On 26 Oct 05 at 18:50, ConroeJoe@aol.com wrote: > Hi Gang, > > This came up last year, but herein I try again. > > If anyone has stock of the yellow-flowered form within Texas, > I'd sure like to arrange a trade for seeds or corms. > > It is a great plant for this area (just north of Houston) > because, while it is a winter grower it is also very tolerant > of summer rains. And, if you grow it in a pot, you can just > put the whole pot away for 4 months in the heat and wet of > summer. Not to go after you in particular, Joe, but for heaven's sake, people, look over what you've written before you click "send". I can guess that Joe's "H." in the Subject: header means "Homeria" -- but guessing isn't good enough. Perhaps he means Hippeastrum collina? Hesperochiron collina? Who knows? At the risk of sounding, once again, like a cyber-grinch (or maybe a cyber-Auntie), a few guidelines to help get your message across: 1. Don't abbreviate. Exception: generic names in the body of the message *after* first writing out the name in full. (Putting the generic name in the Subject: header doesn't count.) 2. Don't abbreviate. If you're going to Bangkok, write "Bangkok", not "BKK". It may be kewl to use the IATA codes for airports but lots of folks will be scratching their heads wondering wothehell you meant. 3. When specifying locations, be explicit. Write "Dallas, Texas", "Dallas, TX". Also write "Bangkok, Thailand". Bandwidth is cheap these days so writing TX instead of Texas is a trivial saving. 4. When specifying locations, be explicit. Write "Dallas, Texas", "Dallas, TX". Also write "Bangkok, Thailand". Remember that the PBS list has subscribers all over the world and plain ol' ignorance is widespread. There's no guarantee that any given reader has ever heard of Dallas -- Dallas, Texas, that is. Nor Bangkok. 5. When specifying locations, be specific. Write "10 miles north of Dallas, Texas." You never know when this might make the difference between getting a plant you want and not getting it. 6. Assume nothing. See points 1-5 for examples. Homework exercise: think of five other specific composition errors that impeded communication. Class dismissed. -- Rodger Whitlock Victoria, British Columbia, Canada Maritime Zone 8, a cool Mediterranean climate on beautiful Vancouver Island