Ok, I have read the infamous suicidal gardenias thread, then I found these instructions about gardenia growing, and so far they have proved good. So I translated them and give them to you, hoping to make growing a gardenia a pleasure and not an horrible frustration exercise. Good Luck! Put your gardenia jasminoides in a clay pot, LARGE and DEEP (the bigger the better, it will keep the right moisture at the roots, even temperature and the drainage will be perfect), with soil for acid-loving plants. In spring I spread on the ground a slow release fertilizer that I use for all plants or, alternatively, liquid manure 20-20.20 when watering every week in summer. As soon as temperatures permit and it has already begun to vegetate, I place the pot on the terrace where it�s got the sun directly from dawn until about 14.30. Light is what makes it flower. In shadow it flowered a lot less. Water with tap water, often straight from the tap to the plant. Every three / five years I change the majority of soil. In winter, when the minimum temperatures are about 3 / 5 Celsius degrees, I move it to shelter in a small courtyard. Even if the light is low, the water does not ever freeze, it�s watered with rain directly from the sky and takes even the snow .... but it melts immediately. Here are three main signals that the plant gives me and that I understood. 1. the leaves have brown tips with yellow halo slowly, slowly advancing up the leaf to dry it completely. The plant has the soil too wet. 2. the leaves, the inner ones, old and attached to or near the main stem, become yellow, really yellow, as in a forest in autumn. The plant is suffering from the soil too dry. As a result, 1., Aerates the soil, rather difficult task because I find the roots pretty much just under the surface. 2., Water deeply. Once done the above steps, clean the whole plant by removing the "messenger" leaves. This allows me to keep it better under control later. 3, sometimes, when new leaves are born, some grow all twisted and deformed. No problem I completely cut away the leaf with my nail: it will grow many more beautiful, fit and perky. I do NOT ever spray it, no more than a shower, but very rarely. NO saucer with wet expanded clay to increase moisture. In all these years, I've never done preventive pesticide treatments and I have never pruned anything! Except for a year that I had to decimate it for being infested with aphids all summer that have all malformed leaves growth in that period. The next year I have drunk it of "Confidor" (a systemic pesticide). This year, no nothing! If the plant is generally in good health, leaf texture, gloss of the same, etc. .--- do NOT worry for a few yellow leaves or a few brown leaves or the loss of some leaf: it�s a natural replacement of old leaves, normal, especially in spring. The action of insecticide and fungicide should be performed only after ascertaining the cause and intervene only when needed and never in advance. When there is a fine persistent rain let�s take it all. The soil will get rid of the salts accumulated during cultivation. When to replace the pot 1 - The first sign that the plant sends us is the more frequent watering. 2 - The second signal that it tells us when it appears to be running out a "permanent" iron chlorosis and the new leaves appear "small". 3 � We have lots of "distorted" buds growing. In this case they will open all the same, but it causes several of them to dry (this happens even when the plant bears a lot of them, because it hasn�t the strength to take them to flowering). 4 - Another thing that determines that it�s time to change the pot is NOT issuing new growth on the branches at the nodes where the leaves have fallen for the natural turnover. If the plant has chlorotic leaves on the leaves of last year use iron Sequestrene, is more direct in addressing the issue, within three weeks you will have the green leaves. If, however, is the natural replacement of the leaves, which takes place this season, the leaves are usually more clear. The gardenias aging tend to produce twigs scantily dressed with smaller leaves and become susceptible to the coupler cochineal / sooty mold. The remedy is a drastic rejuvenation: in late winter (March), take out the plant from its pot and greatly reduce the roots by removing about 5 cm. of soil on all the perimeter of the entire root ball, trying to free the roots from the old soil, do not worry if you break the roots, do it with your hands because that way is simpler and faster, nothing dangerous happens. It is very important, to avoid problems in a successful repotting to expose more roots as possible: in this way, once repotted, the gardenia roots will find new soil and will start immediately. It is essential to treat the plant well, leave it to settle and, at the appearance of new growth, begin a proper fertilization plan. At the same time the plant is cut back drastically and without fear then repot it in a new acidic soil plus, depending on the size of the pot, one or two or three handfuls of manure at the bottom plus a good drainage layer at the bottom. In a year the plant will resume great. Is it okay to start with beef blood but no more than two or three times, because using it more helps the vegetation at the expense of flowering and homogeneous growth. After repotting from the bare branches will sprout new growth, you will lose the first flowering, but if you hurry you�ll have the one before it goes dormant. To make it grow more compact, cut over a couple of leaves below the withered flower. The withered flower is cut at the base, near the branch, thus doubling the branch, so after it you�ll have two branches that grow in width instead of one. The cut must be done perpendicular to the branch so that the cut surface is smaller and heals more quickly with less risk of fungi or bacteria infection. The loss of buds in a winter housed plant is a normal thing thanks to the warmth: the heat would be good but the light isn�t enough, so the plant cannot keep up the buds. According to the plant strength, it has buds or causes them to fall throughout