Great thread, CJ. Your collection has me drooling. My list: Allikas, Nash- Orchids Allikas, Nash- World's Most Beautiful Orchids Black, Peter McKenzie- Orchid Growing Grove, David L.- Vandas & Ascocendas Kramer, Jack- 100 Orchids For Florida Kramer, Jack- Orchids For The South La Croix, Isobyl- Orchid Basics Light Marilyn- Growing Orchids in the Caribbean McDonald, Elvin- 100 Orchids For The American Gardener Mee, Margaret- In Search of Flowers of the Amazon Forests Motes, Martin- Vandas, Their Botany, History & Culture Noble, Mary- You Can Grow Cattleyas Noble, Mary- You Can Grow Orchids Noble, Mary- You Can Grow Phalaenopsis, Revised Edition Northen, Rebecca Tyson- Home Orchid Growing, 4th Edition Northen, Rebecca Tyson- Miniature Orchids and How To Grow Them Northen, Rebecca Tyson - Orchids as House Plants Orchid Society Of South East Asia- Orchid Growing In The Tropics Pridgeon, Alec- Illustrated Encyclopedia of Orchids Rittershausen, Wilma- Orchids Rittershausen, Wilma- Success With Orchids Schoser, Gustavo- Orchid Growing Basics Sheehan, Thomas- Ultimate Orchid Soon, Teoh Eng- Orchids of Asia South Florida Orchid Society Presents- An Introduction To Orchids: A Guide to the Growing & Breeding of Orchids South Florida Orchid Society Presents- A"Guide To Growing In The Subtropics, 3rd Edition Starosta & Paul- Orchids White, Judy- Taylor's Guide To Orchids Withner, Carl L -Cattleyas And Their Relatives Vol 1 Plus Ortho, Sunset, a sagging shelf containing back years of AOS bulletins (even after donating many to our OS) and a treasured Jones & Scully catalog. :>) I hope to add the remainder of Wither's Cattleya volumns to my shelf soon. And Oh! to have the Fowlie's. Sigh. Marci

Yo Lou..I've had one in the ground for 20+ years here in Merritt Island. Other trees have grown up and over it (very crowded yard) so only about 1/3 of it is in the sun but I get plenty of fruit from that portion. Should be fine growing in Floral City. Ned

Hello from St John USVI, Geostv you are getting good advice. Wait till you get settled in to do any garden planning or planting. We moved from zone 5/6 to 10/11. I was so excited I could garden year around I ordered plants, had things dug up from my garden and sent and bought lot's and lot's of books. I have found my best source of gardening books is to go to a Barnes and Noble in Miami which has the closest zone to St John. Start a calendar diary of where the sun is and the average wind on each area of your new home. When you are closer to the equator the positon of the sun is dramatically different each time of year. I put an orchid garden in an area which I thought was shaded only to find a month later it got direct sun and burned all the plants. My garden workers which get $25.00 an hour laugh at me and tell me they will never be out of work as I am constantly moving everything.I started my garden in 1997 and it is a huge learning curve. I have learned that the plants and look I want and what will do well are not necessarily cooperative. Other factors I had never considered cows that roam the island and feast on Hibiscus or goats that can climb sheer rocks and eat anthing and everything in your garden. Our entire garden is fenced and I have a cattle guard across the entrance or there would be no garden. On a happpier note I now have a prized and beautiful garden I have just about every tropical plant and some that I have challenged to grow I can't live without such as roses.I have been very successful with Vanda orchids from Thailand heirloom roses from Vintage gardens and Antique Rose Emporium and Plumeria which other gardenweb members have shared with me.I will email you the titles of my favorite tropical gardening books. So many have great pictures but no real information.If I can share cuttings or seeds of anything let me know. I wish I could figure out how to post pictures on Gardenweb but I am technically challenged. I can email pictures with no problem. Congratulations on your move you will love gardening in the tropics.

I went to CR four years ago and had a spectacular time. Flew to San Jose, went to Arenal / La Fortuna, Monteverde, and Quepos / Miguel Antonio Park. In 9 days, I saw a volcano, hiked around the volcano and through the jungle and the rain forest, rode zip lines across the rain forest canopy, swam under a waterfall, went to the mountains, went to the beach, heard and saw monkeys, lizards, sloths, and many other animals, rode horseback through the mountains and across a river, took a three hour sailboat ride, went to the famous hot springs, got a reflexology massage in a grass hut, toured a coffee plantation, rode a bus with locals and their chickens, had great food, did a little shopping, went to a couple cool art galleries and musuems, wore a t-neck and jacket and 2 days later a swimsuit, learned a little Spanish, learned a lot about the country, people, and environment, and always felt safe and comfortable. I went on a guided tour with Gap Adventures (gapadventures.com) on the 9-day tour. I think it was called the Quest adventure. They have dozens of differenet tours in CR, guided and independent. THe one I did was great, because they arranged everything from hotels to transportation to entrance fees to reservations. They got you to an area, told you what cool things there were to do, and then arranged for you to do whatever you were interested in. It was not a tour where everyone does the same thing at the same time and you are kinda trapped and on someone else's time table. You get the same guide for the whole tour and she knew the areas well and knew everyone in the areas we went, so she could always point us to the right people and places for what we wanted to experience. I frankly do not think I would want to try to navigate and drive through the country without a knowledgeable guide-- it's not like AAA will come get you if there is a problem and there is no mechanic or tire store around the corner. The roads are VERY rough and not well marked-- it would make a heck of an adventure, but just think about if that is the adventure you want, or if that would detract from the adventure you really want. I thought the loosely-guided tour was perfect and would highly receommend Gap, although there may be others that are just as good (I am not connected with them in any way, just a happy customer.) OH! One word of advice for San Jose-- If a man pinches you on the arm downtown, just say "No!" firmly and move on. That is the customary way that a man tells a uh, shall we say "lady of the evening" that he is interested. Some men just pinch anyone they think is cute, hoping she's a "lady of the evening"! You'll only experience it right in the center of downtown by the square, though, and if you say no then they apologize and leave you alone. Frankly, you likely won't want to hang out much in San Jose. One day for a musuem or two and the flea market is plenty. It is literally hard to breathe in the city because of all the pollution. Hope this helps. I'd be happy to answer any specific quetions if I can. --A.