What's Aruba got to do with it?

I went live with DebRon's Fuchsia Breeder website a few weeks ago without populating any inventory in my fuchsia items. I did so because Debbie and I had the opportunity of our lives to go spend time in Aruba. The trip took me away from the greenhouse for 11 days. Even with the best preparations I could muster, I had no idea what condition the plants would be in on my return.

Aruba was a fantastic place to visit. I can't say enough about island and the people that live there. They are among the friendliest people in the world you would ever meet. The weather there was perfect. Swimming and snorkeling in the Caribbean was a fantastic bucket list experience. Among the highlights of our adventurous trip were having a fun time cruising across the island in a side-by-side ATV, cruising on a catamaran, and touring a reef in a submarine.

Debbie and I are incurable plant lovers. We had to see every planted garden bed around the resort. We had the chance to visit a first class butterfly conservatory that had a huge assortment of butterflies, moths, and a whole host of tropical plants in bloom. We also took time to visit a local Aruban garden center, 'Fantastic Gardens.' I was wanting to figure out a way to get all those fabulous plants stuffed into my luggage. Debbie assured me that I'd run into customs problems and spend the rest of my life in a Venezuelan prison if I tried.

As it turns out, the little fuchsias that will be inventory for the website fared quite nicely in my absence. They did well on their own. I have varieties that are coming along well enough that I feel we are on track to start entering inventory as planned by February 15th.