Deburn, try not to worry about mites; if you do you'll never have another plant in your home. lol. Most, if not all tropical plants attract mites, though I admit some plants are more susceptible than others. On a scale from 1-5, 1 being the least chance, MOO's come in about 2. As long as a MOO is cared for, 'like any other plant,' you'll have nothing to worry about. I don't know what type of plants you have, or how many, but you can bet any plant can attract mites. Everytime you bring a new plant home, there's a chance of hitch-hiking mites and/or other pests on the new plant. This happens quite often. One well-known nursery, 'perhaps I shouldn't name it now,' is notorius for sending plants with bugs. One member here purchased plants from this nursery, and found four different types of insects on one plant. He isn't the only one who's dwelt with this problem from the same nursery. Although I detest mites, 'who doesn't except for other mites, lol,' there are many other insects much harder to rid/kill, like Mealy. Ohh, Chaz..how scary..Did your plant have more than one hornet or a whole nest? What did you do? Let me tell you what happened to me this summer.. I keep small plants in window boxes on a picnic table. Although there are holes in the window boxes, they sometimes clog. Sure enough, one window box, holding succulents, was filled with water, to the brim of the box. I removed the succulents, then tilted the box over, to toss water out. A good portion of water fell on another plant beside the table. All of a sudden I felt a sharp pain on my leg, then a second. I started screaming. I didn't know what was happening. I ran, and felt another pain, this time on my hand between thumb and finger. My son was standing outside while this was happening. I was in a state of panic, so I ran in the house, screaming and crying. It turned out, a nest of, I think honey bees were living in the pot beside the table. Guess they got scared when water landed in the pot/their nest, and attacked me. I got stung 5 times. The worse was the one on my hand..That thing swelled. Never being stung by a bee, I checked the puter, for remedies..That's when I saw Danger and Warnings. Bascially allergic reactions. I got so scared, I blacked out! My son called 911..lol..Well, turns out I frightned myself, which is the reason I blacked out. The paramedics assured me I was okay. If I had been allergic I wouldn't be talking. Anyway, sorry didn't mean to write a short story, lol. One lesson I learned, NEVER check the puter for remedies after something happens. lol..Learn ahead of time. Anyway, I think those darn bees are still living in my pot, though they're weak. I don't know what to do. I don't want to leave the plant out to freeze, however, I sure don't want repeat stings. Allergic or not. I don't use chemicals..Do you know how to tell if bees are living in the soil, and how I can rid them, organically? I really don't want to kill them, just get rid of them. Years ago, I feared bees, later, ignored them. After getting stung you'd think I wouldn't want to be near another bee, but I don't feel this way..Spiders are another thing..if there were a nest of spiders living in a plant, plant and spiders could winter outside. I HATE spiders. So, do you have any advice? Did the queen live? Is she still in your pot? Or, did she fly elsewhere? You flavor water/tea with MOO flowers? Is it sweet? Do you let sit before drinking? That's interesting? They're not poisonous? lol.. Toni

Marda's birthday on the third of may. Here is an early wish and will save another for Sunday.

I have had no problem with my EE's this summer.They are all potted on my deck in huge planters. I have 2 huge Eleana's,both having been overwintered as plants in my house. I have a giant Black Stem (or violet stem?) EE that flowers continously, as well as an Illustris that also flowers. My problem is that I want to overwinter all these dormant, as bulbs, but a few years ago I unpotted an Eleana and there was only a mass of roots. Nothing to clean off and store. I am afraid to unpot the Black stem or illustris as I might find the same problem. Also, I have several huge Jack's Giants that I had to buy new this year-because last fall, I unpotted one from it's tub, and after an hour or so of cleaning and trying to find a bulb, I assumed there was one somewhere in the mass, I let it dry outside for a week or so, then stored it in a milk crate in my basement. It was fuzzy and rotten by spring. How can I overwinter Illustris and Eleana and violet stems as dormant bulbs??

Meyermike, Why grow citrus? Many years ago my then girlfriend had unlimited access to citrus at Christmas. I ate lots of it and put several seeds in a potted plant. I think every seed sprouted. I was hooked. I gave them all away. Later I raised orange trees on purpose (for the challenge). They were left out and froze. Several years ago I received an orange tree as a gift. It has produced some fruit for three years. 1. For the challenge. 2. For the envy of those who are either unable or unwilling to grow them. 3. The one that I have produces the best tasting orange that I have ever eaten (in memory). 4. I have four grown children that covet my oranges. 5. I would like to have enough to share them with my 12 grandchildren also. 6. The aroma is so intense that we cannot keep it inside the house. We keep it in the attached garage in the winter. 7. There are too many reasons to list them all.