Bernd, thanks for the nice comments. I don't remember how many seeds I grew to get these. I usually grow between 2000 and 10,000 seeds in any given year. A lot of times one cross will work really well and it is harder to cull, while other crosses may give you only a couple keepers or none at all. I'm guessing I grew between one and two hundred seeds from the IAT x Komodo Dragon cross. As far as stability goes, the ones with the cream border and the white center are probably the closest to stable plants. Streakers may settle to an edge or medio pattern quickly or it may take years. Even ones that stay streaked for years generally eventually have eyes that start to settle and take some effort to keep them a streaked plant. Dan P.S. Here's one more IAT x Komodo Dragon seedling from that same "batch" This post was edited by dansgrdn on Sat, Oct 26, 13 at 18:43

Softball, I see some good ideas for next year in your list. The kids gave us a digital picture frame for all our pictures from when we got married to now, 40 some years later. Can't remember what it is called. It plays them or freezes. Older DS loaded it so we could use it as soon as we opened it. I had forgotten some of those pictures. Gads, I looked thinner and better in my younger years! I wanted and received a screech owl house from younger DS. We live close to a preserve, and this area is over run with mice and rats. I wish I could have gone for a barn owl house for the rats, but they make too much nocturnal noise for us and the neighbors. This will help and be interesting to watch. DH gave me a new closet to be installed later. New shelves, rods, etc. by California Closets. We are not do it yourselfers and the builder's lousy rods and shelves are kaput.

I have an "EPI", so called Mexican Orchid that DSIL left on the side of the house when he & family went to Okinawa.....I didn't want it. It is beautiful and in California Central Valley it thrived, outdoors in a covered screened patio. It has been here in So. Or now for 12 years and it has survived, but only on its' own terms. It used to bloom on Mothers' Day.....and today it (needs to be put in the garage) has 24 buds that need another warmer month to bloom. Every year it has been more prolific and I think we have 4 huge cocoa baskets that cascade a couple of feet. When we move it for winter, we usually lose some of the growth that I can't throw away, so every year I have many new starts to share. We leave it in the garage winters, with only light from the windows in the garage doors, and it survives our long absences while we do our snowbird thing, being gone 6 to 8 weeks with no water. It turned out to be one of my favorite things...and yet I don't really "know" much about it.

Not sure what style you are looking for but here are a few not too far over your budget .. $29 and $39 left to right (Nordstrom). In a slightly higher price range (sharing in case someone else is looking), I got the one below for my nephew-- he specifically asked for another from the designer who made the one I gave him last year. I was really pleased with both of them. They were both about $75. This year's last year's (also available at Sundance-- and i think they still have 30% off everything?)