Well done Grant!!! one of the most important techniques in that book is from Mrs. Schulz's friend Mrs. Hardgrove in Arkansas. Her technique involves cutting the bulb at the base of the neck just as it finishes blooming, but before it goes into growth stage. The bulb will come into bloom again in just a few weeks and Mrs. Hardgrove is justifiably amazed and proud of her discovery. The bulbs she is using it on appear to be not hippeastrum, but amaryllis belladona the plant of African origin. I was surprised and pleased to find mrs. Hardgrove and her discovery mentioned when I read the book a couple of years ago. I figured out and defined the technique about 10 years ago for hippeastrum (amaryllis0 and wonder what other amaryllidaceae could be brought kept in the blooming stage in similar manner = heamanthus ? brunsvigia ? For 8 years I have been teaching this technique in seminars to Master Gardener Groups; Clubs: and even a few homeowners associations. Last weekend at the Florida Federation of Garden Clubs State Convention in Jacksonville FL., I was gratified to have amaryllis lovers who attended some of those seminars tell me of their successes. One lady kept her amaryllis in bloom for 4 bloomsets in under 6 months. That is one original bloomset from a new commercial forced bulb followed by 3 bloomsets expressed from bulb by decapitating the neck just above the bulb. A bloomset in these young 3 to 5 year commercial bulbs like Benfica, Pink Diamond, or Gervase bulbs is 2 or 3 flower stalks. I call my technique bloom extension[originally Consecutive Blooming] because by cutting the tips of the new leaf growth you are keeping the bulb in the blooming stage instead of letting it go into growth stage when the the new leaves ang root growt occur. You can do this with the bulbs you have in pots or in your garden. You will have difficulty with cybister hybrids and some species, but the wides range of hippeastrum hybrids is open for you to have a 4 to 6 month amaryllis flowering season. You cut the whole neck of the bulb completely off 1/4 inch above the bulb before the last stalk of the bloomset goes soft or wrinkles. E. Wm. Warren

They have a number of them here, not expensive, Les Here is a link that might be useful: Abesbooks.com

One of the Sunset Container Gardening books the Herbal Yearbook The Lavender Garden Edible Landscaping by Creasey oh, but if you have Leptosperman (of any sort, rooted cuttings pleas!) I'd like that; also homemade soap or fallen antlers from the woods (I love them, and mine are degrading in the New Orleans rains. They make nice calciam additions to the soil!) and I can be tempted....try me. Gotta be something to live in New Orleans, though. And local folk, give me a ring-I will swap for hard-to-ship items too.

Hi Lisa - I've been in a book group since 1995, so we have read over a hundred books. I do try to keep some ratings of the books we read, but I'm not always up to date. And not all the books we've read have been rated. But according to my records, here are some of our favorites - based on how much we enjoyed reading them and how discussable they were (not necessarily in any order): A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving Bean Trees - Barbara Kingsolver A Thousand Acres - Jane Smiley Cold Mountain - Charles Frazier Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood A Yellow Raft in Blue Water - Michael Dorris The Girls - Lori Lansens Snow Flower and the Secret Fan - Lisa See Snow Falling on Cedars - David Guterson Water for Elephants - Sara Gruen Sarah's Key - Tatiana de Rosnay People of the Book - Geraldine Brooks Some that haven't been rated but were group favorites were: Angle of Repose - Wallace Stegner Because of Winn Dixie - Kate DiCamillo (a YA book) Olive Kitteridge - Elizabeth Strout The Namesake - Jhumpa Lahiri Peace Like a River - Leif Enger To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee Also, The Help, by Kathryn Stockett, received a perfect 5 out of 5 from all of those who read it. Much of this is pretty standard book club fare, which is what my book group seems to prefer. The above books were not necessarily my favorites, although I agreed with many of the ratings. If I were to list my faves, they would be (not in any order): Sarah Canary - Karen Joy Fowler (Surprise!) Cider House Rules - John Irving East of Eden - Steinbeck Smilla's Sense of Snow - Peter Hoeg Motherless Brooklyn - Jonathan Lethem House of Sand and Fog - Andre Dubus Montana 1948 - Larry Watson Life of Pi - Yann Martel (close to the top of my list) Each book group has it's own personality, just as individuals do. Over time, you will discover you group's personality and will learn the types of books that work and the type that don't work. Good luck ... and happy reading and discussing.