Dave, no advice on the sunflowers, but wanted to share a pic of one of mine from a couple years ago. This was in the spring and it had a natural smile, so I added two blackberries and a wild plum. I remember when I was a kid people would plant then near the "outhouse". Nice pics you have there. Shot

To easily dismiss orchids as throw away plants is cavalier. In a consumer based society, big business decides for us what is fashionable. What is "good". What is chic, was is now. We are fed a certain predetermined aesthetic. Yes, orchids are not essential for living. They are not food stuffs. They don't pose safety problems. It's ridiculous to link the two. Orchids and all ornamental flowering plants are simply decorative objects. But lets put that in context. We're not talking about the sturdiness of furniture. The reliability of a car or computer. I am talking about the esthetics and quality of such. The great metal smith Robert Jarvie and Louis Comfort Tiffany created objects, decorative objects that really had no practical need. Sure, Tiffany made lamps and Jarvie made candlesticks, but neither item was deemed necessary for living. A man could go out a buy a cheap candlestick for dollar at the turn-of-the century. And while Jarvie and Tiffany were expensive for their day, both men had the ethos to create works of art. The created a new aesthetic which in turn revolutionized the decorative arts movement. When seeing how successful these two men were, many copied their design. When Gustav Stickley designed his line of furniture, it was to create a new aesthetic. Something new, simple and a reaction to the shoddy, gaudy cheap Victorian furniture of the day. His mantra was quality over quantity. With his success, an entire esthetic was born. Manufacturers everywhere copied his style of furniture. Again, any Joe Blow could have bought a simple uninteresting chair from Marshall Field, but now he had a choice. He had an esthetic choice. It wasn't simply a matter of one chair being better built that the next (though Gustav Stickley made the finest, well made furniture of its day) it was Stickley's new vision of decorative arts. Art and design play an important roll in manufacturing. Your new car may have the same old chassis, but it sports a new skin. How practical is that? Frank Lloyd Wright set out to make architecture more than a simple box. Or in his day, a Victorian hodgepodge. He created a style in design that was imitated throughout the world. But were his cantilevers necessary. No. were his Mayan inspired glyphs on some houses load bearing. No. Frank Lloyd Wright elevated architecture to an art form. As humans, we surround ourselves with art everyday. Some good. Mostly crap. Big business gain spoon feeds us the new aesthetic. They tell us through advertising and other media what's "beautiful" and what's not. The same can be said about ornamental plants. Remember, ornamental plants. Not corn, squash, tomatoes. That's another can of worms. But in OH, if a big AG company decided that the new geraniums were going to be double petaled and bright blue, who knows what the reaction would be. Their maybe a run on the market. But the OH business is constantly working toward creating a better plant. As trite and shallow as some of you think, men and woman with masters degrees and PhDs are studying ways to make your houseplant a better one. Not only for practical purposes like better growth, disease resistance and general hardiness, but a much more attractive and eye-catching bloom. Wider petals. Thicker substance. More intense colors. Pure esthetics. And good business sense. The aim IS quality. With that will come demand and then intense production. Poinsettias are a perfect example of the throw away plant. People buy them in droves for he holiday and by January 2nd they are in the dust bin. But all along, these growers and hybridizers have been secretly creating different color combinations. Pure white poinsettias. Double petal (bracts) poinsettias. Multi-color poinsettias. The are raising the standard and quality of the average red poinsettia. Okay, so many people just want the red and green form. But look at the strides these people have made since the plant was discovered in Mexico nearly a hundred years ago. From a tall leggy bush to what we see in the market. Full form. Pure red brackts. A beautiful plant. And for the new All white poinsettias, a new market for them as cut flowers for Winter weddings. A new untapped market. And a new revenue stream. This is good business. As movers and shakers in the business world CEOs have the power to influence people's lives. They can spoon feed them crap, or educate the consumer with I would call a touch of class. Target has hired many well-known industrial and fashion designers to come in and re-design everything. Now it's hip to shop a Target (say it in a french accent). The mass consumer can be shown the beauty of a well-bred orchid. They will see how the petals overlap. How the form is full and inviting. How prolific the blooms are. How thick the substance of the petals are. How deep the coloor or interesting the pattern. Without saying a word, or advertising a change, quality can be instantly and secretly infused into the consumer world. And its so easy. Raising the esthetic bar is not hard. Consumers will automatically be drawn to the superior plant. I seem them at Home Depot carefully making their choices. Not on just price alone, but the best plant they can get for the money. We are assuming consumers are stupid. Far from it. Consumers demand quality. If given a choice between a phalie