the year. Pruning of Gardenia jasminoides It is a plant that doesn�t need pruning: when removing the whitered flowers the plant doubles the branch. With the right fertilization the plant does not empty or becomes straggly (it keeps being bushy) even after many years of cultivation in pots. Of course it needs to be well nourished so that it can carry on * all * of the vegetation and doesn�t not have to let go buds or leaves. Propagation. just cut an apex, remove the leaves along the branch to be buried directly in soil for acid-loving plants. Water thoroughly, cover the cuttings with a well placed in the ground half cut plastic bottle. Better to use the part with the cap, because if it creates too much condensation inside the bottle, opening the cap it decreases, and it can be close after it. Occasionally check that the substrate is not too dry. In this case water it again. By following these few rules cuttings root quickly. So easy that I have done it several times in winter, take cuttings, prepared as above, at home in a good light and let it take care of itself. Chlorosis If the plant is subject to it, no point in using Sequestrene, the plant is telling you that the soil is depleted and must be replaced almost completely. By doing so for several years you will never see more chlorosis on the plant just watered with tap water, until the next soil exhaustion.> This is the link (with pics) of the author of the directions above. http://freeforumzone.leonardo.it/lofi/Gardenia-jasminoides/D5118047.html

I have had some of the thorny Asian eggplants and decided that I didn't care for any use I could think of for them ... Maybe, Morellel De Balbis is similar. This year, I tried growing Chinese Lanterns as an ornamental. Wow! If some in the family can take a frost, Chinese Lanterns proved that they wanted only the most pleasant conditions and my June garden didn't provide it. I'm not sure if they will ever bloom. They barely survived the seesaw temperatures in the early season. Anyway, here is an article in Mother Earth News about the Marellel De Balbis. They say, "will take light frosts to as low as 25 degrees Fahrenheit without much damage" so there's some confirmation on frost hardiness. I wonder if I'd had that inadvertent test of tomato cold tolerance by 2010 when I wrote the above post ... those were plant starts and I moved flats of tomatoes out of my heated greenhouse into an unheard plastic hoop house just in time for a light frost. Those tomatoes had never experienced anything below 60°f. Those wonderful Bloody Butchers, which can produce so early, died! It was only 37° ! I know it was that temperature that killed them because they were sitting right beside the thermometer. Here's the strange thing: the Bloody Butchers were in the middle of the hoop house. Some tomato plants were much closer to the plastic film. Branches died, leaves died ... no other plants died amongst the others! So, later maturing varieties survived the near-frost conditions better. I really think that setting fruit is what is often being taken into account when accounting for early maturing. It doesn't necessarily have anything to do with hardiness ... maybe in a few more years of plant breeding, it will. Steve

I need some serious advice, and all of you seem like very good people with sincere approaches to coping. My brother took his life eleven months ago today. I so dread the one-year anniversary. This was not his first attempt, but was the only time he tried that he really meant it. The other times clearly were a call for attention. This time, there was absolutely no stopping him. I'll spare you details and get onto my two issues. First, I have been paralyzed from having any relationship with my sister-in-law since my brother's passing. I know I need to reach out to her, but I simply cannot. About three weeks after Chad's passing, my sister-in-law called to ask me a favor, which I quickly performed. During the conversation, though, she digressed into telling me about the last conversation that my brother had with Mom and Dad. It was very clear that my sister-in-law blames my Mom and Dad and my brother's upbringing. This caused two problems for me. First, it really made me question who I am ... if Chad and I shared the same upbringing and Chad took his life, what does that mean for me? Second, we all have to have our own "reality" about why Chad passed in the way that he did, but my reality cannot be to blame my Mom and Dad in any way whatsoever. In fact, my relationship with my parents is stronger than it ever was before. The day that my sister-in-law and I had this conversation was absolutely the most difficult day of coping that I have had. I was literally in the car on the way to work when she called, and I had to pull over, get out of the car, pace and cry while we talked and for a long while thereafter. I could not make it into work for two days following. Hence, I have not been able to make myself call her in months. At forced family gatherings, there is a tension but we're cordial. But, we have no relationship. I hate that, but I'm so apprehensive too. My dad is begging me to call my sister-in-law, and I cannot tell him that I can't call her b/c she blames him and Mom. I've written eight letters to her in an attempt to explain why it is so difficult for me, but I haven't had the courage to mail any of them yet. My second issue is that a couple of months before Chad's passing, he announced to the family how proud he was of himself for quitting smoking. He said it was all because of the anti-smoking pill Chantix. Now, I've learned that the FDA has linked Chantix to suicide. I've carried a ton of anger since Chad's passing and now I'm mad at hell at the pharma company. To make Chad a class rep in a class action against the pharma company may give me an outlet for my anger and grief, but I don't want to be the selfish little sister that drudges the rest of the family through even more pain. Of course, my sister-in-law would have to be on board and that would require my talking it over with her. I'm an attorney by the way.

