I've got some Japanese vegetable seeds that I haven't listed in my profile yet. Please excuse the rough translations but these packages are in Japanese. Sweet Pepper "Shishitou Tougarashi" Greens "Katoun" Greens "Mizuna" Mustard Green "Takana" Eggplant "Hitokuchi Nasu" Seeds are packaged from "Anzen Seed" in Los Angeles, CA. Email me if you are interested. I also can get other Japanese and Chinese veggies from a local market. I'd love to have a reason to go picking through their selection for other things if there's something specific you are in search of, but the pickings are starting to get slim!

If you are going to get the Shinko, a good pollinator is Shinseiki. They bloom at the same time in my yard and my son-in-law's yard (both Houston). The shinko is good as long as you don't get too much rain near ripening. They will be bland with the rain.....dry periods good. Shinseiki is better in my opinion, but it needs a pollinator. Shinko fruits without a pollinator, but much more fruit with a pollinator. Shinko does get blight....I lost mine after about 8 years due to blight....it was bad that year. I replaced my shinko with Tennosui. First time fruiting last year. Was not impressed with fruit. Mine were not crisp and low flavor. Tree may still be too young. I prefer crisp pears and my favorite is Southern Queen, sweet, flavorful and crisp. I may replace my Tennosui with it's sister, Southern King if the fruit don't improve. The Akers (acres) Home pear is very good. It is excellent flavor and sweetness after a week or two off the tree. No problems with blight, but it does have rot problems. You may have to spray.....don't know about San Antone. I think the rot problem may be why it is not pushed much anymore here, but it is excellent. I pulled mine due to rot and it is a melting pear and I like crisp.

I planted a few oriental lilies the fall before last and got very good results. I used the varietal Josephine that I got as bulbs via a catalog order and also some called Maru that I got as freebies from a friend that bought the potted and already blooming kind at Lowes [and was letting them die in their pots so he gave them to me]. Anyway... I planted them in the front bed with ammendments and bonemeal because the soil is clayish. I left the bedraggled stems on the ones already growing stand so they could capture what little energy they could on their few leftover leaves. Last year all of them came up and were extremely healthy. Every one of them bloomed as well. There was one in the shade of a tree and it's leaves were rather floppy and pathetic compared to the others but that tree has since been removed by roommate who was worried about it falling on our cars. I was so impressed by them that I bought a bag of mixed oriental lilies and put those in the other spots were there weren't any. They are pretty big and showy so I planted more muted stuff like bee balm and ajuga around them so the yard has an overall balance. Of Note: My roommate uses pine needle mulch in the front yard so the soil is rather acidic, and as other posters have said, oriental lilies seem to like that. Looking forward to seeing how much they have multiplied this coming spring. Also of note: They emerge from the ground rather late so just be patient and remember where you planted them.

Lilies are not really happy as houseplants and you should plant it outside. If the leaves and stem have turned brown, you can remove the dead stem, shake off the dirt and plant the bare bulb about 6 inches deep in soil amended with plenty of compost. You want an area with good drainage (no low spots or areas where water stands) If the stem and leaves are still green, leave the stem attached and plant the entire contents of the pot as stated above. After planting, water it well and forget about it till next spring. Full sun is preferred , but somewhere with six hours of sun will be fine.