Good pictures! Lucky you to find a source for houseplant begonias. The first two are rhizomtous so will not tolerate overwatering, but don't panic if they dry. If B. 'Escargot' is doing fine, congrats, as many people struggle with it. If you are going to overwinter it and 'Cowardly Lion;' they will need additional humidity, but that is just my opinion. The two Rexes are thin leaved and will not tolerate direct sun, they must have good humidity too, will probably be okay if grown closely with the others, the closer they all are the better humidity for all of them. Paradoxically, Rexes need strong light to hold that red color. I think you are doing fine.

Good job picking up that Frithia pulchra! They've been showing up recently for the first time in my area. I bought all 4 the first week, then all 4 the second week, (I always get multiples for seed production) so now I have 8 and mine are flowering too. The flowers are taking a long time to open so be patient. Yes, they have similar care to Lithops and other Mesembs but they seem to like to stay moist, being from the grasslands. Also, they seem to prefer more shade than other Mesembs. Some sun won't hurt but I would give it the same amount of light as you would a Haworthia or Gasteraloe, limited sun, bright indirect light. Keep it from turning pink. If the leaves feel soft to the touch, it needs a little drink but don't soak it, just a sip. The condition you describe of your Gasteraloe sounds like it had too much sun, dried out, maybe the roots had died off. You seem to have revived it nicely so just keep doing what you're doing. Some plants have an actual dormant period and some just grow better at certain times of year. I personally only change up my routine for Haworthias, Aeoniums and Mesembs. Everything else does fine with regular watering year-round. Eventually, you'll learn to read the plants and react accordingly instead of following set rules.

Hi Laura, sorry I missed your post, you posted just 1 minute before I made my post haha! The beaches in bermuda were definitely the nicest I have ever seen. There were plenty of large rocks around the beaches, but the sand itself was really soft and fine. The beaches around my area dont compare at all! Definitely one of my favorite vacations even though I was only there for 5 days. My plumerias are doing really well. The cuttings you sent me are growing really well, the Scott Pratt is doing especially well, it put out a ton of growth this summer. The California sunset is doing well too, but I think I will give it more sun so it grows a little faster! My largest plumeria is approaching 13 feet tall (pot included) and is now the tallest tropical plant in my yard (even larger than the Adondila I bought!)so it's going to be a real challenge finding a place for that one inside. It has 3 inflos on it now but I can only take pictures of the blooms from my upstairs window! It's about a week or 2 away from blooming. Looks like it's going to have to get cut back next spring as much as I hate having to do that to my plumerias! I havent posted too many pics of my plumerias this year because they all bloomed so well last year that this year there have been barely any blooms at all. My plumeria Divine put out 2 flowers from the inflo that it made indoors and it is just now starting to make another inflo. My Pretty Princess has always been a late one to bloom and it's inflo is still a good month away from blooming. I hope it blooms before it's too late! Hopefully it will be a warm fall and nmaybe next summer the plumerias will all have enough growth to bloom like crazy again. I hope your plumerias and tropicals are all doing well! -Alex

Thanks, everyone! I love sharing this stuff with you. Have you designed a project for a larger hooked rug yet? With your new frame how large of a rug can you create? One of my first hooked projects 20+ years ago was a small rug I designed. Then later I bought a pattern that appealed to me and hooked that. I think both still need to be bound and finished (procrastinating about this step is a problem common to many rug hookers). Currently, the two projects I have lined up are a chair seat (I have five but need one more) and a new cover for my footstool. My new frame (which should arrive in less than two weeks) is the same size as my old one, but both can accommodate any size project, as you just lift the rug up and move it to work on different sections. Here's a story for you: Last night I was trying to come up with a design idea for the hooked chair seat. I looked through one of my books on rug hooking, and got nowhere with that. Then I reached for a book on folk art, thinking as I did so that it had been years since I'd opened it. Inside the front cover I found cut-out patterns my daughter Jill and I had drawn for a quilted table runner I made years ago. I didn't use the horse she drew at the time, but there it was, a perfect size for the chair seat. I feel that I was guided to open that book. Here's a picture of the pattern I drew on the linen burlap last night. I'll do some sort of design in the outer border. Now all I have to do is pick which wools I'm going to use. It's like coloring. :-)