For anyone out there still tempted to bid on these supposed "seeds" of "rare" Anthurium, I'd like to share with you my exchange of email with the seller. But first, a bit of background. There is at least one plant on the list of plants being offered that is so rare many have been searching for it for almost 20 years! The photo used was stolen (along with many others) from the International Aroid Society website. This seller is offering 5 "seeds" for about $2 as an opening bid! I'm not going to tell you which plant, but if you've followed my by website you can figure it out. The plant was once on the cover of the International Aroid Society journal and many of us have been trying to find it for years! A botanist is in South America right now looking for the specimen since new information recently became available. And this seller supposedly has seeds of this very rare Anthurium for $2.00??? The seller has now admitted they don't even have any of the seeds offered! Here is the email exchange: I asked via eBay email: "I noticed you illegally stole the photo of this plant and many others from the International Aroid Society website. Your infraction has been reported to the officers of the society. I'm curious, do you even know this species is extremely rare? Do you know that there is not a botanical garden in the Unites States that even has one? Do you have this plant? Where did you possibly get seeds of a plant this rare? Makes me wonder? Are you even legitimate? I think I'll report this to eBay as well. Right now!" And the seller responded: "Hi, Actually the seeds are at US. I am just a trader not a botanic expert. I buy several seeds through internet and again sell them. The photos and descriptions were sent by the seller. I'm aware of the photos but the seller says that we are not selling mother plants just seeds so the photos are for just to give an idea of the plant, what the buyer should expect from the seeds. Thank you for your interest. Kind Regards, ladybotany" Some of this sellers offerings are now up into the hundreds of dollars for 5 "seeds"! Seeds that are likely nothing more than "make believe". Seeds the seller admits they don't even have! So, is anyone foolish enough to bid on seeds the seller admits they don't have? Seeds, some of which are so rare botanical gardens can't get them? From a seller who admits they know nothing about Anthurium species but still calls themselves "ladybotany"? From a seller who will steal photographs in order to make the sale of "seeds" from plants they don't even possess? From a seller that uses a Hotmail address to cover their tracks? From a seller who is not even charging enough in postage to safely pack and ship any seeds at all? From a seller whose only feedback is from things they've purchased, never sold?? If you are still willing to bid on any of these "seeds", I've got a bridge in New York City I'll sell you cheap! You could make a fortune charging tolls to cross that bridge! This smells exactly like a cleverly disguised scam! And the seller didn't even do enough homework to be clever! This offering is obviously aimed at the people of Indonesia who are willing to pay very high prices for Anthurium plants and seeds. What was it P.T. Barnham supposedly said about a "sucker born every minute"? This one is looking for a bunch of suckers. And they will probably find them unless eBay stops this entire mess! Buyer beware!! __________________

I've been looking for a regional source of A. bornmuelleriana for about a year now, but to no avail. It looks like I'm going to have to go mail order, but if anyone can recommend an upper midwest nursery carrying the Turkish Fir I'd be very grateful. My understanding is that this Fir is more tolerant of dry soils than most Firs, with the possible exception of White Fir, which I've already got. Of course I'm not going to dispute Resin, but I thought the Turkish Fir was a natural hybrid of A. cephalonica and A. nordmanniana. I'm experimenting with a few different Fir species and cultivars, but I'm afraid my conditions are not well suited to this genus, most of which seem to like moist, rich soils. I'd be very interested to know if anyone has had success with Firs in dryer, sandy soils in the upper midwest. I planted A. koreana this past summer and if it shows promise I'd like to plant several more. One grower in northern Minnesota (z3) reports that it has done very well, including the winter of 2002-'03, which they considered the acid test for their exotics. It did better than Veitch Fir and about as good as Siberian Fir.

I'm one of those "lots of flours" people. I like King Arthur for bread, and I seldom add gluten unless I add a lot of whole grain flour to my loaf. I never buy regular bread flour, I just use King Arthur. I do use it for other baking too, along with Pillsbury or Gold Medal or Robin Hood, whatever is on sale and the store has in stock right then, I haven't really seem a difference in any of those brands. I also keep rye and whole wheat flour in my freezer so they don't go rancid, I have cornmeal in my pantry and I like White Lily for biscuits. I also have wheat bran and ground flax seed for bread baking in the fridge. Yeah, lots of flours. I seldom buy the store brand, the one time I did I was unhappy, I opened it and it had bugs so back to the store it went. Annie

Your home is charming and spotless! With no offense to any realtors among us, bringing boat-loads of realtors thru and having multiple open-houses I've always felt helps the realtors and not the seller so much. Looking at your photos and getting a vibe of 'frustration' from you might I offer a few suggestions? Take or leave at will. Even tho you have decluttered, there's still a lot of 'little things' around. You seem to love greenery in pots and vases and I would ditch ALL of them with the exception of the one on the shelf in the bathroom. Only keep any REAL plants (including ditching the orchid in the LVRM if that's not real). Take the brown blanket off the sofa, and the throw off the wing chair. Are you planning on leaving the draperies in the LR and DR? If not, take them down right now so it's not even an issue - and besides, they read "heavy". Could you remove the table in the foyer, plus the thing on top of the rad? (It will make the foyer feel bigger - plus it is so unique in its size - let the next buyer find their own). Along with storing that table, try to store the wicker chair/foot stool in the downstairs room. Master Bedroom: take Everything off the top surfaces, pictures, more greenery, on rad, etc. While you are at it, pack away most everything on the LR mantle. In the 2nd bedroom, can that little cube be placed within the knee-space of the desk? About the kitchen: That cabinet shown in the photo - on the right side - storing dishes, etc. : could some 'lookers' be interpreting that as 'not enough room to store dishes; guess we'll have to fin a piece of furniture like that to fit this space'? If so, maybe pack up the dishes and only show some pretty things - or cookbooks, or non-essential things - or maybe even there is where you can prop some of your framed photos along with a greenery or two. Your house is so welcoming and comfortable looking. I would make very sure that your realtor translates the room sizes to prospective buyers BEFORE scheduling a showing. It is not only a waste of their time (realtor and buyer) but yours as well. You're lucky you work full time and thus hopefully most showings could happen during the day. Trust me, I know what it is like to have to vacate a home for showings and then not to be able to return because the 'lookers' got talkative in the driveway! If they make an offer, fine.....talk all evening. But don't hold me up from returning to my own home if you are discussing the buyers REAL needs!