Happy Adenium growing and everything else from west coast of Canada (Vancouver Island). Great group of individuals of this forum site. Very friendly and extremely knowledgeable. Rick

Barbara, Hey, you don't have to worry about me---I have neither a heat advisory or an excessive heat warning because our humidity is running much lower than y'all's. Our RH may start out in the 80s in the mornings (last week it was in the 90s) but it drops to the 30s or 40s by mid-afternoon, so our heat index numbers are only going 3 or 4 points higher than our temp at the most. So, I'm better off than many of you because it has been relatively dry here. Having said that, it is hot. I try to get outside around 6 a.m. and lately, back inside, no later than 9:30 or 10:00 a.m. (Before it got insanely hot, I'd stay out until noon.) In the evenings, I'm only out briefly to see if anything needs water. It is just too hot to weed, mow or mulch, I'll catch up on those when the heat breaks. The fruit is coming in hot and heavy so I'm just staying in the kitchen most of the time. I also think I'll be making salsa by the end of the week. As always, when it rains it pours, but this year it is raining plums, peaches, peppers, tomatoes and squash. Last year it mostly rained tomatoes and peppers. You know how a kitchen feels when you're canning all day....just so unbearably hot and steamy. I am SO grateful we have air conditioning. When I think of what women used to go through, doing their endless rounds of canning, bread-baking, cheese-making, etc. in a hot kitchen with no AC, I feel spoiled by comparison. Often, I sort of resent the time I spend canning because it keeps me out of the garden. (Kind of a paradox, isn't it, because you can't do that kind of canning without a garden but then it 'redirects' you from gardening activity to kitchen activity!) Now, though, I am happy I have another week's worth of canning to keep me inside and out of the garden. I couldn't be outside exhausting myself in the garden even if I wanted to right now, because the produce won't allow it. With this heat wave, that's a good thing. I hope everyone remembers to drink lots of fluids, stay in the shade and come inside to cool off inside the air conditioned house. I am concerned this kind of weather will hold for weeks, or months. It kind of reminds me of 2005, which was a horribly hot, dry year. Dawn

Hi Karen, Congratulations on your new acquisition. It certainly looks like S. ballyi - a small, wonderful species. I have plants from a few different collections, and each one has a distinctive look from the other. The most distinctive are the cultivars 'Minnie' with very short leaves, and 'Tom Grumbley' with silver leaves. Cheers, Marlon Machado.

I'm glad you are there for them, Sue. A new baby can be perplexing to new parents, and you have plenty of experience. I went to stay a week after my daughter had Alex and the best I could do was cook and clean. I made large batches and frozen them in portions. Of course, you live close so that may not be necessary. It gave me something to do since my daughter nursed, too. And I cleaned her house since in her last month she was so big she could hardly bend. (He weighed over 10 pounds but she gained a ton.) Alyssa must be doing really well to be able to come home with Amber. That's great! Enjoy you stay--and I know you will!!