It has been a couple of (cold and snowy)months since I checked in as a new gritty mix user and newbie orchid person. I hesitate to say orchid grower, since all I do is water the plants.

Mike took me to a meeting of succulent lovers at Tower Hill Botanical Gardens,(MA) and I had a blast. There were people of every age. Iespecially loved seeing some kids around 8 or 10 who were really interested and the older members who brought them starts and clearly enjoyed the younger generation.

Then he escorted me to buy turface and talked me into buying a little variegated jade. I succumbed without any prompting to a small nolina recurvata triplet in a deep blue bonsai pot. At Mike's urging- it didn't take much- I also got a tiny citrus that now has a couple of stems of buds.

And suddenly it was 6 pm and I'd spent a wonderful day with a new Gardenweb friend. Thanks again, Mike! I can't wait till mid-spring when you can come see my garden.

All my easy to grow orchids have green shoots at their bases. I killed one this winter.

Now the aphid "problem": one plant gifted me with the unexpected production of a third flower stem. Several of the new flowers have aphids...there's adults and a crop of babies.The blooms and buds (only 8 or 9 altogether) are not quivering with aphid life; I've seen much worse on roses.

I'm pretty sure I can get them off with water spray and a cotton swab. Am I foolish to go that route for a few days and not go directly to an insecticide?

Thanks...and a good spring to all.

Marie ("idabean")