Again, your cyclamen looks like a fancy breed. I had mine for 3 years. They are lovely, but not difficult. These plants are far less demanding than indoor gardenia and some slipper orchid. It had no disease and does not require outdoor living. It just wants it damp and cool. If you keep the temperature below 60, they will adjust quickly to full sun. I put them under direct sun with temperature between 40 and 60. I water from the top, on the side, slowly, so that the water does not touch the growing spot of the tuber. It is in a 12" pot. It is a little too large to sit in another container. Around April/May, it will turn yellow as temperature rises. If you increase water and fertilizing level after seeing the yellow leaves, the tuber will rot quickly. Simply stop watering, sit it in a cool and dark basement during the hot summer. Only keep the surface soil semi-moist. It will come back in September/October. How is your cyclamen now?

Hi there - thanks all for the feedback - I have kept the grass pretty high based on some advice from my neighbor - he mentioned the same thing AgroCoders stated: that the tall fescues are meant to grow pretty tall (hence the name I guess :) ) maybe 3-4 inches and can lay flat, which is sort of why I was inquiring as to why it was dying...I did cut the grass again since posting keeping it at about 3 or 4 inches. Actually, the grass has gotten worse now too...the parts in the middle that were yellow are now pretty much dead...The grass does look like it was matted - it could have been because of the rain too. I mean the too much water theory could be true, but I would be surprised - I couldn't really control the storms and rain that rolled through for about a week straight :). Regarding the fertilizer - yeah, that could have been some misleading information from both the seed (Pennington) and fertilizer (Scotts) manufacturers - they both stated the conditions for spreading and I followed those accurately. I actually just lightly spread on fertilizer to this newly grassed area, but perhaps I didn't give enough time from my previous fertilizer application and also I am sure the weed/feed itself didn't help. I would think all the water we got would actually help wash out the fertilizer though if that were the culprit. I don't know if it will rebound at this point or not - even though it's dense shade I am starting to wonder if just the total lack of sun, minus a few tiny parts, is the culprit after all...Or just a perfect storm of my misconceptions of fescue (letting it get too high, getting wet, spreading an ill-advised fertilizer, and lack of sun). Oh, and to the comment on the shade mixtures: Dense Shade mix: Virtue II Tall Fescue Rebel Xtreme Tall Fescue Razor Red Fescue Survivor Chewings Fescue Tall Fescue Mix: Justice Tall Fescue Rebel XLR Tall Fesuce Rebel Xtreme Tall Fescue Virtue II Tall Fescue Note: I only spread the Dense shade mix at the bottom of the land (where there is the most dense shade) and the tall fescue mix is pretty much covering all the rest. The grass seems to be dying right in the middle - it does run down hill, so maybe all the rain we got matted the grass -it stayed wet for several days and then just died...too many theories. Attached is a picture today - we had another storm last night, after about 2-3 days of really hot 80-90 degree weather (without rain), but I did water when it seemed dry (one day). Thanks All! Any advice on helping it rebound? Usually light rain + sun helps, but I will be missing that whole sun component in dense shade so it could be bon voyage for my grass.

Dear Shelly, If Myrtillocactus could feed the world (and it can, you know - its berries are tart and tasty), we will look to you to supply cuttings. I know you're up for the challenge. As the others have suggested, you might consider cutting the offset just below the end of the scarred portion. Normally, offsets from this plant are best taken at the joint, a phrase, I grant you, fraught with possibility but at the moment meant botanically. Leave it around for Morgan BestKitty to admire and plant in the spring (you plant it - Morgan has better things to do, I daresay). I'd suggest a more-porous-less-peat mixture for rooting the cutting, but you know best. I'd guess that the single cutting will grow best if that second offset is left on, but you could root that one, too. Your amputated plant will grow offsets again, but there ain't no growin' outta that scar, whether it's old sunburn or (in several of my plants' cases) the residue of alcohol residue left in the sun and seared into the very epidermis, not unlike tribal branding. I admire the shot immensely, because it allows me to be nosy and see what you read - one of the first things I do, as a curious person, when invited into someone's home for the first time. I love the Anais Nin and Fellowship of the Ring next to each other. Some of the jewel's thousands of facets revealed!

Not that I always do it myself, but it's kind of a good idea to ask some of those questions before you buy it rather than after. To start--it's been more years than I care to think about since I grew a 'gloxinia' tuber. First, what is commonly known as gloxinia is actually a sinningia. When what is now the Gesneriad Society was started it was started primarily for people who grew gloxinias, as they were then known, so it's a pretty important plant! Have you started any other bulbs or tubers? I think when I used to start them, in a pot not much bigger than the tuber, I used to put them on top of the refrigerator 'til they started top growth--they get some bottom heat that way (tho' I'm not sure my energy star frig puts out nearly as much!) Be sure to give them good light as soon as that little furry bud shows up, and your sunroom would probably be fine; they need more sun than many others, which may be why they don't seem to be grown as often these days. Use a good-quality potting mix that drains well, feed them lightly periodically (I feed *very* lightly with every watering for most my gessies) and enjoy them as they grow and bloom. After they bloom and grow and all, and begin to slow down, let them go dormant. Don't think they're dying and dump them, as many have done! Don't force them if they don't want to. Let them stay dry and dormant until you see new growth, when they may need repotting--or may not!--and a new cycle of growth and bloom begins. Probably someone who's grown them more recently will have some better advise! Enjoy! They're beautiful plants!