I got my Venus flytraps in and they were potted in perlite and sand and some vermiculite and other junk- probably sphagnum peat moss. I pulled media away from the roots and found that every plant had some really bad roots in that mix, so I put them all in the re-wetted sphagnum moss I used to grow my orchids in and all the venus flytraps are growing new roots and they look SO much better. The roots were all black and rotted looking, but each flytrap had a new root or 2 that were coming out when I saw the corms after rinsing them off. I figured the sphagnum moss would keep the roots moist but give good air flow and it seems to be the best thing for them so far as each plant has grown very well despite getting sunburned badly. I guess I lucked out since it was so close to dormancy the plants recovered leaves quickly and new traps also. Even the tiny VFT 'pink ' is starting to grow new trap leaves but all of them are going dormant and I can tell as the leaves take minutes to close instead of seconds now. The traps are large, but the leaves are small and very full and the color on most is still green as we have had snow here now for the past 3 days and all the new growth has missed the full sun since I was afraid to burn them again. I recommend potting in the re-wetted sphagnum moss or long fiber sphagnum moss that lowes or home depot sell- just make sure it is all fertilizer free with no additives as that can kill carnivorous plants. Also, I use rain water to water my carnivorous plants and they do better from rain water than distilled. You can re-wet the dried out sphagnum moss by soaking strands in a bin or bucket of rain water then layering them on top of each other in the pot. Once you have wet moss about half way up the pot, I put the corm or bulb in the middle with roots draped in a circle to keep from damaging them and then trying to stick the new roots right into the wet moss so they grow better. I drape more moss around the sides of the bulb in a circular motion so it is nested in the middle of the pot and so far, that has worked well for me. Last thing- you can sometimes get sphagnum moss to start growing if you let the pot sit in rain water when the plant is actively growing- they normally grow nested in a nice sphagnum moss bog which will keep the environment more close to what they are used to. I have new sphagnum moss growing in the wet dead stuff in the pots and I hope it grows big enough to keep the cp's roots moist and help them grow vigorously.

It's really been coming down hard already about two inches of snow and it isn't supposed to stop till morning! HAven't had a snaow like this here since 89' and I'm just loving it! Sooo pretty! Cracks me up cause I'm a northerner and when it snows here you have everyone and their grandmother outside looking at the snow falling (including myself cause I miss it) and you hear the laughter of children playing in the snow. I know everyone else up farther north is sick of it though not to mention the damage it has caused. For us here though it is a treat. I am concerned about my roses because the weight of the snow is bending down the branches because it is such a heavy wet snow. NOt to mention they are not use to snow and are teas, chinas, and noisettes that are more sensitive to cold. Anyone have these in areas where it snows? The thing is mine still had some leaves on them too. ~Meghan

Living in western PA my whole life, the worst weather that I had to deal with was a bad thunderstorm or a lot of snow. When I moved out here to Philadelphia 4 years ago I never thought in a million years I would be sitting smack dab in the middle of a hurricane. When I left work on Friday Oct 26th we had an email to all employees that due to the coming storm we might have to close on Monday Oct 29th. Well sure enough on Sunday night they updated the email and advised that the stock market will be closed. So Monday I sat at home all day watching what would be the worst storm I have ever seen in my life. I am only 27 years old, so I have not seen a lot of what life can offer yet, but I will tell you this storm is something I never want to have to live through again. It was horrifying to listen to 80+ mile an hour winds smack against the house. Everything outside was blowing around like we were in the chamber of a vacuum cleaner. BF and I live in a heavily suburban area elven miles north of the city proper. It is a lovely place with old architecture and lots of trees. But those trees ended up being our downfall. Our bedroom is on the third floor so I was almost in the canopy watching the tops bend almost in half to then stand straight back up and be blown the other direction. It truly is amazing how strong trees are and how much they can take before they give out. But sure enough we did have one give out. A piece of the neighbor's spruce tree snapped in half and fell flat in our front yard taking with it the power and cable lines. By the grace of God it missed the house. Amazingly we had enough slack (according to BF) so that the power wasn't knocked out. But now we had a downed tree with live wires under it to contend with when we went outside the next day. Scary stuff :( Now we are almost a week past the storm and the streets around here are still a mess. A lot of roads are blocked off due to either power lines being down or just whole trees lying in the middle of the street. Some people are just now getting their electricity back after almost a full week. We were fortunate enough not to loose power but I was without internet for almost the whole week. Thank you everyone for your thoughts and prayers. We are safe and slowly coming “back to life”. This truly was one for the history books and something I sure as hell never want to have to deal with again. Here are some of the pics I took for home owner's insurance. Not as pretty as a hosta but testament that mother nature is not to be trifled with. Thank you again everyone, your thoughts and prayers made the difference. Ludi Elegans did sustain some “smashing” damage but she was on her way to sleep for the winter so I'm pretty sure she didn't mind :p

Some plumeria is susceptible to sun burn while others do not. Is the oposite side of the burned area green? If so, you can leave it as is and move it to another area to avoid causing further sun burn. What I sometime will do is to add more soil to the pot until it covers the burned area. But if it is sun burned all around, then I would cut and re-root. Best wishes for a great growing season!! Kasie