Holiday Cacti General Discussion Part #3

couple more buds open, and better lighting, I hope a better picture.
Feel good guys, its a beautiful fall day. (hug you)

Oh gosh Jill, not fun procedures. I had five surgeries before getting a few year break from it all. In July I visited my Breast Surgeon fully expecting to be declared cured because it was my five year visit. I never in a million years expected her to say that something was weird with the lymph nodes under the left arm. She did an ultrasound and said it was a bit weird looking to her but that we would wait three months and check it again. I have a visit scheduled on November 20th. I have done a good job in not worrying myself over it. It has popped in my mind a time or two, but there being nothing I can do about it anyway, I decided worrying myself sick wasn't the route I was going to take. Not sure how I will handle bad news if it comes. I am truly hoping and praying it is Behcets causing inflammation and not Cancer. I hope the Little Miss feels better soon and that Mom and Dad don't get whatever she has. Good to hear from you and I hope to see you around more often.

Sally, so you are saying your CC is blooming now? I thought the previous pictures were taken at another time. Too cool!!! Thanks for sharing. As I said, they bring a smile to my face.

I started reading the article by Palmbob but got interupted and came back here for the link again and saw that you gals had written. I plan to take today very, very easy Sally. Hope that you enjoy your day too.

Ruby

Okay Critter or anyone else. Where or what is the source for getting Potassium for plants please?

Ruby

Happy Sunny Sunday everyone!

Yes, the article by Goeff Stein is a good one. There are so many really great places to find information there is really no reason not to have answers to all the questions that may arise.
My problem is I can not comprehend and remember it all. I need to print it out, write it down, make a file the whole mess and that is so time consuming. It is well worth it in the end especially when you enjoy propagating them as I do.

Those buds are coming along. I have been so surprised at the number of buds that pop out overnight on the stock plants in the house. This is the time of year. I love getting up each morning and just looking to see what is new.

I found this little guy when I watered the GH today. He is a little orange zygo and is still a real baby and not ready to be sold yet, but he is going to bloom. So cute. Never saw one so small have a bud. The bud could get as big as the plant. LOL Of course, they get a lot of light in the GH and sometimes their stems will fade due to the sun just as they will do in the winter when they do not get enough sun. We can talk about the affects of light on them one day if anyone is interested. I hate to take up your time and mine if you are really not interested. Maybe it is best if you just ask questions when you have them. JB

Ruby, I would suggest you google your question, it will be depend on what kind of plant you want it for and how you want to use it and a few other factors. I personally have not used it for any problems I had with my Christmas Cactus, although I know they do recommend it for certain diseases. If you do not want to google the question, then you can just search for what you are looking for. Some Garden centers may have it already mixed. I am sorry I can not help you with that. I have no diseases in my GH . The State makes sure of that with the inspections I am required to have to keep my certification. JB

Two things notable to me in Geoffs article.
One- we were discussing length of dark in terms of it being required for bloom set. It happens easily by itself for plants, that are left outside, to bloom around Thanksgiving, it seems that what we kind of agreed. But he makes the point that you might DELAY the bloom closer to Xmas by giving the plant more LIGHT in the fall.
Two- someone posted a reply and said you can use a tiny brush to crosspollinate your blooms and get fruit! THe fruit stays on a long time and is pink. Sounds neat! I might try it!


Ruby- worrying wouldn't change the test results. Its way too easy to worry oneself into the worse scenario in our heads. I bet she's being extra careful in having you back to recheck. Hope your back is not so bad tonight.

Sally, Hi, you must remember also, where he is located makes a big difference. I have a difficult time relating to the methods used by people who grow tropicals and tender perennials outside. In the summer there are similiar things we can do, but the humidity, amount of sunshine, how hot is the sun in your area, wind, even the kind of insects make a difference and that is why I try and find a thread that discusses tropical house plants. I get so frustrated trying to relate to those lucky people in the tropical climates or even the warmer climates.

