Thank you Howard, and again, corymbosa, for adding additional thoughts. Howard -- I like to avoid pots as much as possible in my collection, but there are cases when they are, of course, necessary. Most dens and catts I have in clay slatted pots with arcillite, to provide good drainage and maximize air flow. However, I believe that clay and Den. falcorostrum may not be a good combination, because it sounds like it prefers a gentle "evenness" to the dampness the roots encounter -- which clay pots do not easily provide. They're either very wet, or very dry, with little "in-between" time. My experience with plastic pots (as the plant is now contained) is that especially with organic mixes, plastic pots remain much too wet inside, given the necessary watering practices within a moderate-sized mixed collection to keep everything "happy". Without fail, every single plant I've ever received from a nursery potted in plastic ALWAYS has an excessive amount of rotted roots. I don't have the luxury of watering things differently, so, I adjust the type of mix, pot, mount, etc., to compensate for the even dispersal of water. (I have hung a temporary plastic curtain to keep my nobile dendrobium and Cyrtopodium punctatum dry during the winter months.) I have a ramshackle greenhouse made of a 2x4 frame with UV-resistant greenhouse fabric stapled to it. Because of the compromises of such a flimsy design, I can't exhaust very well, and temperatures can soar up to 105F (40.5C) in the summer (90s near the floor) during the warmer months. In the winter, I try to button it up tight and double-insulate with a second interior layer of plastic, so that my 1500-watt heater can keep things from freezing. I have to watch carefully, because when the sun hits it during the day and I have it tightly closed, temps will shoot back up to 100F unless I prop open the door. It's a nightmare, but I'm trying to make it work until I can build a better one. I know too well the benefits of humidity, which is one of the reasons I have to compromise with the tightness of the enclosure. If I open it up more to help it cool off, I let the often extremely low outside humidity in, which is bad when coupled with air movement. So, I was thinking during the warmer months I'd bring the falcorostrum inside, although, the A/C will cause it to dry out quickly. (I also keep a Holcoglossum amesianum indoors for the same reason.) However, I don't want to make this a "precedent", because the care required for orchids such as these indoors is more than I want to do for more than one or two. Corymbosa -- it would definitely simplify things if I could trust this orchid outside, but our conditions are anything but moderate, even though we get quite cold during the winter. The worst part is the extreme dryness when it hasn't rained in a while. You wouldn't expect that with us living so near the Gulf of Mexico, but I've taken readings as low as 18% in the springtime. Even when things are damp after a rain, we never approach the humidity I would expect in one of your temperate rainforests. My proposed greenhouse is going to have an active "chiller" to cool and humidify incoming air (my own design), with a solar floor to help heating in the winter. Thermostats instead of timers, so things will be more precisely controlled. I believe I can keep midday daytime temps even in the hottest months below 85F (29C) and better than 75% humidity. I'm not too concerned about the nighttime winter temps -- my collection has gone down to 32F (outside temps into the low 20s) with no ill effects. But the solar floor will certainly ease the expense of running the heater constantly, and I won't have to live in fear of the heater failing and losing my collection. Thanks for finding that reference about mounting falcorostrum. I have the best luck with my collection when things are mounted or in baskets, and it's my preferred method of culture. I'm loathe to experiment with falcorostrum, though! I remember another member, CharlesB, growing his specimen in a large basket, but I don't know the details. I think that's the way Aussie "Keith" grew his too, as well as in rotting logs on the ground...although I can't remember the exact details. His outdoor conditions were pretty close to perfect, so it actually wasn't very helpful for me to try to relate his setup to mine, because he didn't have to modify his growing conditions that much. Thanks again! Bruce

Newyorkrita, I went out this morning and measured blooms. Majority of them are 2.5", some are bigger and some are smaller. Yorkrose, I personally would never put clematis on this rose, but this is just a matter of what you want. IFor me signifact part of this rose charm is due to its open AIRY growth habbit. These dark chocolate, glossy, arching canes are so beautiful, you really don't want to hide them. This rose looks good all year round, but hips anre nothing special. It has nice fall leaves color and the canes are beautiful in winter. Never gets any kind of disease. I don't know if it suckers, my plant is grafted. Jerome and Robert, Thank you very much for your kind words. Patricia, I am sure your garden is gorgeous. All these perennial flowers and roses, what can be better. Congratulations with you success. Alicia, I don't know. I am on the border of 6B/7a zones and it is happy here. Olga

The antarctic ice shelfs are cracking, receding and breaking away. How long are people going to bury their heads in the sand and deny global warming and climate change (its not just about a constant warming - the global climates are already being seriously disrupted across the planet). The worlds scientific community who have published their studies unanimously agree that co2 levels have increased at an astounding rate since the industrial revolution, and this also coincides with dramatic rising temperatures particularly ocean temperatures. Ice core samples have been studied going back about 600 000 years, these are like a time capsule which clearly show the evidence of rising co2 levels and temperature. the last ice age was about 11 000 years ago and did not show anything near what has been seen in the ice samples of the recent 100 or so years. For people who still doubt this is going on, look around you at what is happening in the world. Ice caps are receding at an astounding rate, ice shelfs are cracking, ocean temperatures are rising, there are shifting weather patterns such as droughts in one area, and flooding nearby (this is all related to temperature and ocean temperature) When will enough people wake up and start putting pressure on governments to do something and stop lying and fearmongering that action will cause some economic catastrophe? We need change at a massive global government level NOW and while people continue to buy into the misinformation being put out in the media, there is going to continue to be a lack of pressure on governments to act.

Before I knew about sea bands, I used the patch once on a Cruise to Nowhere (an overnight cruise from I don't remember, NYC maybe, down past Atlantic City and then back again). It was autumn, the sea was a bit rough, my BFF, who I think of as having a cast iron stomach, was sick and I was fine. My pupils were HUGE and I couldn't drink anything with dinner but, most importantly, I didn't get invited into a complete strangers bathroom because it looked like I needed to vomit. She did. I hadn't thought about that cruise in years. Thanks for the memories. It's not a bad memory when you're on the right side of it. My BFF might have a very different memory of the cruise. If I were mean, I'd bring it up. But as it is, I'm not going to rock her boat...