thanks again for the help.i will leave them where they at now till spring.i know i should re pot them separate. i already did that with one.prune the roots of one and the rest of them is left alone to c if there any difference in the root development. so far i notice the caudex on the root prone one getting a lot fatter from the soil line and taper up.the non prune ones soil line caudex is like a knuckle little slimmer and then get fatter then taper thin. growth on root prune ones slowed down considerably.they took longer than expected to go back to somewhat normal.leaves kinda smaller than the unprune ones.i hope i didn't make that long.i tend to do that.

Don't know if you know that there is a string of lakes on the White river that were built to control flooding on the lower Mississippe river. East of Branson is the upper end of Lake Taneycomo. (White river flows from West to East) Hollister is another nearby community, South of Branson...no lake. Forsyth and Kirbyville are both on Lake Taneycomo. Let me give you a heads up about flooding. Make sure you know about the elevations around the lake where you might want to buy. When the Mississippi is experiencing severe flooding, water is held back as long as possible behind all these dams. If you live at Kimberling City, you will have one dam upstream...if at Forsyth or Branson, there will be two. Beaver dam has had trouble in the past, so I am a bit suspicious of the additional 10 feet added to the Table Rock dam. At best, what it means to those who live near it is that it can bring the water up another 10 feet bringing the flood level to 951 feet elevation. This is the extreme case scenario, but still something the unwary may not find out until after they have moved here. The other problem is getting too close to the "river" (really the upper end of another lake) on the down stream side of a dam. When it can no longer hold the flood waters, they have to release water and people who have forgotten, or didn't know that this can happen loose "things". The old flood easements were set for the original 941 elevation before Table Rock's floodgates were raised 10 feet. Sellers and Real Estate people may not be forthcoming with this info....so buyer beware. Abstracts will show flood easements purchased by Empire Electric back before 1954, but no survey work was done. It will read something like x-number of acres are in flood easement # so and so. The lake was taken over by the Corp. of Engineers before it was ever filled with water, so now we get to deal with Bureaucrats. Also, since there was no survey (and elevation) markers here until about the mid 1980's, you can buy and find that part of your house, patio, stone wall, etc. are over the Government "Take Line", and you will be charged for "use permits" and who knows what in the future. The normal level of Table Rock is 915 to 918 foot elevation...so you can see how much it can rise. I have seen it come to the 941 (top of the old floodgate) level once...it can be scary if you live on the gentle "walk down" that everone wants. Email me if I can be of further assistance. We have lived on the Lake Front for 22 years, but stuck the house on top of a hill. ;O) Here is a link that might be useful: East of Branson

Nice pics Matt. I'm glad to see some MO herps turning up. Mike

Okay, we've taken our week vacation! We were there from August 25 to September 1st, and I'm glad we chose this time of year. It was not their peak season, and there was little to no traffic. Also, the weather was perfect! Not too hot, not too cold, and one day it was slightly overcast. So I thought I'd share my experience in Branson. The first day we did the 'Ride the Ducks' tour. It was fun, I had heard that they give traffic short cuts, but not this guide. They did take us up a scenic mountain, and then drove it into Table Rock Lake. It was pretty, the jokes were dry, and the kids had fun. Later that day we did the Titanic museum, which was very interesting, and nice and cool inside. Allow for at least 2 hours to get through it. We also had lunch at the Plantation, sorry johndeere :) but that was the worst buffet I ever had, I felt lucky to have survived the meal! The next day we did the Butterfly Farm. I'd highly recommend this, especially with kids. There was a short 3D film, and then you could walk into the Butterfly Garden. After that they had a bug room, with some interesting creepy crawlers. And then they had a mirror maze that they recommend having the kids guide you out of :) Apparently they're better at it, but my toddler kept running into the mirror. Then we napped the baby and grilled out at the Palace View Resort by Spinnaker where we stayed. We had an indoor pool, outdoor pool, toddler pool and hot tub, so we relaxed and swam that night. The third day we went to Silver Dollar City. Which was closed. So, if you are planning a vacation to Branson, check the black out dates!! Not like Disney, Silver Dollar City closes periodically through the year. So instead we went to the Wings of the World at the Talking Rocks Cavern. There are a lot of exotic birds in cages throughout, with information about them. Also, you can feed them at specific feeding times, just check the chart for times and types of birds that will be feeding. There is also a magic show, which was entertaining, especially for the kids. If you volunteer to be in the show, they did give 'cash' for the gift shop, and free tickets to the Butterfly Farm. You can also take pictures with some of the birds after the show. In the gift shop you can buy tickets to a tour of the cavern as well, which is basically beneath the store. The tour was very good, and takes about 45 minutes. Make sure you wear good shoes, the tour goes strait down and strait back up, with wet and different sized stairs that gets narrow at times. Also, you can get discounts by visiting the Butterfly Farm, the Talking Rocks Cave, the Wings of the World, and a fourth that I cannot recall. Just keep your receipts and look for the coupon (I got mine at the Butterfly Farm with my receipt). The fourth day we hit the Stone Hill Winery, very good, nice free little tour. Cute little gift shop as well. We ate at Waxy O' Shea's Irish Restaurant in downtown Branson. Fantastic food, I very highly recommend this restuarant. It is located in downtown Branson called Branson Landing. FANTASTIC!!!! There are tons of cute shops, restaurants, and gorgeous landscaping, incredible view of Lake Taneycomo, and a beautiful fountain. The fountain and music play all day, at night it has lights above and below the water. And on the hour, in the lake is a 'show' with water, fire, and lights played to music. I read that the same folks who did the Bellagio fountain in Vegas made this one. We sat at the Mexican restaurant and had half price margarita's on Thursday night. The fourth day we rented a pontoon boat at the marina for four hours. We also rented a tube, and a jetski. Lots of fun, it wasn't too hot, the prices were right. The water wasn't even cold, but if it is I assume they rent wetsuits. It's (Table Rock Lake) a very deep lake, and you can also Scuba dive. There is supposed to be an underwater town called Oasis that you can dive and also an Enchanted Oak Tree forest. Just what I read, I don't scuba :) Later that night we had a 2 hour dinner cruise on the Showboat Branson Belle. The food was decent, no booze, though. You have dinner and a host, and then you're allowed to walk the ship for about 20 minutes. Then you go back for the show. It was pretty good, I thought the Russian acrobats were the best. There was also a ventriloquist, and some singing and dancing. Use your active military discount on this one, tickets were $50.00 dollars marked down to $25.00!!! Friday Silver Dollar City was opened again, so we went there. I've been before and liked it. Lots of shopping so wear some comfy shoes. They also have several roller coasters which were AWESOME (according to my husband). There is also a kids ride section, and a kids get wet section. In the guest shop, you can buy tickets to Marvel Cave, which I've done before years ago, but we didn't get to go this time. All in all a very nice trip, and I'm not much into country and have a toddler so the dinner shows were pretty much out of the question. One thing to remember, EVERYONE WANTS A TIP!!!!! Tour guides, magicians, boat gas pumpers and dockers, everyone. so, make sure you have cash on you, that is if you feel like tipping :) Thanks! Christy BRANSON LANDING ON LAKE TANEYCOMO