i got one for xmas in fl and i decided to keep it to see if it'll rebloom for summer. i have another short-day length plant that i rebloomed successfully sev times: begonia reiger. so i figured why not try ? it has produced new colored bracts for me in march (2 clusters) - i kept some of the older ones (4 total) to keep it going like ronalawn advised in prior post in 2012. it is still developing new flower buds. am waiting to see if those will color up. i did not give it any 'dark treatment'. it self-branches quite nicely. i still have sev older branches with pink bracts doing well and growing new colored bracts. and the way it goes - i think i will get re-bloom in the fall: my xmas cactus and begonia reiger (both short-day bloomers) rebloom in the same position west window without special dark treatment, just natural nights. even though i do get some street light. Here is a link that might be useful: prior post with my pics in jan and march This post was edited by petrushka on Sun, May 4, 14 at 22:59

Many "landscapers" and some "horticulturists" will come in and plunk down a thin layer of soemthing they call "topsoil" and plant and then for the next several years you try, diligently, to keep the plants from dying spending a lot of money on fertilizers and sprays to keep insect pests and plant diseases from consuming those plants. Better is to take the time now to make the soil you have into a good, healthy soil that will grow strong and healthy plants that can better resist insect pests and plant diseases. Your soil should be well endowed with organic matter so it is evenly moist but well drained. While animal manure can add nutrients it does need more vegetative waste to help hold those nutrients in the root zone and provide a home to the Soil Food Web that will be feeding those plants. If your soil is sand the organic matter will fill in the very large pore spaces between the sand particles which will help hold both nutrients and moisture in the soil. If you have clay soil that same organic matter will open up spaces between the soil particles so your plants roots can move around and find both the nutrients and moisture that are now more readily available. Perhaps these simple soil tests might be of some help. 1) Structure. From that soil sample put enough of the rest to make a 4 inch level in a clear 1 quart jar, with a tight fitting lid. Fill that jar with water and replace the lid, tightly. Shake the jar vigorously and then let it stand for 24 hours. Your soil will settle out according to soil particle size and weight. A good loam will have about 1-3/4 inch (about 45%) of sand on the bottom. about 1 inch (about 25%) of silt next, about 1 inch (25%) of clay above that, and about 1/4 inch (about 5%) of organic matter on the top. 2) Drainage. Dig a hole 1 foot square and 1 foot deep and fill that with water. After that water drains away refill the hole with more water and time how long it takes that to drain away. Anything less than 2 hours and your soil drains� too quickly and needs more organic matter to slow that drainage down. Anything over 6 hours and the soil drains too slowly and needs lots of organic matter to speed it up. 3) Tilth. Take a handful of your slightly damp soil and squeeze it tightly. When the pressure is released the soil should hold together in that clump, but when poked with a finger that clump should fall apart. 4) Smell. What does your soil smell like? A pleasant, rich earthy odor? Putrid, offensive, repugnant odor? The more organic matter in your soil the more active the soil bacteria will be and the nicer your soil will smell. 5) Life. How many earthworms per shovel full were there? 5 or more indicates a pretty healthy soil. Fewer than 5, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service, indicates a soil that is not healthy. A good, reliable soil test, maybe from your state universities Cooperative Extension Service would also be a good idea.

Hi, trailrunner! You've got so many responses already, I don't know if this has already been said. I just wanted to say that you may want to get a second opinion about removing your large trees if you already have drainage problems. We're suddenly having MAJOR drainage problems on our lot because of the recent removal of many mature pines. We had a landscaper build us a retaining wall to help re-route the storm water, but all that's done so far is to retain the water a few feet farther from the house than it was. Whereas previously the water had been absorbed by the big trees, now nothing is absorbing it. My husband has been digging and installing hundreds of feet of French drains for weeks now and they seem to help some, but the water problem isn't entirely gone. Our next step is going to be installing a pond to contain some of the stormwater, and a rain garden to catch the rest. I really encourage you to look into rain gardens. In our research, we've learned that stormwater run-off, in addition to making your backyard an unpleasant place to be, is becoming an environmental issue, at least around here where residential growth is rampant. It's much better for this water to percolate through some soil and plants BEFORE it gets to streams and lakes. A rain garden is a nice solution and there are a fair number of plants out there that tolerate both dry and damp conditions. Good luck! Bad drainage is NO fun in the mosquito-infested South!

Tonight I was with my grandaughter tracking Santa on Norad and after we were done I clicked in to Wavelit live cam and there he was, a male lion. We watched for about 1/2 hour and saw a female lion and another male. This has been really interesting so far as I have seen a mother and baby giraffe, a wart hog, wildebeaste, elands, gazelles, monkeys, turtles and a stork like bird feeding in the waterhole. I have got two of my daughters watching too so it is really catching on. Cheers Al