Hi Mike and everyone, Been away awhile, but badly needed a Citrus Forum "fix" during this historic winter! When I checked in, the first post I saw was a "name this pest" sort of question, and I said "That's CLM!" Lol, when I first came to this forum, I didn't know what a kumquat was...or a perched water table. This is a great place.... The rosemary oil is great! I have a key lime that the spider mites just won't give up the ship though. Even so, their occasional attempts to re-appear are feeble at best :-). I love the rosemary oil aroma, and I'm not concerned about spraying it in the house during winter if that became necessary. If you remember, I tried never putting my trees outside and it's been working for me, so far. SO....More snow on the way! I always said what "sold" me on citrus was seeing a ripe kishu mandarin hanging on my own tree, in my own window with snowdrifts in the background. Wow, I was sold! And sounds like I'll be re-creating that image with a key lime on Monday... Regards, Mary

**** for TM and Bobbie The gentleman in question is William F. Buckley. He founded The National Review, wrote spy novels featuring Blackford Oakes as his protagonist, and hosted the show Firing Line from 1966 to 1999-bet he chose that year to end it just because of the number as related to 1966! He served as delegate to the U.N. in 1973, and was on the board of Amnesty International from the late 1960s until 1978 when he resigned over their stand against capital punishment. Buckley became close friends with liberal Democratic activist Allard K. Lowenstein. Buckley featured Lowenstein on many Firing Line shows, publicly endorsed his candidacies for U.S. Congress, and delivered a eulogy at his funeral. He was also friends with economist John Kenneth Galbraith and former senator and presidential candidate George McGovern. He often featured or debated both of them on Firing Line and at college campuses. He went to Yale and was a member of the Skull and Crossbones club-very secretive group. He formed the Young Americans for Freedom group and helped his brother get elected to the Senate in NY. I am happy to say he served only one term and was defeated by Daniel Patrick Moynihan in 1976 (he is one of my favorites-we used to see him sometimes when we went to brunch in DC at his local Sunday morning hangout-I always wanted to speak to him, but it seemed intrusive, so I never did). As TM hinted, he loved sailing. He also loved his wife Pat, and loved intellectual sparring. Like Bobbie, I don't read the books he devoured and I am afraid I never will, but I did love to listen to him speak and read/watch as he calming skewered someone in print or in person. I am in awe of great thinkers, even those who have a dark side in their views (IMHO-ha). Oh, and just for fun, here are the words and Buckley's meanings in his book The Lexicon: 1. Hemidemisemiquaver: a sixty-fourth note; i.e., thoughts or frustrations lasting for only passing seconds. 2. Limn: to become visible, traceable, detectable as to features or form 3. Penumbral: shadowy; done under the cover of darkness; concealed 4. Sacerdotal: of or relating to priests or priesthood 5. Solecism: a breach of the formal rules, usually of syntax 6. Solipsism: the idea that, actually, only you exist 7. eristic: finely argumentative 8. Diapasonal: a musical term which suggests fully orchestrated; full; harmonious 9. Anfractuous: full of twists and turns; winding; tortuous Brobdingnagian: huge(from Swift's Gulliver's Travels) Have a wonderful day all. Thanks for playing. I have already taken three extra strength aspirin to combat the stiffness from weeding yesterday. Need to take a few more before I start today! ;) Ain't getting old wonderful? I need to start doing Yoga. Cynthia

Thanks, Faye, you are all heart! HAHA. Something about Regal Splendor reminds me of Sagae, perhaps its that energetic flip of the margin area, but it has a lot of energy IMHO. I like the look, that is certain. Okay, I feel my arm twisted, it goes on the list for maybe a short order that needs beefing out. I still have one to place, with Van Wade. And a make-up order to replace the Sugar Snap that my doxie Dolly ate (and then threw up), from the Solberg new arrivals. And Tepelus, your Praying Hands looks great in that pot with Creeping Jenny and surrounded by orphans. Sure hope it comes back for you.

We've had more than enough rain at times in the spring, and as usual, once the month of July came around the waterworks stopped, at least for a while. We had a couple nice rain showers this past week, though we could still use more. Temps have been a little lower than normal, usually mid-upper eighties for highs and seventies for lows, it's been about ten degrees cooler than usual. Hasn't been bad, unlike last year going through three months without hardly any rain to even speak of. Some of my other plants that did great last year died or were stunted from too wet a spring, and didn't bounce back well. Also, more clouds than sun in June, more sun now it's July. Karen