One day I was doing some searching and I found a site called Gardening Know How.

There was an article of How to Make A Christmas Cactus Bloom posted by Gardening Know How in Indoor Gardening by Nikki Phipps. Please take the time to read that. It explains things so well and it is very accurate. Christmas Cactus should have at least 12 hours dark time according to her. I am inclined to agree.

http:// www.gardeningknowhow.com/Indoor/how-to-make-a-christmas-cactus-bloom-htm

As far as cross-pollination goes, I have only ever read that the most successful way is cuttings, grafting and seeds for CC. That does not mean it is not possible, but I take the easy way first.
My Cactus Bible as I call it says "Schlumbergeras, being long lived perennial plants, are, for the most part, vegetatively propagated in cultivation and all named varieties are produced in this way. While they can be grown from seed, they will not usually breed true and vegetative propagation has to be used to maintain a desireable plant but even then sports can occur."

I would love to try grafting sometime but I use the GH to grow them in and unless I keep the shadecloth on most of the summer and winter, I have a problem with the color fading. Even in the winter , shade cloth on, I still get some because then they do not get enough sun. It is very difficult also keeping the proper heat and humidity. My stock plants are all in the house and happy as little pigs digging in dirt. LOL

Ruby, I agree... glad you're not wasting energy on what-ifs. I'm sure you know there can be lots of reasons for lymph nodes to get a little congested and look "odd," so I'm glad you're following up without getting stressed over it.

Sally, I noted the light/dark points in Geoff's article also... will have to check back on what he wrote the next time I get confused about why people might be giving their CC's more light or more dark..

JB, that's an adorable baby with its outsized bud!

I don't think I've ever tried to administer just potassium... potash, maybe? Usually I go for a "balanced" fertilizer (like 10-10-10 for the N-P-K ratio) so I'm promoting root growth (with phosphorous & potassium) as well as flowers/foliage (with the nitrogen).

Many of my CC's are in full bud now--big and small pots...
I figure two more days and i can take some pictures to share.
The little ones should be cute!

G.

Hello Gita, I have dmailed you but maybe you did not get it. Please check.

When we started this thread it was to help those of us who pretty much are "nutty" about Holiday Cactus. Some people have made it known they do not want a forum or this thread to continue. I have no problem with that. I think we need to decide because those of us who want to learn more about Holiday Cactus should have a place to go and we can make that happen.

Please give me your honest opinion, you will certainly not hurt my feelings. We started this when DG felt a forum was not going to have enough traffic. Of course we proved that to be wrong, but that is not the issue here. Here is the question:

Do you want this thread of Holiday Cactus to continue here on Mid Atlantic Gardening?

Thank you for your cooperation. JB

I think it's a really informative thread and a great place to share our photos. I think there's plenty of interest to sustain ongoing discussion threads, but probably not enough for a new forum (but then I'm notorious for wishing we had fewer forums rather than more). Whether it should be here on MAG or on another DG forum, I'm not sure... would more people join in if we were over in the succulents forum? would CC's "fit" as an expansion of the orchid cactus forum?

Personally, I'm tempted to keep on as we've been doing, on the principle of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." But then I didn't know anybody was suggesting that this thread shouldn't continue... that baffles me. If you're not interested in holiday cactus, skip the thread... just like if we're sharing spring bloom photos and you hate daffodils, just skip the thread. I'm sorry to hear you've had negative feedback like that.

Thanks for your thoughts Critter. No I do not think a Holiday Cactus Forum would be necessary. The only reason I suggested it to begin with was that most of the people on the Cactus and Succ. have so much interest in the cacti and succulents of all kinds, when I ask a question about a holiday cactus it was lost in the threads and if you started your own thread with a question you were lucky to get more than one answer.

