice, and give her a great big hug just one more time.....

You're right, everyone has their own technique of seasoning. I've tried using coconut oil to season iron, but it didn't work as well as grapeseed oil. It's worth getting a little bottle of grapeseed oil just for this purpose (grapeseed oil is a good neutral oil for stir frying as well). Also, 300 isn't hot enough. Coat the pot as thinly as possible with grapeseed oil, place it upside down in the oven with a cookie sheet on the rack below it to catch the drips (line the cookie sheet with foil so you don't get burned on grease). You need to get the oil close to the smoke point--450 at least, for 20 to 30 minutes, then let the oven temp come down naturally. When it's cool, repeat the process. Do this two or three times and you should be well on the way to having a nice seasoning. What you're trying to do isn't just to coat the iron (any oil will do that) but for the oil to polymerize and form a smooth hard surface. Another technique: Flax seed oil works well, and if you follow the admittedly fussy directions at the link (she has you doing it several times before you can use the pot) you'll get a slick surface. But don't worry--use the pot often, with enough grease, and it'll eventually get seasoned. Once it's well seasoned, it should be nearly nonstick. If food does stick to it, here's one way to handle it without a brillo pad: put enough water in the pot to cover the stuck on stuff. Bring the water to a boil and turn off the pot, letting it sit while you clean up the rest of the kitchen. Drain the hot water out of the pot. The food may come off now without any further ado; if not, use a dry paper towel with some coarse salt to dislodge the crud. Then rinse out with plain water, dry with a paper towel, and (this is important) put it back on the stove and turn it on low for a minute or two to dry it abolutely bone dry. Then coat with a little oil and store. One hint: when storing the pot, fold up a paper towel into a little 2x2 square and put it as a wedge between the lid and the pot. That allows air to circulate. A closed environment could allow the inside of the pot to rust. It sounds a lot fussier than it really is; just keep neat freaks and their scouring pads away from your pot, and it'll develop a nice natural patina over the years. Here is a link that might be useful: seasoning cast iron with flax seed oil