Japie - any growing tips on that T.dodsonii? I would love to get it to flower - the large flowers look very nice from pics I've seen. Care to show us yours flowering? Gonzer - I call that T.juncea the "Finger up" till, 'cause it always seems to flower one at a time, in that very gesture! The white-flowered one comes from a different locality to the usual violet-flowered one, but I don't know where. Yes, I'm very happy with my T.beutelspacheri, mouthful that its name is. I saw your plant (AND your real name :)) on the fcbs photo index. That yellow branched flower spike is a beauty! Is that a stake holding the spike up? Would it be pendulous if you didn't support it? What conditions do you grow yours in? That X Canmea is begging to be mounted in a tree in very bright light. I might wait 'til winter is over to do that. John and Agatha - V. 'Zapita' is a stunner. I love its shape after its V.racinae grandparentage, but it is very sloooooow growing. BTW - That GW party apartment in New Orleans sounds a great idea! Start saving now! Here are the last photos of the rest of the scrum buys. Some of them do look like they suffered in the crush, like me. As can be seen by my purchases, obscure species always do it for me. 1.Behind - Vriesea tuerckheimii Front - 2 x Hohenbergia leopodi-horstii x ? 2.Behind - Guz. musaica - third and final attempt at growing this tropical treasure. I will try growing it in my new greenhouse. Front - Guz. musaica forma rosea - rather dilapidated already from its abrupt removal from the tropical north, and Catopsis compacta, adding to my growing collection of catopsis. 3.Tillandsia stellifera - the smallest of the tectorum family. Unc Derek gave me this tiny one :) So that's the haul. They should improve with age, unlike me. HDD - Have you received your Aussie broms from Michael yet? If so, wanna show and tell? Cheers, Kerry

Hello again Mike, You did real well with your choices. I think the Bil.'Caramba' you have there was grown in shade. Some I've seen pics of are red/maroon color,sort of like B.'Halleujah'(see my pic below).Maybe others with more Bil.experiance can help out on how to grow it for color. That Q.marmorata 'TP' is one of my favorites,and should give you a nice grouping in time.I think that Hoh. will likely develop that same pattern as the one of the previous BSBC show.Really different and showy. All selections are very nice. That sure was a Fun day,so much to look at,so little time. I'll post my pics of the plants I bought when they get here later this week.Sure was good to see you again,and all the other GW'ers Bob [the photo B.'Hallelujah']

Hello all, Time to pop this thread back to page one since my FoL sale is this week. It starts on Saturday (with crowds waiting at the doors) and ends tomorrow. I confess that I left with far more titles than I should have but then again, I do the same thing every year. My haul: Lark Rise to Candleford by Flora Thompson Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman Ten Days that Shook the World by John Reed Letters of a Woman Homesteader by Elinore Pruitt Stewart Geisha by Liza Dalby (this one looks "iffy" but my daughter said, "go for it, Mama", so I did.) How to Think Like Benjamin Graham and Invest Like Warren Buffet by Lawrence Cunningham (yea, well, reading about this stuff is kinda fun for me...) Sea of Glory by Nathaniel Philbrick Green, Inc by Christine MacDonald In the Beginning (the story of the King James Bible) by Alister McGrath Down the Nile by Rosemary Mahoney Swimming to Antarctica by Lynne Cox The Boy and the Samurai by Erik Christian Haugaard Changes at Fairacre by Miss Read Sailing Alone Around the World by Joshua Slocum Less Than Angels by Barbara Pym Main-Travelled Roads by Hamlin Garland Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, An American Childhood and The Writing Life by Annie Dillard A Moment on the Earth by Gregg Easterbrook Book Business by Jason Epstein In the Garden of Papa Santuzzu by Tony Ardizzone Life of Pi (illustrated hardcover edition) by Yann Martel Whew... now it is time for tea, popcorn, and an evening of reading! PAM

My county library system (1 main, 4 branches, 12 affiliate libraries) actively collects donated books all year-they are lucky enough to have donated warehouse space, and a core of fervent devoted volunteers who sort weekly. They have also acquired a couple web-savvy ones who have started putting the very valuable books into internet auction-an ancient Boy Scout manual brought thousands! They also sell deaccessioned books from the library shelves, but they are a small proportion of the whole. Most of the nearly-new books are donated-people who buy a book, read it once and then get rid of it. A lady came up to the library circ desk on Tuesday and handed me the newest Anne Perry Christmas novella. It has been out all of a few weeks. She'd read it-did we want it for the next sale? I donate any hardbacks I don't want anymore-those I acquire through swapping, buying at last year's sale or gifts-to the sale. I also donate any paperbacks which have been on my trading lists for a long time. The better to make room for next year's haul. Our book sale is held in a roller rink-an enormous barn of a place. Literally tens of thousands of books, easily. All organized by catagory and set out on tables, filled boxes of more of the same underneath. You always see people on the floor under the table going through the boxes-often with little flashlights.