Oh Lord, this happens all the time..in the store and Ebay/online. lol. I want to kick myself, moreso, when plants are on sale. Just last wk, our grocery story had 4" potted plants for 1.50. Most were plants I have, but there were also some really nice Crotons..Passed them up, and now regret it. lol 6/7+ yrs ago, while grocery shopping, I stopped to look at plants. A novel idea. lol. There sat, one-solo, green-leaf with orange center plant, price 6.99. I had no idea what it was. It went in the cart, then put back. Home I went w/my groceries..While putting everything in place, that plant was on my mind. I thought of reasons not to buy it, but there was ONE reason I dwelled on this beauty. It was different. A plant I didn't have. 2 days later I went back to the store..sole purpose, to buy this NOID plant..it was gone! I was devestated. I went home, and even though I thought it was fate, that pretty plant was inbedded in my brain. A wk or so later, dh and I went shopping..I talked about this plant all the way to the store, and then some. lol. So, I drag dh to the plant section..sure enough, he found it behind a group of other plants..The same plant I had in my cart the wk before. I didn't hesitate. This time it went in the cart w/o hesitation..Ironically, while shopping, 'for actual food' two women walked up to me and admired the NOID plant..lol..After getting home, I did some research and ID'd it as Chlorophytum 'Fire Flash.' At the time, Fire Flashes were rare. The only Chlorophytums discussed were Spider Plants: Green, Variegated and Bonnie's. And Bonnie's were new. In IL anyway, and here on GW. Christopher..2.00 for orchids..Do you know they're type? Were they in bloom? If so, at that price, one of each color flower would have followed me home..lol..OR, one of each type..That IS a bargain. Angel..pink and green flowers? You and I are different..Because of the flower color, it too would have followed me home..lol Never seen an AV w/green and pink blooms.. Mr Sub..Variegated Agave..1 month..way too long. Don't hesitiate..Var Agava's are usually pricey. Next time, grab it..lol Bunny...LOL.. Houseplantlover..do you feel the same when you go to a grocery store? To buy food, not plants..then discover they have new plants in stock? Pug, you need to get dh to build you a new room..Start bugging him, today. Mike, too bad you didn't ask a manager if you could put a down payment, and keep the Gardenia on hold.. Bamboo, you'd be surprised the number of ppl who would go out in the cold, rain, snow, and ice to buy a plant..lol Josh, you should kick them in the 'BeeHind' lol Toni

Thanks for the advice folks. The people on this forum are so helpful, and always come through with good suggestions. I cut off the seed pods (I found a second one under a leaf) and put them in a safe place so no one mistakes them for a chile pepper! I checked the stems and all but the last 6 inches or so look good, so I am cleaning them up and sitting tight until spring gets here. Next time they are getting covered up. Daniellalell, I am in St Marys, GA and loving it. But anywhere on the coast from Charleston south has Spanish Moss, live oaks, and gardenias. And it is beautiful and sunny and warm most of the time. (But you will miss those Jersey tomatoes...)

Marcia, I had Duchess of Albany for 3 years, but it was planted out in the open, no shelter at all. Is yours planted up against a building? If it is, it'll have a much better shot at living I would imagine. Mine did ok the first year, but went into decline the next 2 years. It's the same story for my John Paul II, and Ville de Lyon, and Jackmanii.....there's so many nice hardy types of clematis out there, I think I'll stick to them. I also just picked up Durandii, so we'll have to compare notes together.;^) Gillian, I've also noticed that my Orientals are looking really robust this year. I wonder if it depends on how far down the frost gets to in the winter, as to how well they do the next year? I expected/hoped that the ones on the south side of the house would do well, but even those out in the island bed have multiplied as well.

Any computer can be considered unworthy by someone, because a lot of it is nebulous and personal taste. For example, for my previous computer purchase, I bought a cheapie laptop because I had all the bells and whistles I needed at work so the last thing I wanted to do at home was use a computer. So I just bought something for e-mail and online shopping at home. THEN, I lost my job. Now I work from home a ton, and my DVD player that was attached to my TV went out and I can't afford a new one so I am using my laptop for watching movies, which I also do a ton more since I replaced expensive cable that I didn't care much for with Netflix. I use this as an example because even though you maybe bought a little more than you think you need, you never know where your life will take your or where technology will take us in the future. I know I paid 100 dollars more for getting a new Sony laptop, with the sole reason being I didn't have to struggle with the keyboard the way I did with all the other ones I tried, and I know I will be typing a ton in graduate school. So I have some remores at paying 100 more for a computer that is not that much better than the cheaper ones, but I KNOW I will be thanking myself later when I am knee deep in my doctoral disseration and am spending hours on it. It's very hard to know how to parcel out financial priorities in these difficult times, and THAT I DO think is worth discussing on a forum. I say, if you CAN, pay a little more to get a little more which will stand you in good stead for the future. But other people will say, get the minimum and live with it. Neither school is right or wrong. But once you have decided, own your decision and don't look back, IMHO. Because you are just going to get conflicting advice from the two camps til the cows come home. If you made what YOU thought was a good decision, stand by it. . . . Of course that is just my opinion, lol!