Hey, Howard! I'm glad I stopped by on this beautiful Sunday morning... a question for me? :) Funny, I was just outside taking pictures and killed my camera battery. I've made some very good progress with recent attempts at sowing Echeveria, I'll come back with some pictures a bit later. As far as pollination goes, I find it very easily done. Honestly, I just take a fluffy brush and dip into each flower that's available. If I want to have any say-so about parentage, it's my job to get to the flowers before the bees do. I find almost every bloom produces seed, some obviously healthier than others. The nectar is very sticky and the pollen is usually overabundant - no reason for failure. As soon as the pod is dry, the seed is ready - not a moment before and maybe a few weeks of viability before they become crispy in the sun. That probably depends on the weather. You'll get used to the feel of a ripe pod - just gotta get in the rhythm of checking in on them. I'll share my new improved sowing method later when I can add some photos.

Ok...let's start a campaign...let's all collect hummingbird eggs and I'll take them to Kath in the UK...she can solicit help to incubate the eggs and raise the young...then the U.K. can have hummers too! Maybe this will be the sequel to "Calendar Girls"?! lol (I AM kidding!) Patrick

Hi! I have no gardening experience and am looking to grow a "fuller" looking rubber tree. I currently have 2 potted medium sized plants that I'd like to prune and propagate. I'd appreciate some tips on how to do so - techniques that are simple and apartment friendly. These plants are situated on an east facing window. I live in South East Asia, so temperatures year round are warm. Right now it's the beginning of summer and one of them have begun forming new leaves at the top. The other one seems much more dormant with the top leaf sightly damaged.

Kathy, the official name of your syngonium is Trileaf Wonder, a very old one and don't see it very much any more. Syngoniums will put on lobes as they climb toward higher light, so will go from 3 to 5 to 7 and even 9 lobes, and then will bloom when they have enough light. You're right in that young syngoniums have the most variegation, older ones and those in climbing mode will lose it completely. If you have enough young tip cuttings with good variegation to make a potful, I would just propagate them and toss all the rest. My prior advice to take cuttings only from variegated portions of the vine doesn't apply to this particular syngonium, any new plants springing from side nodes of a green-leaved stem should produce variegated young plants. But you'll have to cut off the tip to force nodes to grow, maybe that's why you said you had pieces that had a lot of nodes close together but none were growing. As long as the cutting has a tip, all energy goes there and side nodes will stay dormant. Cut off the tip and energy diverts to side nodes and you will see the last few nodes from the top burst into active growth. If the cuttings have aerial roots, you should be able to just plant them in a light, peat-based mix and they will grow easily for you. If no aerials, your glass of water is a safe way to propagate and produce roots. In the future, as vines start running, cut off tips to keep growth young and variegated. That will force the plant to be bushier and more attractive. Let me know if you need clarification or have other questions. Russ