REMEMBERING THE 'TOUCAN' BROOCH THAT WAS STOLEN FROM MY 'ANTIQUE JEWELLRY SHOPPE' 25 YEARS AGO.....

           I hoped, for years, to discover that it had re-appeared at a big Antique Jewelry Show......Alas, it did not.....Its whereabout are, still, unknown........

THE 'SWAMP PLANT' ....REJUVENATED BY RAIN AND SUNLIGHT........

This old 'swamp plant', Ficus Palmeri, that I've cared for so many years , seemed....only a couple of months ago....to have withered and 'kicked the bucket'......I moved it into the moving air and exposure to more sunlight, and dumped an overdose of organic fertilizer into its bonsai pot......This past week, the thing seemed to be growing like a teenager......Interestingly, the other 'ailing plants' that are sharing the Plant Hospital with it appear to be following its example....even a couple that I had...almost,....pronounced DEAD.....Happy Things that are Loved and cared for....want to LIVE! As Summer sunlight gets brighter, and the air....hotter.....the plants red 'veins' grow more pronounced and deeper 'red'......the plant is a 'water hog', requiring....during active growth periods, like Now......copious amounts of water, when growing in direct sunlight...If the ficus is denied its two main needs, it goes into dormancy....'survival mode'.....losing its leaves and ceasing to develop new roots.....looking like a dissicating Yam......until resurrected by heat, light and water..........