That was a wonderfully friendly gesture. How can I thank-you enough for taking the time to present your failures and triumphs in such a gentle, humorous way?

The helpful encouragement that you and others have given me will allow me to grow these bulbs with great anticipation for beautiful flowers.

I thank-you again for the inspiring slide show. The dogs are more beautiful than the flowers. Can this be possible?

The one in the chair is Laka....named after the South Seas goddess who named all the flowers. Her mother (Stormy) is peeking in in the bottom right corner. I was in the greenhouse and they were feeling very neglected. They are Gordon Setters. There are a couple of us on the list with this breed...but we all go ga-ga over our fur-kids!

Frank...you'll do fine...and even though you are asking so many good questions up front...there will be plenty more as you start growing. This is a great group of people. We're all different, and as you have seen have many opinions to share. We do our best to grow Hippeastrum the best way we know how. Is it perfect, not necessarily, but it's perfect for each one of us.

You won't get agreement on what are the best pots, the best medium, the best fertilizer, to cut leaves or not, to let grow as evergreen or force dormancy...but part of the fun is working out what works best for you!

Have a good weekend...I'm OFFLINE til Sunday afternoon...YAY!
K

I really enjoyed that too!

That was GREAT!! hahaaa very nice

So nice to see Laka again! Such sad eyes because Kristi is too busy to play, LOL! My girls discovered ducks and chickens and have been so obsessed they spend all day running along the fence line to keep an eye on "THEIR poultry! I no longer mean a thing to them unless it is rainy!

Oh now...they just think they have a new job!! Where are your photos!?!
K

Oh Kristi! How nice is that?
I did not look inside here for a long time and than that! :-)
I have lots of Problems with hthe mealy bugs in this year and for the frogs i dont want to bring in a lot of poisonin my greenhouse!
Need to find a solution for the next year!
Thanks a lot and lots of greetings!

Hi Frank #1!!!
I know someone else had mealy bugs and dipped a swab in alcohol and dabbed each one. Will that work for you!? I am so glad I don't have issues (yet) this year. I have even let the snails go in the Hippi farm as they seem to only be eating the dead leaves and keep the bulbs pretty clean. I'm trying to work WITH them!!

Yes...we have a "new" Frank, but you will always be #1!!
:-)
Kristi

Yes? Slugs eat the youngest leaves, and make them into a huge hole from which there is no salvation.I have to catch them at night.
Maybe you do not have those slugs? Our large, more than 4 inches and when they eat what I hear crackling noises.
Or your post with the subtext?

We don't have slugs. I have small brown garden snails and I have been checking the plants...no damage to leaves (they seem to thrive on the dead outer leaves). I do pick them off as they come into the greenhouse and keep on them all winter...as the show up they are killed.

K