By "Tahitian Ginger", I assume you mean "Alpinia purpurata, Tahitian". Since you said you were in Hawaii, I'm also going to assume that you purchased one of those small rhizomes in a plastic bag that you see at the airport. On Alpinias, once a leaf turns yellow the leaf is a goner. So don't try to save individual leaves ... you'll lose. You need to be concerned with the rhizome / root-system. Your wife may be right, there might be some root rot going on. But you can't know for sure without taking it out of the pot. A healthy rhizome will appear white (once the dirt is washed off) below the soil line. If it's browm/black and gushy ... then it's rotting. Nothing you can do to reverse that. Look for new "eyes" emerging from the rhizome ... if you find any, then _that's_ what you have to concentrate on. Those eyes would be the next generation from your mother plant. For a potted Alpinia, make sure the soil is fast-draining. We use ProMix for our potted gingers. Hope this helps somewhat. -Ray

Hi, Guys thanks for the help sorry I have not replied sooner but have been away. Sarah and Finbar I have looked for leaf miner but there was not a sign of it. In addition, Ray thanks for the advice. However, I think I might know what the problem is. It could be a copper deficiency. I have just spent about 1hr looking at what the department of Ag's web site and there is mention of deficiencies. I looked at all of them and think it could be copper. Here is an extract "The leaves are often dark green and smaller than normal, except for a few giant leaves found on vigorous S-shaped branches which emerge from stunted bushy trees. Twig growth is weak and likely to die back. "(from http://www.agric.nsw.gov.au/reader/citrus/h2311.htm) This seems to fit the bill but I am still not to sure.

Wow Ann, your TS looks way better than mine ever has. Gorgeous pictures! I've had mine a whopping 9 years which is rather a record for a grafted plant from Jackson & Perkins, and speaks to the relative hardiness of the rose in zone 5. Having said that, I probably get a total of 5 blooms max per year, each individually at the top of a tall narrow bush. Mine grows and blooms rather like Mr. Lincoln in my zone - one bloom at a time (maybe two) with nice rich color and scent at the top of a tall narrow gangly bush, with a month or two of down time before the next bloom. This could totally be affected by the winter kill in my zone, and I do find that TS is slower to recover growth from the winter than some of my other HTs. Since it wants to bloom at the top of a 4-5' bush in my zone, it takes a while to regrow that cane. I suspect in warmer zones it'd be both taller and more frequent bloomer. Bottom line for me is that it's a nice rose when it blooms and doesn't take up much space, so it's a keeper by default. This isn't necessarily a detriment to TS in general for you in warmer zones, since a lot of my HTs bloom like this in zone 5. Just my two cents. Feedback from people closer to your zone is likely to be better for you. Cynthia

We once had an MCM kitchen, L-shaped like yours. Your peninsula might have been a later addition? It might have seemed very futuristic back in the day! Our kitchen had salmon-color tiled walls lol. Personally, I would nuke the "mood boards". In a tight space like your kitchen, I think you'd want less busy-ness. Also, MCM was fond of pastels, e.g. aqua. I'm not sure that would be your thing? The grey marble/quartz/quartzite look would be reminiscent of dinette tables. I'm not sure you'd want to emulate that? Stay away from the grey countertops for this reason! Post(s) upthread notwithstanding, I see no need to make something MCM into 21st century. 21st century is the opposite of MCM (one is austere and business-like, the other is fresh and optimistic) and may lower the value of an MCM home, so I'm with you on sticking with an MCM theme. Your kitchen is going to look nice and homey when you're done! You could just do formica? This would be in the spirit of MCM, and there are ALOT of new formica patterns these days. The countertops (w/ formica) get manufactured for you with the correct angles, etc. They just get plonked on top of the cabinets. EZPZ. Instead of your architect friend's pink or green, you could get whitish with sprnkles in it? That would be very MCM. Or maybe your cabinets are slightly blue (hard to tell)? You could get a whitish pattern with the very vaguest of that color blue in it. Also very MCM. Are the pulls new? Maybe it's the lighting that makes me think they're gold? I think I would stick with buffed stainless (or whatever that metal is called): plain, plain. Glitz doesn't really go with the style of your kitchen, unless maybe you'd want to do a whitish countertop with gold sprnkles in it: very MCM. IMO. Maybe get MCM light fixtures? A couple of MCM doodads: 50's style containers for sugar, etc., a retro toaster, a fiesta ware piece or two.