I realize this thread has not been too active and Gita rebooted it God Bless her. We started out with ten people and little by little they drop out, but they used to come back and at least check in. So much has changed in many people's lives since we started this thread it is difficult to tell if they lost interest or are they just too busy trying to survive to take time to chat with us.

I agree we get off topic quite a bit, maybe we could be more careful to keep really personal stuff in private DMail. I just want people to know we are here for them if they have a question about Holiday Cactus. If we do not have the answer in our files, we will tell them where or how to find it. I am not a Master Gardner nor do I want to be one, I have had gardens and plants all my life and I am willing to share what I have learned. I certainly do not want to be a know it all. My feeling is that I will share whatever I can to help someone and I usually say this may not be the right way, but it works for me. LOL.

If this thread can not be a pleasure and fun then I am out of here. I am a happy person with a wonderful life and I do not need outside misery or snippy comments to clutter up my life. Especially from people who do not have a clue what I am like in real life.

We will see how the majority feels and go from there. I am flexible. Thanks for your opinion. Hugs. JB

Sorry, I could certainly be doing my part to keep things a little more on topic and a little less chatty! You're right, the chat would probably be better on the "what's happening" thread, and I know it can be distracting to have people exchanging "how are you's" on a thread rather than taking it to Dmail. My apologies!

***Copy-pasting this here from my reply to JB on her D-mail to me.
****************************************

JB--
I had not yet seen today's D-mails....Been sort of busy with my daughter here.....

You have so much to contribute to the CC Thread....I would hate to see you feeling that people do
not want to visit this as often as they should. Not everyone posts all the time.
Has someone, actually, said they do not want this Thread? Then--they can unwatch it!

Let's face it--we are between a rock and a hard place....Just now--many people's CC are just starting to bloom.
I am sure they will be posting pictures with all kinds of "Ohs and Ahs" when that happens.
like me in about 2 days....
Posters come and go. It is just the way. They will post when they have something to post about...

I, personally, HATE restrictions to the nth degree of what can, and cannot be posted. Many of you already know that.
Someone mentions something--and then the topic goes a bit off center.. So what? One cannot just stay
100% on a single topic and have an "active" Thread! We are all human--we share--and share.....
It will come back around in no time at all. "Policing" of what is allowed to be talked about and what is not on a Thread
really turns me off. Sorry, Folks!!! I DO really like a looser structure--but still staying on topic to make it relevant.
Being too strict about any digressions kills a Thread--at least that is how I feel.

I ABSOLUTELY vote to keep this Thread going! You are a wealth of information JB. Would hate to have you give up.

Keep it up! Hugs to you, Gita

Will have pictures in a couple of days! Stay tuned.........:O)

Hugs! Stay well! You are a true Sweetheart! Gita

JB,
I just like to go along, all the time. Now I admit, that if I come expecting to read about CCs and there are long personal update posts, I "may' skip on past them. It can depend on whether I know the person who posts. Since I know people here I skim past any meandering if 'needed'. Others may just go away.

Since this is housed in a regional forum , I think it should be a little more tolerant of personal posts than one in a 'topic oriented' forum.

Anyone who is around DG long enough should see the pattern that threads start out on a topic and always eventually go offtrack. This one started out with some excellent information and resources. Thanks coleup and JB especially for lots of info.

Please do not get me wrong, personal stuff and fun on this thread is not my problem, I too skip over them if I am not interested. This is an open thread and it is nice to hear from people about their activities and their homes and gardens. Sometimes it helps in answering plant questions. I am the worst when it comes to getting off topic. I have been told on some of the threads to stay on topic. LOL

The question is:

Do you want this thread on Mid Atlantic?

I am up at this hour because the clocks were turned back yesterday and now I am wide awake and ready to rock and roll. If I turn the lights on all those little buds might pop. Today and tomorrow I ship plants, so you guys think about it and we can make a decision when we have heard from everyone. Oh my God it is only 3 AM. I need some coffee. JB

Personally I have enjoyed this thread and have learned a bunch about holiday cacti. Voting yes for remaining here as is.