with double spikes and full flowers over a half dead one, the consumer will take the "good" plant. There are many orchid rescuers who will by the cheap little plant and try to grow it up. That's not who I'm talking about. Mass production is just a means to an end. It is not the basis of business, but simply another cog. It really doesn't matter if it's a toaster, a computer or an orchid, the fact of the matter is simple. Build a better product and the consumer will flock to your door. Sometimes you can't beat a classic. In the case of the hybrid tea rose, Mr Lincoln and Chrysler Imperial, few red roses have come close to eclipsing them. That just show you the enduring nature of quality vs. quantity. A good business doesn't benefit the CEO, it benefits the stockholders. And yes, stockholders couldn't care less about quality. Their bottom line is money. But the smart CEO has the responsibility to grow his business. And through innovation more than anything, the company will flourish. Complacency is what kills business. Innovation invigorates it. Pixar is one of the most talented group of animator I've had the pleasure of working with. With the guidance of John Lassetter, PIxar has created memorable and Academy Award winning animation. (going back to a previous blog, is entertainment truly neccessary?) No. But Pixar's mantra again is quality quaiity quality and nothing less. They have created the new esthetic in 3-D animation. AND they are successful at it. The will never turn out mediocrity. But by doing what they have, they have creatied a new industry standard that everyone from Dreamcast to Disney now follows. The point is, you can create schlock. And for a few pennies more you can creat something great. What holds us back is the jaded few that believe that we as consumers have no say in what we want. We accept mediocrity because it is fed to us. If you let it be, so you shall it become. Orchids and OH flowers are not a necessity in life. But neither were the other examples I mentioned. And I can go on. They a a part of decorative art. As simple as a vase. Or a candlestick. Whether it holds a candle or not. But as a piece of decorative art, the plant holds the potential to be a real piece of art. Yes, they can be beautiful in a simplistic way. But as a commodity, it holds the potential to elevate the orchid esthetic experience. Sip a glass of wine. Sip an inexpensive wine. It may require a spit take. Or it maybe pleasurable. If it is indeed good, you know why. Quality. The winery and winemaster took great care in balancing flavors, mixing varietals. They made the best wine they could and the bonus was, it was at a reasonable cost. Their name becomes well known. Their label and vintage wins awards. Soon they are asked to join the ranks of the most expensive of wines. Cases constatly sold out. And is wine a necessity for life? NO. A good wine is pleasure and enjoyment. And it was by no mistake. IT was all about quality and honesty. And in the end good business sense. Make a cheap bottle of wine, that is undrinkable, good bye business. I don't know how many analogies I have to make for people to understand that as trivial as one orchid flower is, it represents another important element in the struggle to elevate consumer awareness to virtues of quality. "Better" is not a subjective goal. It IS the goal and business model for all companies. The bottom line is that the plant is going to be thrown away. Aruthurn says that so cavalier and insensitive. Maybe so. But does it have to be? I've made my point a thousand times about this faulty system of American Consumerism. Waste Waste Waste. People like Arurhurn jadedly folds and says that's just the way it its. It's people like him that continue this cycle of post consumer waste. And the acceptance, without question, that mediocrity is part of living in the United States. He's also missing the point. What the consume does with his or her plant when they take it home is their problem. If they kill it out of neglect or overwatering, it's not the plants fault. You cannot engineer indestructible robotic tolerances for a living creature. That's plain ridiculous. The question is why waste a good plant on someone who is just going to kill it. These people don't want to kill it. Just look at this FORUM. READ THE HELP ME blogs. Tell me that they want to do do something to save their precious gift. Cheap mass production of orchid plants have contributed to the this malaise of apathy. But again, it doesn't take that much more effort to create, distribute a "better" orchid (for all the reasons I described) than it is for a cheap clone of a clone or an inferior seedling. The technology is obviously there to make them. And again, mass production is simply at tool. It is not the heart of business. I mentioned earlier of the overcloning of may orchid plants. An while some have resulted in a sport, a so-called "good mutation" the vast majority of over-cloned plants are useless. Some so deformed that they become un-recognizable. And I am talking about unrealiable sources. Many from foreign countries. The fast is, quality has been undermined. At Stewarts, mersistems were taken only from the original virus free mother plant and the cloning process took place in small batches to avoid proliferation and mutation. Carter and Holmes practices the same process.You are most assured a clone that wlll be true to form. And what is the problem of treating the mutant flowrers as cheap bunch flowers. Everything. It goes back to accepting failure and mediocrity and disavowing responsibility to those who perpetrated