Going back to Helga's post about my Paph growing conditions... I don't know that it's actually anything I do or don't do, but more that Paphs seem ideally suited to my growing conditions and habits. For a long time, Paphs really never did anything for me. Then came my discovery of Paph spicerianums cute little alien face on a show table one December. I was able to purchase one at our April show and it thrilled me by blooming that very same year and again every year in late fall and early winter. Then I fell in love with the elegant lowii and it too bloomed the same year I got it. To make the shipping on lowii worth it, I had purchased 5 other Paphs. They too grew vigorously and the mature ones even bloomed. I dont know about you, but I started noticing a trend. In short, I grow most of my plants in a spare bedroom. Summer day temps are in the 80s with night temps in the mid to high 60s. Winter day temps are in the mid to high 70s with night temps in the high 50s to low 60s. Humidity is ok, between 40% and 55%. I have a ceiling fan going on low all day for air circulation. The bedroom faces east by southeast, so it gets relatively good light. Higher light plants are right by the window and I have CFLs for additional light there. Around the walls of the room, I have shelves with fluorescent tubes. The Paphs were under two fluorescent tubes. Plants are grouped by genera and watering habits. For example, Phals in 4 inch pots will be in the same tray, while mounted Phal species will be in another tray. Ill check a couple of plants in each tray every morning and whats really dry gets watered then and there. For fertilizer, given everything is on its own schedule, I fertilize at every watering for 2 weeks, then with fresh water for one week. (Just for information, you may have noticed that Paphs "were" under two fluorescent tubes. I finally ran out of room in the orchid room a couple of months ago and expanded my basement growing area, which had previously been the summer home of my Masdevallias and other cooler growers. Paphs are now under four fluorescents, since this is their only source of light. Temperatures are also a bit cooler, though the lights do give a nice bump to day temps. I noticed when watering this weekend that there are a good dozen new spikes, so they dont seem to mind their new home.) I hope that this helps. Julie

Andrea, I'm living between the Lancaster area and Chillicothe. The donor's site got cleaned out, she had about 4-5 rows and it was all before bloom. As for the lady I mentioned witht the 350+, it's somewhat a hobby but she puits out a sign and sells pretty nice size clumps at a very reasonable prce (seems to be based on availability/rarity...but consider my Spiderman costs $50 less than a popular online vendor...) If I'm not mistaken, Bainbridge is on the west side of Chillicothe off route 50? Judy's little farm is about the same distance in the on the other side of Chillicothe off route 50. She's located a few miles above Tar Hollow State Park on state route 327 (can't miss the park signs on route 50) I don't have her phone number but she has a small, but noticable hand painted sign she hangs during the bloom . She's retired but does quite a bit of church work and is closed on sundays. I'm heading that way tonite to catch up on yardwork at home once I finish up here at the folk's place...Seems a never ending routine but if you'd like shoot me an e-mail at runningfree_1965@XXyahoo.com (remove the XX) and I'll try to get you some contact #'s to insure you don't make a wasted trip. (no computer at the new place yet) She and her husband are super nice and I'm sure you'd enjoy the visit, variety, and prices. Thanks for the link, I'll have to look into it. Planning to visit a relative in Hillsboro and sneak in some fishing at Rocky fork or Salt Creek lake and I'm all but positive Bainbridge would be on my path! Had a few more new visitors today but just got home a little while agao and the sunlight made pics difficult: The 3rd one is a neat peach-colored spidery thing, yet another that's going to my house!

Wild Swan is probably my favorite book on China - fiction or non. The stories of her grandmother, mother and herself read like good fiction, and I came away with a much better understanding of modern Chinese history and culture then I had before. I agree - I don't think you can really make any generalization about any country, but esp not one so big. Yes we export some of our most glaring stereotypes for all to see. But its so very different between regions, states, rural/urban/suburban, and so dependent on class, race or nationalities. Rather an interesting mix, actually. Im in a website that has a language forum, and people from all over the country pop in with their favorite regionalisms, and comments on others. Makes me remember how really diverse this huge nation is, and makes me wonder how in the world we managed to all stick together for so long!

Someone posted on this thread about Fuzzy Logic and I went to it and the views or political discussions seemed to be strictly tea party opinions, and using derogatory names for the president. I don't always agree with everything the president does, but I respect the office of POTUS, and I tend to hold liberal views, so I would not recommend Fuzzy Logic unless you are a staunch right-winger.