And, I have been thankful to have at least one thread on the MA forum that has new posts on a regular basis instead of the forum "going quiet" between swaps. If my neighbors here abouts are chatting about CCs I'm happy just to know we are still out there with the potential of blossoming into a full blown forum with any number of daily choices of where to check in our topics and chats to join.

So, I have no problem with this thread remaining alive and well on this forum. At the same time , I see that this thread cannot sustain the entire forum. Lik e any gardener worth their salt, I hope this forum will come back stronger than ever and again be one of the most active forums on DG. When this happens, any probs/criticism of our Holiday Cactus thread will be small potatoes and not a focus of frustration or controversy.

JB, you have done a great job of keeping us going in a neighborly and insghtful way and I appreciate your willingness to expend your time energy and experience here. Good luck in your busy time of the year spreading the joys of CCs in very hands on ways! May you prosper!

Judy

This message was edited Nov 7, 2011 7:27 AM

A quick good morning everyone. I really wanted to show you this and see if you have ever seen one before. I have not and I am thrilled to have found it. I have ignored it for months thinking it was an early bud, when in fact is is a seed pot on my oldest fuchsia/magenta Christmas Cactus. I am still trying to properly identify this plant. It looks so much like a S. orssichiana, yet it has some S. truncata (it blooms all the time so it is hard to decide is it a Thanksgiving or Christmas bloomer) and so I merely call it a Schlumbergera and that way I do not misrepresent it. The flowers are fucshia but on many places they are called magenta. Again, take your pick. I sell it as both. They can call it whatever they want. Not my decision. Sorry I am rambling because I am trying to think about the problem as i am writing. I do know commercial breeders can get a flowering plant from seed in 18 months if they have the ideal conditions. Which I Ain't got!

I am in the process of reading up on seed raising and what to do with the pods, when,how etc. I can use all the help I can get on this one gals, so if you know it, share it. Please.

Hope you all have a good day, so far we have had a positive replies to the question. That makes me happy because you can not get much more Mid Atlantic than I am. He He

Amen!

Sure looks like a pod to me!

Yes to keeping this in Mid Atlantic

Hey Gita, I am having my coffee and trying to get going here. I have a chiropractor appt. every Friday and he was sick so they called and said it was today to make up for last Friday. Now I need to work around that. Crap. But, he keeps this old body moving so I can not complain. When your daughter goes home get back here with the latest.

I am dying to know how the daylight time affects other people. I am a mess. My body clock just does not want to cooperate. I used to go to bed a dark and up at dawn. That was easy. No clocks necessary, just birds and dogs.
Now I have no dog and the birds forgot their job descriptions and all has gone south.

Gotta go again. JB

If my vote counts, I would say stay as is. The only reason I was not active before is that when first seeing that a CC thread was available, I noticed it had hundreds of posts and I didn't have the time at that point to read them all. I have just jumped in the last week or so and am hoping that this will continue as is because I love all of you ladies that I have met in person and always get a real kick out the writings of JB who I haven't yet met and haven't met Judy in person but feel as though we are close. She called to check on me the day of the earthquake and I was truly touched by her concern for me. She has been known to send little pick me up messages from time to time and they always seem to come at the appropriate time.

Dang, ya'll know me.....I'm easy. hahaha I love The Mid Atlantic Gardeners Forum and the only reason I ever ventured out in to other forums on Dave's is because there wasn't always enough chatter to keep me sated here. I can tell you that venturing out is sometimes a very scary thing. I have always said that upon first meeting so many of the Dave's Gardeners at the first annual Plant Swap I was truly blown away by the giving and helping spirit of every one there that day. I would be very hard pressed to come up with someone associated in MAG forums that have let me down. The next breath would have to be that "out there" on other forums I have on occasion been pushed to tears over hurt feelings and anger towards some of the uncalled for attacks upon my person. I will ditto JB's sentiment on folks making a judgement of me when they have no earthly idea the real person I am. I can honestly say that I am about as real as they come and I never profess to be more than I am nor do I expect any special treatment but I do expect to be treated respectfully by those that I haven't done the first iota of harm to.

