I was so glad to see this pic this morning, since I just recently planted Navajo Princess and I see what I have to look forward to! Lovely, lovely bloom. Thanks!

Linda, On very rare occasions, you will get flukes. The most unusual I have seen is on a thread attached. The flower had 3 stamens. Very likely, this is a one off instance that will not happen again. Ed Here is a link that might be useful: fluke

So far, we have only had 0.05" but it is pretty cloudy and we might get more. Amy, I never, ever get the same amount of rainfall as that at our mesonet station or that recorded by our local cooperative weather observer, who just lives a couple of miles away as the crow flies (though much farther by actual roadways). That's why I have a rain gauge. Actually, we have three and they don't even always agree with one another. Rainfall can vary a great deal even over a relatively small distance. There's been times we have had a quarter-inch in the rain gauge closest to the house, and a half-inch in the rain gauge 150' away in the front garden. None of our gauges are set up where they get rain dripping off any sort of plant or structure, or where any sort of plant or structure prevents rain from falling freely into them, so I believe they all accurately record what falls. I just think rain varies a great deal more than we realize over a relatively small area. One day a few years back we sat in lawn chairs and watched it rain heavily on most of the property directly adjacent to ours, but not a drop fell on our place. It was during drought and that little popup shower didn't cover a very big area---our next-door neighbors were lucky that day, and we weren't. They recorded rain that day, but we didn't and neither did our mesonet station. The oddest thing I have noticed, and I've tracked our rain ever since we moved here in 1999, is that no matter how much our rainfall at our house varies from the Mesonet station's rainfall on a daily or monthly basis, by the end of the year, there's never much difference between what it recorded and what we recorded---maybe an inch or two at most, and sometimes not much difference at all. I guess it all evens out in the end. Dawn

Mine are always in the area of the deck. Not sure of their lifestyle but wonder if they overwinter under the deck. We just need RAIN, been so dry (just like last year when the reservoirs were nearly empty. Saw the winter forecast and they are calling for temp about 5 degrees above normal (like last year) and above average rainfall (again like last year). Only tropicals I brought inside are the tropical Ficus, Diffenbachia and Aglaonemas, and most tender palms (Coconuts, Hyophorbes, Adonidia/Veithchia), mango and papaya. I like the weather with the exception of the aridity. As long as it's seasonal I can cope, but would HATE a dry climate. I love the rain and the snow and the lushness they bring too much.