I saw gorgeous Nematanthus Ubatuba in a back yard in Tampa area - this is a large leaf and generally large plant. Most of Nematanthus do have orange or pale orange flowers. There are some exotic red, white and greenish with dots blooming species - but they are harder to grow and not available in a general nursery sale. Nematanthus comes from South America - I bet it is not dry in Brazil ;-)), but my understanding - it is an understory plant - it grows under the trees and on the trees as epiphyte - so dappled light would be good. Aeschynanthus (lipstick plant) takes the same niche - but in tropical Asia - so requirements are similar. Aeschynathus flowers of the available in nurseries varieties are mostly red, one really easy and quite wide spread species A. longicaulis (marmoratus) has interesting green flowers and gorgeous marble backed leaves. Some time ago a Florida member of this forum posted a pic of a large and well grown specimen of this plant - and it was growing in a back yard. Very desirable A.hybrid is called "Black Pagoda". Regarding conventions - the local gesneriad and AV clubs usually run their shows once a year mostly in the same place. The larger conventions are done in different towns every year - because most of the work is done by the hosting club - and they take turns. You check gesneriadsociety.org and avsa.org on "events" - so you will know who runs what in your vicinity. I would say you are in luck if you have a club nearby you can join - this is usually a source of knowledge, cuttings and nice people to associate with. (Just do not use the words "lipstick" and "goldfish" - if you are dealing with gesneriad crowd - they like to use botanical names - even sometimes not very many people know how to pronounce it right - for me - the biggest issue is Kohleria warszewiczii - I grow this beautiful plant - but i cannot "voice" it.) Cheers Irina Here is a link that might be useful: hybrids and species of Nematanthus

I've got to chime in on this because I need your help. There is currrently a Grohe in the house we just bought that I am looking to replace with a new one since it's old and looks cruddy. I can't decide on the Grohe or Price Pfister. We currently have a PF and when it leaked they sent replacement parts at no cost to me with no hassle. I liked that guarantee. I'm also looking for the 360 degree swivel since my sink is huge. The Grohe LadyLux Plus has a Dual Spray control to switch from spray to regular flow, the Ladylux Cafe you show seems to have a button you have to hold in. I do like the Vinnetta - you can point the head and keep the stream or spray on. Now I have a strange question - on the Grohe, there are red and blue marks (hot/cold), but I can't seem to see if they are on any of the others, the Vinnetta or PF. I've also read that some folks had problems with the pull-down ones like the ones displayed here in that they had to push the hose back up into the sprayer because after a while it wouldn't release up easily. So, bottom line, I need a great guarantee, a 360 swivel, a head that locks spray/stream, one where the hose will last and I was looking for one that goes with a black granite sink (but not chrome, we have horrible hard water)..........any suggestions?

On my uncalibrated laptop display, using whatever lighting you have in these images (I imagine florescent, which is green), and comparing that to the toffee and biscotti sink choices, I prefer the toffee. I think the biscotti is too pink. HOWEVER, and I say this in all seriousness. I am a photographer and have acutely trained my eye for color. What I *see* is based upon the conditions in which you took your photo, and the conditions that the blanco stock images were taken. The light sources are different temperatures. I'm mentally adjusting the white balance but I can't get the cast from the florescent lighting completely eliminated without a reference photo with white. The only sure way to know is to get a sample of the silgranites and hold them up against the stone you've chosen in the same light, together. (I still would bet on toffee being the right one).

Laura: Looking pretty good. Expect to stagnate for a bit and another growth spurt. Hobby: You have pretty nice roots there in your cuttings. I suspect that the roots grew out of the calloused regions. They are supposed to do that. Yours have a longer region of callous and thus roots. The only thing I can think of is that you did not scrape the outer layer all the way to the core and so there was some living cambium left (it happens quite often). So your callous formed along the length of the stem. Nevertheless, it looks pretty good. Mike: I often do just that. In summer, I would stick cuttings under a bush or some shaded region in the yard and hope they would root. Some make it and it is always fun to find the few that survived the ordeal. I have rooted many evergreens (junipers, cypress, false cypress, boxwood, and recently a dwarf yew, etc) like this. And tropicals like ficus of various kinds, serissa, etc.