A person of less strength and fortitude would have gone in hiding a long time ago if they had been subjected to the evil ugliness I have encountered with other Dave's member out there....Again, no one that I regard as a MAG fits in to being out there.

I try to live my days the best I can by living and letting live. I have often said that waking up in the morning and facing the activity within this household is all the drama I need. I do not need to come on line where for many years I have enjoyed the relationships I have formed and the education I have received and be bombarded with some pitiful souls quest to get under my skin. As I told one particularly nasty person some years back if the kindness I had extended towards her was felt to be a judgement by me, she had much more severe problems than could be fixed in a chat room and that she needed some professional help.

Yep, I tend to agree with the statement that when threads begin being policed, there is trouble a brewing. I have only had one occasion to be involved in a thread where administrative policing became necessary and that frankly is not my cup of tea, and though I enjoyed the thread, don't have the time nor inclination to be there. So much ugliness in the world and I do my best and run the quickest my lame body will carry me in the other direction. I have had all that I need in this life time, thank you very much.

I will close with saying that you ladies, minus those I haven't yet met, should know six or so years later the sort of person I am and as far as I know, trouble maker has never been a label associated with me. I know that game playing is what makes for many peoples lives, but I have never had the time to indulge in it. I feel evilness when it is astir, and I don't like it, so I just won't play. Never was good at it, so I gave up trying it. Same with lieing, it is just too much trouble....so I don't do it.

Phew!!!!!

Ruby

Ruby, of course your vote counts. Anyone who wants to talk about Holiday Cactus is welcome here. We just do not tolerate grumps and troublemakers. I am sure you do not fit into that category or you would have been out of here already.

I need to apologize to you because I completely missed a post of yours concerning the coloring of the cactus. I was going back over the thread trying to figure out who is here is who is missing and I saw a post that I think it said we cross posted, and you were asking about color. I will be glad to address that if you have not already gotten an answer. Please let me know. Maybe I did, but I can not remember and I did not take the time to look. I just do not remember. I give out so much information in a days time in private emails to my customers, etc. that I honestly feel as if my Senior Moments are taking over.

By the way gang, this old girl just had a phone call and the result is:

I just took a job...........yes, a real job. Once a month for about an hour doing some checking figures for a private school for children with problems. Their auditor suggested it and the pay is outrageous, so I could not say no. The head of the school is my neighbor who raises sheep and she wants someone she can trust, someone who is not in the family, but someone who also has credentials that will make her accountant happy. LOL

Since I have been the "Bag Lady" for the State of New Jersey for many years I fit the bill. (The bag lady is a term they came up with because I would carry very large sums of money taken in as entries of the horses at different horse races all over the State, check the figures , make up the deposits and take it to the branch bank of their choice....sometimes very late at night and I always took it in bags of some type. Grocery, plastic, paper, garbage, no one would have ever known what was in any of those bags but me. So, the boss nicknamed me The Bag Lady). It was a fun part time job and I got paid well to do it. Never got robbed, and was never a penny short. Plus I do all the deposits for the Horse Park Of New Jersey now as a volunteer and I have been doing that for ten years also. Now you know what I do in real life other than run JBs Plants at RobLyn Farm.

And I moved to NJ to eventually retire. That was 1986. I need to pray my body keeps up with my mind.

