Thank you everyone! Sorry, I forgot to post a picture of my cake! I'll post it here later on! I was very tired last night and forgot about it. Shirley, I do have seeds for some host plants already started or have yet to plant. I have common, swamp, tropical and poke milkweed, fennel, rue and parsley seeds too. Bev, I'm hopiing to get all sorts of butterflies in the yard this year! I usually see the swallowtails and many other types (including a hummingbird moth) but rarely the monarchs come into the yard. I did see one while out walking though last summer and it appeared to be a female laying eggs on the common (wild) milkweed plants! Keeping my fingers crossed! Now I'm off to go check my containers! Brad AKA Moonwolf

The first Prickled Petals X Ed Brown bloom was lavender, although the first picture was not very accurate in colour rendition. The second picture is very accurate as to the colour of today's bloom. We will have to see a few more blooms to see which colour will win out.

Just let them grow, lol! I don't do anything special to any of them. If they are going to be repeat bloomers they will put buds on right away. Definitely will bloom the first season. Once bloomers may take up to 3 years to give you their first bloom. These two were stratified January 1st of 2009. The seeds germinated about February 1st and these were their first blooms. from Angel Face bloomed on 4/13/09 from What a Peach bloomed on 03/23/09 As you can see they don't have to be very big either. I've had some bloom on a plant that was less than 2 inches tall!

Thanks Erica!! Jades weren't always the top of my priority in my collection, but once they are established, they are very beautiful and faithful growers. Unyieldingly showing great colors and shapes. The variegated breeds are much more tender, I still keep them under lights. When they burn, they really sulk for months. All the photos were taken this past weekend, so to answer your question, these are all their current state now. I believe the 'Red Horn Tree' can get even redder with colder temps and higher light. I think mine has quite a while to go.. This is how mine looks during the winter when I first got it. What is your more moisture retentive mix? I have a similar issue with my 'Skinny Finger' jade and my 'Break Dancer' jade. Now I lose the bark, and I replace it with rich loam, pumice and growstones. So my mix comprises of Turface, Grit, Pumice, Growstones and Loam (I love the fox farm ones). If I want it to retain more moisture, I just add more loam and turface. Almost immediately I see the jades react faster and hold tighter in the new mix. In the winter, since most of my plants were under lights, I kept them in nursery trays, and I water the tray every few days when its bone dry - because we usually have the heater on. The bottom watering method works really well on cuttings as it encourages the roots to dig deeper, and at the same time it doesn't wet the surface soil causing rot at the stem. If you have some budget, try investing in a seedling mat and do the bottom watering method - give bright filtered light (aka behind a window is good enough). My cuttings grow relatively well when all these conditions are ideal. btw - I went to theBrooklyn Botanical Garden Sale, it was MAYHEM! Even on the members day. There weren't much C&S in general, but if you love plants, there were an array of collections. My highlight was seeing a couple drag home the massive $40 jade plant and a couple of giant cacti.