Hey All...Sorry it took so long to respond. Because of frigid, icy weather, the outdoor phone line shorted out. No telephone, no computer. Boy, do we take electronics for granted!! Paul.. If I decide to prune the Ludisia, I might as well cut a section off each stem. For one, it'll be even, compact..second, I'll have multiple cuttings to work with. A couple in water, soil, and mom. I'm hoping it'll bloom, we'll see. While my computer was down, I viewed old plant journals. Starting from the late 80's into early 90's..When I started these journals, I didn't enter much about plants..'they're actually diaries.' The last 10 or so years I changed the format. The problem now is, since the puter's running, finding time to go through each diary. lol Jane..You summer orchids outside?? In sun or shade? One year I brought out orchids..they were placed on a shelf, third down from the top, before tall bushes. Every single orchid burned..the leaves were as red as ripe tomatoes. lol. I still don't know how it happened since they were low on the shelf, facing north, oh and under a huge tree. Most plants don't grow in the area, including grass. How do you manage? Boop, I hope you're feeling better and NY warms up. You aren't the first person who mentioned ice and snow in the Big Apple. Did your dad give you all the plants in his solarium? BTW, he's one lucky man..God, I'd love a solarium. Do you know which plants he has that were given to him from his parents? Boop, your DR is gorgeous. So cozy. I love everything from the carpet to chandelier. Beautiful. There are several sites regarding poisonous plants. Cat Fancy lists quite a few. One problem I noticed while browsing toxic plants, 'we have birds and dogs,' is they list plants that 'might' be poisonous. Finding a plant 'according to some sites,' would be impossible. lol. Dieffenbachia is one plant I'd never have around children/pets. When our son was 2-yrs-old, he bit into the trunk..Not once but twice! Thank God he was okay, but to this day, I wonder why he chose to chew a plant that was poisonous. At the time I had about 75 plants, one Dieff. There are others as or more toxic than Dieff, but I mention Dieff because of the experience. This happened in 1982..it was many many years before another Dieff entered my house. However, don't give up growing. Everyone kills plants in the beginning. Mostly by over-watering. Over-watering is the Number 1 plant killer. There are books, online articles and GW to learn. Most here can offer great advice. You said your cats are older, but what about the toddler? Is he/she still a todler? lol One more thing. You said the cats ate 'flowers' from outside? Did they munch on flowers or stems? What type of plants were they? Toni

Susan..Did you get every Hoya he has? lol...you're finished ordering, RIGHT!! :) j/k. I say the same, then, either someone discusses a plant, a pic is posted, or while searching for one, another, 'I JUST HAVE TO HAVE, is sought. Besides Accents, Ebay is addicting, and many many beautiful greens are for sale. If you seriously don't want to add more plants, stay away from Ebay. lol Karen, sorry about your Accent plants. Did you notify Accents? Accents usually has two names printed on the pot..Common, then in small lettering, above the common name, is its Botanical name. Except for a few Begonias, I always find the common names by Googling. Cowboyflowerman has decent plants, too. I've bought several plants from him the last 4-5, maybe longer years..Including Hoyas. Come to think of it, my all green Sweetheart/Heart Leaf (Kerri) and reversed color H. Kerri, may be misspelled, came from Cowboy. The green was purchased many years ago, from his site, prior to him selling on Ebay. Throughout purchases, I've only had order problem, but I didn't leave neg feedback. It was a mistake, no biggie..the Philo sent was nice, too..just not the plant I wanted.. So, you're right again..I guess this is what makes a horse race..:) Toni

pistilo, actually Katrina, and even more so the several hurricanes before Katrina, did hit the tropical plant industry REALLY hard. I work for a professional interior landscaping company, and some plants simply became unavailable, or they were so scarce that the prices were outrageous and the quality lower than normal. The reason is that almost all of the tropical foliage on the east coast is produced in Florida. Some plants were damaged by the hurricane itself. Many of the other plants are grown under shade cloth for protection from the intense sun, and the hurricane ripped away the shade cloth and perhaps knocked down the supporting posts too, so the plants burned. Plus the power went out for days, so they couldn't run the irrigation systems, and the plants dried up as well. It took many, many months to be able to get decent big plants again. Some of the huge ones that take years to grow up still aren't available at all. I believe some of the growers are considering just giving up, because they are tired of rebuilding and getting knocked down over and over again. Plants are also produced in California, and some overseas, but shipping costs make it prohibitive to send to the east coast.

Oh Maggiepatty, you're too funny! Thanks for the chuckle. Our TV room is on the north side of the house. It has East, West & North windows. But the downfall is even with new windows it still gets cold in there.(Old house)..but better than it was........My biggest south facing room has a Bow window. I'm very fortunate to have that... My old sewing room was also south facing, but I couldn't take it anymore (5 yrs).. I was burning up in there (Double windows). So my Mr. built me a sewing room in the nice cool basement...where I do have 1 plant actually. I have 2 hanging in the old sewing room behind lace curtains for filtering. Every room has a ceiling fan except Bathroom & Kitchen. I never turn them off. never. Photo Synthesis, your ZZ is Gorgeous. just Beautiful. Loving your little mushroom too. Tiffany, Love those flowers, so different...like they belong in a magical forest.