Talk about off topic. Holy Cow.............we still need to hear from some of those people who were here before.
I will check with Linda (Ibartoo). If you know of any of these people, remind them to stop in and give their answer to the question. Merrymath, Carolyn22 , ladygardener, Crit, Roses R Red, Tommy2006.....did I forget anyone?
If we have a few more positive answers, we will stay and hopefully the unhappy people will just fade away. They are lurkers anyhow but as I said many times before, some people just need to get a life. As long as I know you guys are happy, I will deal with the other stuff privately and not really all that ladylike if need be. Thank you all for your support. JB

I am not sure if anyone cares, or even it anyone is still on this thread, but I came across the craziest thing today.
I will wait to post it until I see if anyone is out there today. Do not have time to talk to myself. LOL

JB, I'm here and I care! But no one seems to be a regular daily check in poster any more so there a gaps and flurries (oops, I hope not!) of posts. Just like Ruby and I commented on above.

What to do, what to do?

I was looking forward to you posting more about the seed capsule you found. So neat when something departs from the usual and sends us off on another learning curve! Better than crossword puzzles to keep us sharp.

Did hear from Crit and sent her the link to this thread.

Sorry I can't post more but the keyboard use aggrevates my pinched shoulder nerve and I have to use my arms to deliver my newspaper route every day.

Congratulations on your new can't refuse source of income. Integrity pays off. You are a lady full of surprises for sure and I can't wait for what you will reveal next!

Putting in an hour or so each month sounds like less effort than your "bag lady" days! :-)

Yep, I want to know more about the seed capsule, also. Faxcinating when thing slike that happen... my clownfish have started breeding, and that fascinates me also, although my chances of getting little fish are pretty slim unless I set up a special tank for the babies... but who knows?

Judy, I am sure everyone is so busy and God knows I am too, but I feel responsible for this thread and I do not want to see it die again, so I check in everyday and heckle the people until they get used to me checking in and seeing what I have to say .....good or bad. LOL

I am so sorry about your arms. I go to the chiropractor weekly or I would not be able to move some days. He keeps me loose. When I first started with him my vertigo was a mess, my arthritis in the back and hips had me so stiff. Now I can walk without pain and I take nothing for arthritis, my vertigo is corrected except when the inner ear goes crazy, then he has to do things differently. He started stretching my hamstrings and that was a God send. Wow, I am not stiff at all unless I sit on the tractor too long, then when I get off I have to walk around to get things loose again. I am so fortunate at my age to be in my condition.

I will definitely work on the seed thing as soon as I finish my duties for the day. I have another Cemetery Cone to make for tomorrow. I shipped 24 Christmas Cactus to Michigan this morning. Love those big orders so I can get some room in the greenhouse.

When I was looking at the stock plant of those I was shipping this morning I noticed it had two different types of flowers on it. I had never had it in the living quarters where I could give it a good look until a few weeks ago and it started to bloom. These blooms are almost over that are on the picture, but you can hopefully see the difference between them. I looked at the container they are in and pushed them apart so I could see the bottom of the plants and God forbid there are two different plants in that old container. All this time I am selling them as Thanksgiving Cactus and some I am not sure what they are. The little flower is the unknown. Need to research that to be sure. Here is the picture. I wish it was better but as you know I do not take good pictures.

Speaking of pictures, did you see the activity on ATP same kind of discussion thread as we have here but with loads of beautiful pictures of flowers and so many people who participate. I do not even have to check in there daily, it just goes on when I can and that is so refreshing to have so many people want to talk and help others learn. That could be where some of our people went.

I thought those clowns eat each other as well as the other fish in the tank, Is that what happens? JB

I'll be back.

I don't think the breeding pair will eat the fry, but I do think the hermit crabs might have been taking a toll on the eggs... however, the clowns now have an anemone, who has moved in right next to the rock when they lay the eggs, so that should keep the hermits away!

For my part, I just have less time to spend anywhere online, so I keep track of a few threads here, a few on cubits, and a few on ATP.

I'm back!!!! I had lost you all but coleup gave me the thread location. I'd hate to see this one dry up. Maybe some just got lost like I did.

