Hi Clara & MB, Thank you for your replies! Muguet could definitely describe White StarÂs fragrance as too. Delightful:) I have an unusual reason for investigating possible fragrance difference between Ses & WS. I find that I am unfortunately sensitive to WSÂs perfume. I had to give the parent plant away due to sensitivity/allergic reaction a couple years ago. I currently have an offset of the original mother plant. It is blooming for the first time and although I find that IÂm not as sensitive as previously, it could be that the next time it blooms, I will be horribly sensitive again. Allergies are so nasty. Bleh! I absolutely love WS. I love everything about it; its growth habit, its beautiful white flowers that bloom in the drab of winter, and of course, its exquisite perfume! I was ready and willing to part with many of my smaller orchids, just to give WS the best growing space that I had available! It was so awful to find that I was morbidly sensitive to its fragrance. For now, WS is in bloom in my LR and IÂm OK (with the qualifications of a long-time allergy veteran). Regards, PoseyPlanter

Edward, I think they would be pink! Actually, I have a certain picture in my mind I guess when I plan a cross. It is based on the faults of a flower. I take it to the extreme sometimes, and I consider both SOT and BC to have the same flaw...not enough edge. I would cross either or both with JTD, and then add the other...(SOT x JTD)BC or (BC x JTD)SOT. Plus, by the time you make the second cross you might have a better eded pink to make the last cross. But if your goal is for color and not the edge, then my plan makes no sense. Ideally, (SOT x BC)Gary Colby would be good, but you did not gain much ground in the (SOT x BC) cross to help GC. Both have good color...so, (SOT x GC) would be better and faster (if the edge matters). So for me, where the edge does matter, I would make many crosses involving all three and get good seedlings to use GC on. Having a bunch of seedling pod parents is important. So, to answer your question in 1000 words or less, I would not make that cross.

I don't and have never even considered peer pressure for any decisions I make. I do not wear the latest trend in fashions or care what the Jones' family has in their house. I might admire their choices, but would never feel envy or threatened. This is our last house so we didn't build it for resale value, we built it for our comfort. We didn't shop for the highest end products or the lowest. We put things in the house that we feel were complimentary to the style of the house and our day to day living in the house and don't care what people think when they hear we only paid $1.19 a sq. foot for our bathroom tile or that we have painted wood porches, not composite ones. We tried, and I think, accomplished balancing things out so the lower end materials are complimented by the higher end ones. I like that my house is unique in that we didn't go out and buy all the latest high end materials to put in the house. We are 2 adults and some pets. When we realized that high end laminate flooring was more practical than hardwood, we went with it. I feel like this choice was smart and it just so happens to be beautiful. Instead of installing high end Daltile or other name brand tile in the kitchen and baths we went with a low end tiles from Lowe's and Home Depot. I've had realtors who sell million dollar homes come into my house and make comments like "I've never seen such a beautiful and well thought out home." We do not have granite in the baths, instead we have inexpensive vanities with box store marble tops. In the guest bath we have an antique dresser that has been converted into a vanity. Very inexpensive, but very beautiful. However, we do have granite in the kitchen for the very reason that putting laminate would have not looked quite right in our eyes. So we splurged on the granite, but purchased one of the most inexpensive ones, Gallo Ornamental. Again, we didn't sacrifice beauty, but saved money. We installed a pre made laminate counter in the laundry room that looks like the Gallo. Some people would shudder at the thought of laminate counters in the laundry, but for me, putting expensive granite in the laundry room is just ridiculous. Even if I could afford it, I would not see the need for it. I mean, how durable does a counter need to be to fold clothes on? Right? Yet in the same laundry room I have top of the line washer and dryer and even splurged on a built in ironing board. Oh, I might mention the formica sits on box store thermafoil cabinets. I've always been frugal, most of the time out of necessity, but it has taught me being frugal when you don't even need to be, can have a wonderful and sometimes surprising outcome. The fact is our house is the smallest (1900) sq. ft. in our entire sub division. Most of the houses are 3,000 ft and larger. I live across from a 2 story that is 7,800 sq. ft and I'm sure their choices in building materials are nothing like the ones in my house, but that doesn't bother me. I know my house is beautiful and well built. We feel good knowing we could make it that way by doing it "our way" and not building it to compare to others. If you haven't seen photo's of my house, you can go back and search this forum for past "It's (month), how is your build coming?" threads. It's taken us 6 years, from clearing the land to DH finally completing the build. We sacrificed and at times thought we'd never make it to the end, but we did. We're happy to say we did it our way and that has proven to be the best way. I'll be glad to post any other photo's if you'd like to see them. We are waiting till the weather is cooler before moving in, so excuse the photo's that still show building materials lying around. You have to live in your house. You build it to suit your taste and lifestyle. Trust in yourself, but if you need some reassurance on your choices, check in with this forum or the decorating forum and some nice people will be glad to give their help and opinions. Good luck and I look forward to watching your progress.

cawfe - thanks for your thoughts. Unfortunately my ex lives about 30 min away, so isn't available for much in the way of picking up/dropping off, unless it's on a weekend the boys are with him. I'm pretty much the primary parent, and my fiance helps when I have a scheduling conflict, but we don't rely on my ex for anything logistical. You're right, Dad's feeling left out although the boys are generally pretty circumspect in what they tell him of my fiance. They tell me nothing of my ex's GF (not that I ask except in the context of something else). sweeby - counseling is still an open question. The counselor who's doing the assessment of my older son has made it clear that she's not the right person to help us with co-parenting because that would put her in a dual role. She's happy to refer us to others, but the whole idea makes me tired. I can't tell you how many years we spent in counseling while we were married, both together and individual. I'm hoping that my son's counselor can help us get to the bottom of any harm that might have been done to him as a result of his father's fears. One alternative I'm considering is to give up on my ex ever changing, and instead work as a "family" within our current structure, the 4 of us (myself, fiance, 2 boys) and go to family therapy to talk about all of our concerns. This to me seems much more useful. I'm coming to the conclusion that in order to co-parent, there has to first be a foundation of trust and respect. Unfortunately we don't have either, and by the time we "get there" with a counselor, my sons will probably have gone off to college and the point would be moot. I'm pretty discouraged about making any progress, but then again I realize how stuck I am. It's late at night, I'm hoping all of this is somewhat coherent ;-) Ann