this travesty. If I bought a clone i expect it to bloom true to form. And if it doesn't I want my money back. Business is business. If you produce high quality stock you will get repeat customers. Plain and simple. Now plant genetics and animal genetics maybe a stretch. But the gist of the matter is quality should be king. Why should we settle for less? Again, the glib guy who said he's not paying 2 grand for an orchid is asleep at the wheel. The point that the dog breeder is making is that, like certain growers, or manufacturers, care isn't given to provide the best possible end product. Puppy mills are like plant mills to some extent. Take the plant/mammalian aspect out of it. As a commodity, There are animal breeders who willy nilly breed inferior pets, who end up deformed, sick and with all sorts of congenital disease. And the bottom line is money. And if the dog is destroyed who cares? Well there is obviously less an emotional attachment when someone heaves a dead orchid into the compost heap. But my initial intent was to prove that through careful, selective breeding, like we did in the old days, and with the help of new technology we can elevate the standard of orchid blooms and plants and at minimal cost to the consumer. Again, for the 5th time, would you rather have an FCC quality flower as opposed to a runty little weedy flower for the same price. NO. At least I hope not. We have to change our mindset. We have to stop letting big business dictate mediocre esthetics. It sounds trivial but in the entire scheme of things, it is pandemic. For the last time, I will repeat what the great Edward R Murrow said (I'm paraphrasing) about the new media televsioin, "Television has the potential for great good. To teach. To enlighten. But it also as the potential for abuse. For mediocrity. We all have to vigilant." To accept the status quo, to accept mediocrity is to lower ourselves to lowest common denominator. Human kind will stagnate. All because of a flower? Hardly. But it's just a start. A tiny one at that. There is a difference between compromise and just letting go and let society step all over us. We are indeed a nation of automatons brainwashed by Wal Mart. We feed the furnace of lousy comsumer products just so we can get them at below cost. And if the they break. So what. We just buy another. And our landfills continue to overflow. The world's resources stretched so thin just so we can have a new DVD player. And if falls apart after a year or so we buy a new one. The same goes for orchids. It takes a certain amount of resources, water, food, agar, nutrients, light and labor to produce a plantlet. It too is a consumer commodity that uses precious resources. All things come from other things. The real story is how do we make it the best product we can?

Judy, it's not so much the higher wattage on the medium burners that you need as on the big one. You should be able to use a flat bottomed wok on that and get plenty of power. I understand shy, but they really are there to help you. The Miele showroom in Beverly Hills is an especially friendly space, and considering its location I have to think that that's corporate policy! Hm... above statement was made without thinking through your way of cooking. The wattage on the mediums is important if you have a really big pan that you're transferring from the wok into, so want to wok on one of the smaller burners. If you're not ready to cook something yourself in the showroom, ask for a personal demonstration. Even boiling water should give you a good idea about the heat and responsiveness. Could you work up the courage to make an appointment and go watch the salesman or chef use the unit? Or get a pushy friend to come along and speak for you? It's important for you to be happy with your choices, and one of the best ways to do that is to actually see the appliances in action. Re gas, yes, you can use the wok burner with a grill plate, but there are single sided ones that you can easily use on induction. Also, some of the double sided ones with shallower edges work okay as well, at least on some cooktops. I have always roasted eggplants and peppers on the gas flame to get them charred on the outside and not overcooked on the inside (a distinction which may just show up my lacks as a cook in not being able to do this in an oven). I have a little barbecue grate that's made for the purpose. It's a trick that's not for the faint of cleaning, however. Nolamom, the magnet test is a great way to assess whether the pots you have will work with induction, but if you're buying new it's probably worth your while to get pots that are known to work particularly well. Since I already have a lot of Le Creuset (works great with '60's coils, gas and induction all and I love the enamel), I don't know the specifics. Do a search here and you'll find recommendations. Some steel cookware has different amounts of steel in the sides of the pan and the bottom, so it cooks a little differently than one that's all the same. Some have more steel than others. Etc. Cast iron is pretty much cast iron, though weight and thickness will effect the way a particular pan works in comparison to another. Enamel shouldn't matter (it's an insulator but I haven't heard that it impedes magnetism). I have a little Turkish coffee pot which is stainless but doesn't attract a magnet at all. I can't remember if I tested it on Mr. Induction (all this stuff is packed for demo), but I'm pretty sure it won't work. :) Anyway, what I'm trying to say is if you're buying something new, make sure it will work well rather than just work.

