Ashley: The sudden change in temperature is what I would say is cause for the leaf drop. Crotons are notorious for leaf drop due to changes in growing conditions, that is why I have never wanted to try growing one. They like high humidity. I would say your croton will send out new leaves once it acclimates to the indoor environment. In Florida this year I saw Crotons growing outside in January, when nights can drop to the low 30's, so they can take some cold. Christopher

I had terrible powdery mildew on a tuberous begonia, sprayed it with sulfur fungicide and burned it, then left it to get worse with the powdery mildew. Then I googled organic solutions to the problem and found a website that told about zucchini growers in Brazil who switched to a dilute solution of milk that worked so well that they stopped using expensive and toxic chemicals. The dilution is 1 part milk to 9 parts water. Skim is better, less likely to go rancid on the plant, said the site. I made up half a cup of milk from powdered milk, diluted it and sprayed the top and bottom of the begonia's leaves and its stem. The mildew disappeared almost entirely. We'll see how it goes. Even if the respite is temporary, it's fantastic to have a solution that works. !! Yay. Try it. So cheap.

Blooms... You could always flush your container with the hose, let the water settle in the soil and let it continue to gently pass thru the container. This will disrupt the ant colony and make them flee... Then just make sure you let it dry out well before you bring it in. I would also move the container from the area where you have it so the ants won't return home!!! Just a thought.. I wouldn't use anything on my trees to get rid of ants. Like Emily mentioned, bait traps will work as well on the outside of the container... Good luck.. Laura

I have an Amana bottom freezer drawer refrigerator (ice maker in the drawer not the outside door). Opening one door gives me a view of the whole contents, not just half were you have to open both doors anyway as the French door models are designed. Although, my DS and DIL have a 4 door French with the clear view little door for bottles on one side and a ice and water dispenser on the other door front I didn't like it, seldom used the dispensers and had to open all 3 doors to find something. I suppose if it is your refrigerator you'd remember where stuff was. However, the biggest drawback was that to open the full bottom crisper you had to open both doors wide to pull it out. I use my crisper's a lot and that would be a negative in my kitchen. OTOH Side by side refrigerator/freezers greatly reduce the available space in both. I couldn't slide in a cookie sheet to chill in the narrow freezer of my previous SXS, and being deeper than wide the refrigerator part meant everything was in the way back. I am much happier with my bottom freezer refrigerator with adjustable shelves that pull out to see the way back and can configure the shelves however suits me (example was defrosting a big turkey and still have all the other shelves adjusted for the other stuff). I also have an upright freezer in my kitchen which is wonderful because a bottom freezer has limited space, as does the SXS freezer's compartment. Out in my canning/baking kitchen I have a large deep freezer, and two refrigerator-only units. To do my real kitchen over I'd have an upright freezer and a refrigerator-only unit, maybe a small ice maker on one side and a wine cooler too. But, then I'd have to build a bigger house.....