Sara, Ion beat me to it and gave you some good advice. I'll offer a bit more clarification on some questions you may have. It is a little difficult, as it's hard to discern how much knowledge you have in this area. I don't want to offer information which would be redundant to you. "1) Grounding of the furnace My generator's ground is connect to the ground prone of three prone plug(other two prone are not connected) through a 12 gauge wire and plug into an outside wall outlet. Is this good enough grounding for the generator? if I plug the furnace wire into generator, is this good enough grounding for the furnance?" Assuming you are simply using a pigtail on your furnace, as Ion mentions, do not connect your generator to any of your house wiring system. I would treat the system as simply a portable generator system for NEC purposes. Namely, simply plug your three prong pigtail into a three prong extension cord and plug your three prong extension cord into your three prong recep on your generator. No ground rod is required. Lastly, make sure the neutral in your generator is bonded to the equipment ground and the generator frame. Most generators are set up this way, but some aren't. It should say in your generator manual, but also do a check to make sure. You should see a wire bonding the generator to its frame. You should also see a jumper bonding the neutral to the equipment ground, but you may have to take off a cover to observe this. Your generator should have GFCI for the 120V receptacles. You don't need any other ground protection than this. Remember it's really the neutral that protects one against most faults which could cause electrocution. What most people call the "ground" is really a case ground (or equipment ground) which is ultimately "bonded" or connected to the neutral at some point. It's the "bond" of the neutral and case ground which really provides the fault protection when voltage leaks to the case. A ground rod doesn't really provide any protection in this sense. Let me give a real world example (I hope I'm not offering info. redundant to you here.) Decades ago, before case grounds (or equipment grounds) were installed on refrigerators, people were sometimes electrocuted from them. What happened was this. The refrigerator had a two prong plug - one for the lead, and one for the neutral (i.e. return current). The refrigerator would get old, wires would fray, or the motor would start leaking voltage. A lead wire would touch the case, or the motor would leak enough voltage the case/housing of the refrigerator would become energized. Maybe from time to time one of the family members might notice the refrigerator would "shock" them. It wasn't a bad shock, because the impedance was too high for the return path from the case through the persons body to the neutral. In other words, the path of electricity wasn't a good connection. They had shoes insulating them, etc. One day one of the family members, while getting some milk out of the refrigerator, spills some on the floor. It's early in the morning, so they're in their bare feet. They mop the milk up, but the floor is still wet. They grab the handle to put the milk back, but now the impedance is much lower (the combination of a wet floor and bare feet make a much better path for electricity). The current flowing through the person causes a constriction of the hand muscles. They can't let go of the handle. They can feel they are being electrocuted, but there is nothing they can do about it (by themselves). After a few moments, the same current causing constriction of the hand muscles makes the heart labor to keep it's rhythmic beat. After a short period, it stops beating altogether. By installing a case/housing ground (i.e. the third prong on the plug) a low impedance grounding conductor provides a direct short in the circuit if there is a lead fault in the refrigerator housing. The path would be from the lead, shorted to the case, through the case ground wire, back the the main panel, where in the main panel, the neutral and the case ground buses are bonded (connected). This direct short will "pop" the breaker, or blow the fuse. So long as the third prong on your pigtail is grounded to the case of the furnace, and the neutral and case ground are bonded on your generator, you won't be electrocuted from your furnace. You could still be electrocuted from your extension cord lying in a water puddle, or wet from rain if the outlet on your generator isn't gfci, but all newer generators are supposed to have gfci receps. "Why all this precaution when it comes to wiring the furnace, like separate circuit?" NEC requires all stationary appliances to be on their own circuit. So the main answer to your question is that it's code. The reason for the code requirement is to avoid people putting a lot of appliances on one circuit, causing the breaker to trip. Let's say you have your refrigerator, deep freeze and furnace on one circuit. One day the breaker trips rendering all three appliances dead. It normally happens when you are on vacation, so you come back to your house with all your food spoiled and your pipes frozen/broken. As a bonus, the water thawed enough to run for three days, flooding your house. NEC code allows an exception for any associated furnace equipment (humidifier, condensation pump) to be included on the same dedicated circuit as the furnace. "Olpea mentioned electricity generated by generator is of poor quality and can damage furnace. a 20 amp surge protector can prevent the damage to furnace from happening, right?" Unfortunately surge protectors really do very little in this regard (I'm referring to the surge power strips). A good one will prevent a major surges until the material inside is "consumed". This can happen with one surge. They won't prevent voltage drops. They also do nothing to correct sine wave distortion and frequency stability, which are also hard on electronics. My main point was not to try to talk you into a new generator but to keep your generator lightly loaded if you need to run electronics like your furnace. That will at least provide more stable voltage. Re: Inverter generators When I mentioned inverter generators, I was thinking of high quality Yamaha or Honda inverters, which are pure sine wave inverters and known for producing the cleanest power. Ion is correct, cheap inverters produce a poor waveform (as do cheap non-inverter generators). I disagree with Ion that electronics are not sensitive to power quality. I believe the opposite to be true. This post is a lot longer than I intended. Didn't mean to write a book.