My Thanksgiving/Christmas cactus have buds on them. The orangish one has the largest blooms but the pink one is starting them also. They are Zygo's

Will post pics when they break into bloom.

Hey JB, 2 of the christmas cacti that you sent to me have set buds already! Woo Hoo. I cannot wait.
Linda

I used to love my tropical fish until I bought one and I can not remember which it was, it ate everything but the guppies. I had a million guppies in no time. LOL No fish fo me no mo.

Linda, there you are. I am so glad they are showing some life. I hope they bloom for Thanksgiving. We use mine as center pieces if they are pretty enough at dinner on the holidays. I used to pay $50 for a center piece and then no one was around to see it after that day so now if it is up to me, they get live bloomers instead.

I am sorry I am so late and I have not researched the seed pod yet. Tomorrow will have to be the other day. I have some errands to do and get my hair cut but then maybe I will have some time. I really am anxious to know. Linda did yo see the seed pod I found on my cactus. Please look at it and tell me what you think.

Jen, where are you....at the doctors? Are you o.k. Talk to us. Amanda......you too.
Ruby, are you o.k.?

I am taking a attendance these days. LOL I must get dinner. JB

JB I must have missed the pic of the seed pod. Whatever you do, grow those babies! you may just have a new cultivar.

Ha! That's the sort of thinking that results in dozens of baby amaryllises under lights...

haha Critterologist, the voice of experience? ( just kidding). How can you have a seed pod and not plant it though. I did the same thing with adenium once

Welcome back Crit Glad you found us again and that your ccs are doing well.

Linda, good to hear from you, too. Look forward to some pic of your babies.

Critter, the first thing I remember wanting to grow up to be was an "ichthiologist" Tropical fish (heck all swimmers!) made the whole world my oyster and venue for exploration. At the age of eight I was gifted with a 20 gal set up by a neighbor because he couldn't believe that I had sat totally mesmerized in front of his tank for almost two hours when my Mom ,with me in tow, came to do some neighborhood business. Along with tank and all fish came 4 issues of "The Natural Aquarium" like the Nat Geo but for the fish world, full of pics and stories of expeditions in Borneo or far up the Amazon , etc seeking new species. Have charmed my daughter and now grandsons with fish at eye level but currently none of my own.

JB I snuck in some advanced reading on cc seeds last night when I couldn't find a comfortable position for sleep and needed a distraction. My pinched nerve is from old auto accident injury to neck and having to deliver over 5000 pounds of newspapers a week doesn't give enough down time to settle. I've used chiros, acupuncture, etc and rely most on homeopathy these days. any how, cc seeds must rien on the plant for a year before they are viable and then another 2-3 years to bloom to see if a new cultivar. Wonder if your discovery of two plants you once thought to be one is an offspring of original? Ah yes, the secret life of plants!

Highs in the low 70's today. Glorious!

Judy

Sorry I ave been slightly absent for a couple of days....BUT!

My daughter is here visiting (from Seattle) for a week. Using her younger energy to help me
clean up, dig up some beds in the garden. Just chatting and enjoying each others company.

Yesterday--we went to my other daughter's house (in Dundalk) and had a wonderful cook-out...It was their 3rd wedding anniversary.
Of course--I had provided the steaks and 2 lbs. of shrimp marinated for grilling. Awesome!!!
Got the recipe from "allrecipes.com. Put in "marinated shrimp"--and it is the first one.

The sisters (HOW close they are-and have always been!!!) did more garden clean up there too.
My visiting daughter leaves Friday afternoon. I will take her to BWI.
Most days she is running around, catching up with her old friends and such--in my car, of course...
I have taken off the whole week, so no biggie....

Anyway----JB--I have to scold you a little bit.....with love....
PLEASE don't fret so much about who is posting and who is not. No need to "take attendance"....:o)
We, the regulars, have all chimed in and said that we would like to stay here and do our thing on the CC Thread.
When no CC's are blooming yet--we, naturally, end up with other topics to chat about...