For stir-frying, burner shape is as important or even more important than burner power. I test drove the Miele and Dacor cooktops as well as the BlueStar rangetop we chose. (Not an apples to apples test but at first I was hesitant to give up the space to a rangetop - then when I found out how much better the BlueStar performed for stir frying I changed my mind.) The 15K BTU burners on our Bluestar that are about the same power as the Miele and Dacor burners stir fry much better because they are much more efficient at delivering heat to the bottom of the wok and they do it very evenly. The 22K BTU burner on our BlueStar is even better. When I tested the Dacor and Miele with a chicken stir fry, I put in half the chicken at a time to sear to not overload it and it still wasn't a perfect sear. When I tested the BlueStar, it was a hot day and my DH had packed the ice chest so carefully that the chicken was mostly frozen when I took it out to start cooking. But if I was going to sacrifice my drawer to the rangetop it better be good so I put in all the chicken at once and the BlueStar immediately had it sizzling and seared perfectly. The food really tasted different cooked on the BlueStar. I highly recommend calling around the appliance stores to see if you can find one with the types of burner you are considering hooked up so you can try a stir fry recipe on the burner. I took the same wok and recipe ingredients to each cooktop/rangetop I was considering and learned a lot by doing that. If Bluestar offered a single burner version of their rangetop, that is what I would recommend to you. If you don't have a chance to do that, what you want to look for is a burner that has a shape to deliver heat efficiently and evenly to the bottom of a wok. An example of a bad type of shape is the sealed burner like on the Dacor and Miele cooktops. These have a flat circular top and flame comes out of the side of the circle. The higher you turn the burner up, the more the flame shoots out to the side; no flame goes up in the center of the burner. An example of a type that works really well for a wok is the BlueStar burner shape where the flame comes straight up out of the burner. The burner shape has a circle of flame at the center of the burner and 8 star rays of flame coming out from that circle. The center grate comes off the burner so that the wok sits right down into the flame and heat is delivered to the whole bottom of the wok. This is very similar to the wok arrangements I saw in China. A friend has the DCS wok burner and that does a very good job. We have the Miele oven. I'm very happy with its cooking performance but I find its controller kind of annoying at times. Its heating is very stable and accurate. It cooks bread well. Things I don't like: Maximum timer setting is 59 minutes and 59 seconds. I'd gladly give up the seconds to have a timer that times longer than an hour. If you put in the time and then forget to hit the button that starts the timer, it waits a bit and then cancels the timer. Too many modes - for example they have a proofing mode that only allows two temps (both higher than I would usually want to proof at) and a defrost mode with a wide range of temps (which is what I use for proofing because I can set it to 80 or 90 degrees). One ends up having to learn little tricks like which baking mode lets you set the temp up to 550 degrees (most of the modes stop at 500). If the BlueStar ovens had been available when we were choosing, I'd have been very tempted to choose them. I'm short and the side opening door would be easier for me. The one downside is that they aren't self-cleaning and I'm rather addicted to not having to clean my oven. How is your breaker box occupancy? Ours is full. If you want to add that other oven at a later date, will you have a 220 V breaker spot open? That might be one reason to choose between gas and electric ovens.