just bumping this down. whoever needed the credit has had ample opportunity to read this and take action.

daveh, I've never been to one of the sales, but I can imagine. I used to live in Pasadena and the Huntington sales were amazing--people would line up 2 hours in advance with their wagons. On the other hand, I went to the UC-Santa Cruz nonmember's sale last year and was incredibly disappointed--everything was already cleaned out by the member's sale just before (no Proteas, no Leucospermums, one or two Banksias...). I've heard that even the member's sale there is a free for all, and that you have to plan in advance exactly what you want and run for it. The thing that I like about the monthly sales at Strybing is that they are so low-key (do most people even know they exist?), so that even really amazing plants are often still there after 30 minutes. In February the Passiflora table was really sleepy and I imagine that P. antioquiensis, P. exoniensis, P. antio x parritae and P. exo x parritae were still there for quite a while. There just wasn't a mob of people there to grab them. As you say, the people working there were incredibly helpful. I met up with someone at the sale this month to exchange some plant material, and he asked for a particular plant that was not on the sale table (possibly P. bogotensis? I'm not sure). Anyway, the guy went right back to the greenhouse and got it for him. It's great to hear that's standard practice--pretty amazing. It sounds like if you really want a particular plant the monthly sales might make more sense if it's that easy. daveh--If you are still reading this thread, I have a question. The themed sales later in the year: perennials, native plants, etc. (also each month)--do they have a substantial representation of other plants, or are there fewer? I've heard that a native plant sale is not for example, just a native plant sale, but a general sale with an emphasis on natives. So in this particular case would there be fewer non-native plants? Also regarding volunteering--do they make it so that people can do it only one the weekend? Many botanical gardens are geared so only retirees can volunteer. Passionlove--that's interesting. I'm always amazed by the plants that "shouldn't" do well in Florida yet survive, or even thrive. Another Andean species, Solanum quitoense or Naranjilla comes to mind. From a book chapter on the plant (actually a really nice book online on a Purdue site): http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/naranjilla_ars.html#Climate "In Colombia, the naranjilla flourishes in humid regions at elevations between 3,600 and 7,900 ft (1,600 and 2,400 m) where the annual rainfall is about 60 in (150 cm). Precipitation up to 120 in (250 cm) is tolerable if well distributed throughout the year. In Panama, the naranjilla has made good growth at altitudes from 4,000 to 6,000 ft (1,200-1,800 m). It is grown in southern Florida at near sea-level. The best plantations in Ecuador are between 5,000 and 6,000 ft (1,500-1,800 m), where the mean temperature is 62.6 to 66.2º F (17º-19º C). The naranjilla cannot tolerate temperatures over 85º F (29.4º C). It is not adapted to full sun but favors semi-shade." It does get above 85 F in South Florida, right?

First off, that was a WONDERFUL Robey. Second, yea, you might have drowned it. HOWEVER, what I would do to try to save it (looks like spear pull from watering on top in stead of the dirt) is to put a fan by it and run the fan, doesn't have to be a big box fan, just a lil fan, but run it all day and all night. Water it only when the first 2 - 3 " is dry. Keep in the sunny spot of the window. But DO NOT GIVE UP ON IT. I had a Robey that accidentally got water in the crown and it got center pull and I had new growth after putting outside for a month. If your in Zone 6, I would also be more optimistic as you can put it outside in maybe a month or so. But DO DO DO put it outside soon as possible. If temps are around 50's or 60's for high, put it outside.

Pileated Woodpecker! Finally! A Pileated Woodpecker that stayed still long enough for me to get a fairly closeup pic! It was a lucky shot, actually. We were at a local cemetary taking photos for Findagrave photo requests. We heard her first, then located her, but she kept flying from spot to spot and then flew away. So, we pulled out the 'Droid (phone), and used the Pileated Woodpecker call on my iBird application to literally call her back in. She was going back and forth overhead, settling on first this tree and then that one! I literally got ONE photo only of her, and this was it! Lucky shot, I'd say! Can you tell I'm excited to have got even one photo? I know other's have managed to get photos of Pileated Woodpeckers, but this is my first!