Different bananas require different amounts of growing time to produce blooms. If you have a mild winter, the stems are not completely frozen and leaves come out of the tops of the old stems, you have a chance to grow fruit. If the stems are killed back to the root and grow from the ground up, your growing season will be too short. Some varieties may require 12 months of growth (survival) and some may require 18-24 months. I've had basjoo bloom here in zone 7 but I had to dig, pot and overwinter in the greenhouse. One growing wild down by the creek is protected & sheltered by a rock bridge abuttment. It grows on the south side and only the top grows above road level. It has been there around 20 years and has only grown new leaves from the previous year's stems 3 or 4 times in 20 years and I've only seen it fruit twice.

Well, that was a VERY hard decision for me. I just ordered a refurb Gloss Cinnamon Professional 600⢠6-qt. Bowl-Lift Bowl Stand Mixer. I hope I made the right choice! I wanted pretty. But I wanted function, more. I decided if I'm going to CHANGE from my classic 1987 model then I may as well CHANGE. So I opted for a lot more muscle, in case I start to make artisan breads (I have an awesome Zojirushi breadmaker that makes terrific normal breads and my previous 250 watt kitchenaid mixer really wasn't up to kneading much so I never pursued it, plus I never liked the way the "C" hook kneaded, so I wanted to upgrade to a machine with the spiral hook), or use accessories. Then, I decided to go for the soft start, as one of my biggest pet peeves is slopping flour! I can't imagine I'll ever be using this thing for huge batches of things, so I should have way more power and a hefty safety margin on bread kneading for how I'll actually use it. I would like the capacity to fool around with artisan breads, though! I LOVE the grenadine color, but the gloss cinnamon will work just fine too, and while I have a back-in-time vibe to my kitchen, the non-metallic look is actually a bit more appropriate as my vintage vibe is more toward antique than toward mid-century diner/50s where metallic would really resonate.

I only wanted Verde Fuoco, and the 3cm slabs were too pink. We have an eased laminated edge. There really isn't a reason for concern: If you want no laminated edge you can have it; if you want a thicker look you can have it. Lily's kitchen is brilliant and she hated the look initially, but realizes that there is no reason to sweat it. BTW I'm a west coaster and found plenty of 3 and 2 cm slabs. Maybe on the east coast there isn't any 2cm rock, but I didn't find it typical at all that there was only 2cm. In fact I found a lot of 3 cm rock (Portland and Seattle). My rock is a little hard to find, so the slab I wanted happened to be in 2cm. no problem (but you need a plywood underlayment).

this is off: marblecleaning.org: "There are indeed different opinions on the issue of sealing black hone granite, but there is a unanimous consensus about the fact that it presents maintenance issues. The problem with honed black granite is that it is not, well black any more! Most black stones are but an optical illusion: they become black only when highly polished, or when wet. (See the back of your slab to see the real color of your stone!) As you take gloss off the stone surface (and honing does just that) you lose depth of color and the stone turns gray; but when you wet it ... here it is black again! As you spill oily liquids, or you simply touch the stone surface with your fingers (perspiration), you're going to have all sorts of dark surface stains that are a terrible eyesore. Please notice that I said, surface stains, not imbedded stains. In fact, you can clean those stains off (though with lots of labor), while if they were imbedded you would have to poultice them out. If you apply an impregnator/sealer to the stone you will not solve your problem one bit: in fact the sealer will only prevent liquids from being absorbed by the stone (which in the case of black honed granite is an unlikely event to begin with), not the staining of its surface. Any solution? Well, yes: you have to give up the gray! If you apply a "good-quality stone "color" enhancer" to your countertop instead of an impregnating sealer (a good-quality stone color-enhancer like MB-6 is also an impregnator/sealer) it will turn it permanently black, while preserving the hone finish. In that way, the "surface-staining problem" would be minimi z ed. Like I said before, letÂs "just hope that your fabricator", in their "infinite wisdom," did not apply an impregnator/sealer to your stone: this would have to be "stripped" (not an easy feat!), or else the color/enhancer wouldnÂt stand a chance to work properly. And donÂt you forget that in order to upkeep your stone and the color enhancer, your best bet is to use good-quality specialty products for stone." From my experience: July 2007 : we had a customer buy honed AB granite: they wanted it "shinny" and forced us to put a high gloss sealer on after install! Guess what? DIDN"T TAKE!!!!! It took to some parts of the stone and not in other parts. Customer was LIVID MAD! After talking to Hard Rock Tools: installers went back to their house: stripped the shinny high gloss sealer: with stripper. let dry 3 days and went back over there: slab was milky white!!!! LOL: then they applied the color enhancer and explained to the customer that is the best product to use: hard rock when to their house and talked to them. They were happy after that. So I know about AB not taking a sealer and stripper changing the stone milky white!!!!! I personally buy from hard rock tools: I do not sell their products. I give them away for free. I truly believe in customers taking care of their granite/marble. (windex and soap are not good for natural stone!) VOC compliant Commercial brand color enhancer sealer: don't go buy retail! I personally buy pro stone www.prostoneonline.com: dealers all over the USA: Hope this helps. People at Hard rock tools are highly trained and know about stone care! They may recommend a stone doctor as well. they seriously know what they are doing and they have taught me so much regarding stone and care! ~Happy New Year~