Jackie, I didn't think it was necessary to go into detail,but the points have been brought up,so I'll state my opinion in detail. Removing offsets from the mother plant,will increase it's chances of survival, slightly. Removeing the offsets will decrease their chances of survival, slightly. The reason I think it best to remove the offsets, is that there is a place where rot can hide, between the offsets and the mother bulb. Once rot starts ,for any reason, it needs to be cleaned up and treated.You can't do that with the offsets growing on the mother bulb. If ,for no better reason,seperate the bulbs,to save them from destroying each other. If, indeed, the mother bulb continues to decline,It will try to produce offsets,before it dies,if there are none present. Past a certain unknown point,it will rapidly decline as more energy is put into the offsets. On a healthy bulb,I believe it is best to leave offsets,until they are Quite large.It is rare that a bulb will not root ,as long as it has the most minute portion of a basal plate,and it's not overwatered. It all depends on what you want to happen,try to save the mother,grow the offsets on,or try to do both. The basal plate of hippeastrum bulbs is the most important part of all.The rest will all grow back. Good luck. Del

Anita, can you post a link to your GW trade page? That way we can understand better and be able to figure out how to make spaces. I've never seen a trade page. And don't ever think you are asking a silly question! We all have to ask for help at some time!

Patti's got it right. I started to post something similar last night. I, personally, don't need the cutesy greetings. All I really expect is a smile and a "Hi" or "Welcome" when the waiter/waitress comes by. I don't expect one to sit down in the booth, either, to take my order (this has happened twice before, once at a N.C. steakhouse and once somewhere other than in the South). I have no idea which restaurant-training manual would encourage that! First, some people -- like me -- really don't care for Ma'am -- altho it is meant as a form of respect, it certainly is a reflection of a person's age. I don't look old enough to be called by it, and I'd much prefer 'Miss.' But as I wrote before, I let it pass. For the other cutesy names, if they bothered me enough, I would certainly find a polite way to make sure that the waiter/waitress knows that's gonna rub some customers the wrong way -- I'd find a joking way, probably. Second, there was no intent on Glenda's part to embarrass the waitress, as at least one poster says -- we all read that she was polite about it, she was not nasty. Third, why is it that when anybody wants to vent about something, no matter how big or how minor some people might think it is, other posters treat it like the biggest crime in the world that those folks should be upset or frustrated or offended? How much longer are folks going to come down on others for concerns that just might not rise to their level of importance?

Eh, bins are finally coming into my house. Didn't have the urge to organize before purging as there was so much crap. I did the work, my house has half the number of storage furniture and drawers it did before I started. Now I'm making things easier to access and bins and baskets are helpful. I can reach the front edge of a 6.5' shelf and see to the back of the bottom shelves of my kitchen cabinets. Without bins stuff got lost. Christmas is finally in 6 small bins for safety after living in 3 heavy tattered boxes for years. Without bins the comforter and blankets I have to keep so my guests don't whine about being cold are a horrible mess on the linen closet shelf. I do shop the stash. Any box, basket or jar in reasonably good shape is kept and I use them rather than buy new stuff if possible. And my donation box is full. Time to get that stuff out of the house.