My CC's blooms are not open yet. Thought they would be. Most of the bloomers-to-be are now in the elongated bud stage.
As always, with things to do with plants--patience is the greatest virtue....

Judy---I cannot even imagine how you can haul 5000lbs. of newspapers a week. You are such a skinny, small person!
Have you ever thought of getting one of those pull-behind-you little hand-luggage carts? The ones you see all the executives
pulling behind them with their heavy briefcases or supplies???
You could pile a lot of papers on there, maybe in a strong box, and just reach in there and deliver them.
Might set you back $30 or $40--but save your body.

Hopefully--I will check out some of my CC's today--camera in hand--and see if any are worth taking a picture of.
We need some pictures here....just to make JB happier....:o)

JB--Hang in there!!!! I will post a picture when I have something to show you all--
otherwise I would just be chatting about total nonsensical things here...

Gita

Gita, quit picking on me or I will have to put a hex on your plants. I can do that you know. He He (witches laugh)!

I have pictures I took this morning but I need to get them off the camera. Will do soon.

Judy, What did you learn about the seeds. I must get to that today. Hugs for that sore arm
I know how that can be. My surgery left me with pain for years in my shoulder and there are still times when I am reminded of it.

JB

I love my fish aquariums. I used to have about 10 of them, then the house burnt. (that was 27 years ago) Now I just have 2. I have 3 big angels in one and a betta male. The other one is currently fishless, but I am getting ready to stock it again. ^_^

There is a T-shirt out that says "I survived Oklahoma 2011. Snowmagedden, Tornado Superoutbreak, Summer, Oklahoma Earthquakes" with a check mark beside them, then the last one has no checkmark and a blank. LOL it's cute! There are a bunch of shirts out about the quakes now.

We have really had the WILD weather this year!!!!!

Must be the time of year when the Gods send out special trials to their favorite people.....I am speaking of Judy and myself. Sounds as though you are suffering with some of the same sort of ills that have plagued me for going in to week number three. Mine are located further down on the torso though and settling mainly in my right lower back. I finally found a minute to see the doctor on Monday and he believes that I have somehow injured either some of the herniated or bulging disks that I have had for many years. Thankfully it has been fifteen years in between the last bout that about had me close to being admitted to the closest mental hospital and if I only deal with this every fifteen or so years, I am doing well. He sent me home with an eight day course of Prednisone and some Muscle Relaxers. This is day number two of Prednisone so I fully expect to be all fixed up and raring to go as fast as my half lame body will carry me after completing the medication.

JB, I would love to hear your take on discoloring of the CC leaves. As I said, last year I had one particular plant that looked healthy enough it was just a lot more yellowish colored than green. It didn't bloom but lived all winter and I repotted it this summer and at this point can't pick it out from the other CC I have, so it seems that it has somehow greened up while I wasn't looking. I just eyed the group of CC we have and I do see the very tip of one as the pinkish brown coloring you mentioned that some of yours get at times. So, if you have any idea what is occurring with these plants and whether or not I should be concerned or offer some sort of supplement or whatever, I am all ears.

Coleup, get well soon. I can emphathize for sure. All others, have a great day. Oh yeah, by the way....as for getting to a thread daily in my case, it just ain't gonna happen too often. With new baby sitting responsibilities and the baby's liking to use the computer themselves, my time online is much more limited than in times past.

Gita, hope that the remainder of your daughter's visit goes as well as it sounds like the beginning is going. How did the HS reunion go? The main thing I realized when attending my first HS reunion at the 20th year was that in twenty years no one much had changed an iota. There were still the cliques and groups. The jocks were still together, the cheer leaders all giggling over in another corner, the stoners often leaving the group and then reappearing happier than before....the class officers still strutting their stuff.....the brains discussing the latest scientic findings.....all still the same.

Have a good one all. Looks like another pretty day with decent temperatures here.

Ruby