Oh my goodness aruzinsky, apparently I've offended you - you're so upset you published your objections twice. Seriously, though, "people like me?" I'm not presuming to "speak" for anyone - simply using the word we in a general sense, like "we take care of plants," or "we work hard;" like a chemist might say of him/her self and others in the same profession, "we do experiments to learn about the effects of chemical substances." In that sense, "we" aren't likely to talk about eradicating insects, because eradicating is defined as "to get rid of completely," and "we" know that is impossible, and control is the best "we" can do. As in the article you site, where the researchers repeatedly use the word "control." However, to be more precise, "we," be we growers, plantcare companies, or even retail stores, generally just talk about "killing" mites, and what products and processes kill them best. If people want to use chemical controls, fine by me. I thought all the discussions of chemicals might be a little off-putting for some people, so I merely wanted to throw in my experience of success using a simple, inexpensive, easy to acquire, and safe treatment. I don't think it's a "fault in my thinking" to say I never observed damage to a plant. The point with interior landscaping is not to grow plants as big as they can be, but to keep them looking beautiful. Spots, discolorations, stunted leaves, and so on, would not be beautiful, and these things I did not see. Some of these plants were in my care for several years, and did not show any negative effects. Informal observation has value, too. After all, I don't need to conduct detailed astronomical observations to be able to say with reasonable certainty that the sun will come up tomorrow. Spider mites, as well as other pests commonly found on indoor plants, are a fact of life. (Of course, if you live in an area where the winter temperatures are regularly below freezing, you're not going to be seeing bugs floating in from outside. Thanks for clarifying that.) That doesn't change the fact that they do float around when temps are warm, and they can infect anyone's plants at any time. Some people might appreciate knowing they have alternatives other than chemical insecticides for dealing with them, call it what you will - eradicate, exterminate, eliminate, extirpate - the point is to get the little buggers off your plants.

I have ordered from them a few times... Let me start by saying they were very eager to please and correspond with me. I live in WI and mail here takes FOREVER. It took a month or more for my orders to get here (with the exception of one order that took 2 weeks for some reason). All orders were packaged immaculately and the plants were HUGE. After a month of travel though the plants were rotting in the box. They were very kind to send replacements and I was able to salvage cuttings from everything except hypolasia (which is a pain in the fanny anyway). I think the more robust leaved species do best and anything with thin leaves is a gamble but I am always game to try! Hope this helps.

I haven't been told to keep something but I haven't returned anything in 4 or so yrs either. I have been receiving phone calls saying I owe them a hundred and some $s tho. I always hang up on those. I cxl'd prime last Feb and haven't ordered anything since last Dec / Jan. and I've never been able to buy from it without them having paid the $s FIRST. but I did call and ask after another call a few days ago, but then I also had another question to ask. I was connected to a real person in just a few seconds and I had put off calling because I don't like spending time on hold for such long periods of time. and usually being on hold with companies involves horrible loud music.

Sheila, if Triomphe is the smaller of the two that's all to the good as my goal is to have all the roses in front of the house. No more Tea Rose Row, alas! I may decide to have one or two roses in the back since that's my view when I sit in my customary chair in the living room. I used to have the genuine Wm. R. Smith and I'd love to have it again some time. I'm not very fond of teas that turn red although many people love them. Kitty, I used to feed the squirrels and their population exploded. It's difficult to know what to do, for sure. I think having a dog might be a deterrent but we're not up to caring for one any more. berrypie, if you look under Classes and then under Tea Roses you'll see most of the ones I ordered.