Happy Birthday Carol---

We are in the middle of a snowstorm here in Pa.--but my Birthday wishes are warm----We are waiting for spring birdies---LOL
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Florence

Have the happiest of birthdays my dear friend. You must come back and visit in May or June not APRIL lol. Although of course you're welcome at any time. Jack and Cookie send kisses.

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Why do I always think your birthday is in April?
Dear Carol I hope I can count you as one of my closest and dearest friends. I hope you have a wonderful day. May every day be like a walk through Mottisfont.
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Wishing you a very Happy Birthday, Carol.

Mme Butterfly

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Happy birthday, dear friend. May your year be filled with every blessing of friendship, prosperity, health, good cheer, and garden beauty!

Rosefolly

Happy, Happy Birthday.

Happy Birthday Carol!

OK, I know that is a picture of Montisfont, but what is that white rose on the arch? It is spectacular!

No pictures to show, no stories to tell, I just wish for you the best birthday forever and ever and that my note finds you forever happy and well. You are such a fun person whose heart is larger than any words I mind be able to type to define that which is you. I am totally impressed with Fang, Carol, Bluesibe, Big Heart!

Carol, much loved one. Happy Happy Birthday to you. I hope you get everything you wish for! Never did see those pics of your Costa Rican trip.

Carla

Okay, I read this then I counted on my fingers, read it again, realized that JD wrote this post and was sucking up to you in fine fashion, and laughed!

Happy Birthday my friend. I hope you have a chocolate kind of day, the dawgs don't open the fridge and eat all of your food, and that April will hurry up and get here so I can see you again. You know I have a personal fondness for yankees....

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Beau and Bill send Birthday greetings, hugs and kisses.

Love you,
Carolina

When I turned 40, my friends sent me black balloons, a bouquet of dead roses, and plastered my office with "over the hill" signs. Oh, to be 40 again!

As someone who passed that milestone quite a few years ago, happy birthday, and believe me, you haven't begun to crest that hill.

Here's one of the cemetery's Mme Lombards, for you -
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Anita

Happy Birthday Carol, my dear old friend that I had to go all the way to Florida to find on that other forum only to discover that you were but 10 miles away.What strange twists of fortune have brought me the great good luck of having you for a friend. Support teams for each other in times of sickness, going through similar fads in our gardens and finding our way to the steamy south Carolinas and the wilds of TX together. I have acquired a taste for Huskies and Lord only knows what you've gotten out of this... for me, very rich, enduring and stimulating friendship. Wishing you the most joyous year ever but you must stay on the bike this year. I am frequently reminded how much I enjoy and treasure you. You're smart, hilarious, spunky and charming and how often we like the same thing is still a mystery to me.
Much love,
la
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Hello, dear Friend - how nice to all meet here again on your birthday!

I've been slack with the camera, so I thought you might like a word picture of an English garden in June. This from 'Days and Hours in a Garden' (1884), by Eleanor Vere Boyle:

'June 15. Here is the middle of the month, and the garden is more bewildering than ever! Rosebuds in countless multitudes are blooming everywhere, in every part. And as the fashion is to call her so, we must allow the Rose to be queen of flowers; and since it is most true that Roses are-
"Not royal in their smells alone, but in their hue,"
so, though my beloved Iris has not yet faded from the garden, the Rose now must be worshipped. One by one we have already greeted many of our old best favourites. Amongst them Boursault came first, climbing the south gables of the house; then Souvenir d'un Ami, large and full flushed, at the very top of the long bare old stem of a climber, any age; then Gloire de Dijon, which, though even more profuse in its bloom than usual, has a something not quite right about it this year- a sort of old expression. After that, Maiden's Blush and Moss Rose. A great wild blush of Boursault Rose grows at the north end of the garden- the flowers are lovely, recalling a little in their colour and irregular shape what I remember as "the Musk Rose," in the gardens of former days. Coupe d'Hébé, on the wall of the gardener's cottage, is perfect in scent and shape and in true rose-colour. The yellow Briar is finer than usual, and Damask Roses are opening fast. La France, too- the Rose whose scent is made of the finest attar- has delighted us with half-a-dozen beautiful blooms; Blairii No. 2 begins to crest the wire arches (one never hears of No. 1!). But among the Rose joys which abound already, or that we still expect in endless succession, none are so dear to me as one little ragged bush, covered now with small white Scotch Roses of exquisite perfume. This little Rose bush is forty-eight years old, to my certain knowledge. It was planted by my father, and it has been mine for the last twenty years. Last year it showed some signs of feebleness, so we moved it from the over-crowded place where it has been for eleven years, into a newly made bed with a south aspect. There, with a companion of the same kind, it promises to take a new lease of life. Strange that such a little Rose should live on for well-nigh half a century, calmly putting forth its leaf and bloom summer after summer, whilst so many of the men and women who knew it once have passed away! It somehow makes one think of the old monk pointing to the frescoes on his convent walls, and saying, "These are the realities; we are the shadows."

Have a wonderful day!
Jon

Happy birthday and I can say I've remembered you in all your names!
I'll look for a birtday mug for you with 40 emblazoned upon it. (Such mugs are best put on the shelf for a decade or so and taken out when forty is fondly remembered.)
Ann

Son, if I've only known you for 5 1/2 years, I'm a lot younger than 40! But heck, I taught you well, when you must tell a little ole white lie (Carolina speak), tell a big one! Thanks John, I'm so happy to know you.

Florence, thank you so much. You are truely one of the treasures of this forum.

Jackie, Jack and Cookie, I hope to come back one day to sip wine by the lake and just enjoy the full spendor of your garden. Maybe I can even drag LA with me.

My dear Pamela, you know how important you are to me. What a creative spirit you are. You know my dream is to have a group of us at Mottisfont. I wonder if Jon could handle it. He may have to go hide in the wine cellar of the manor.

Krista, what a beautiful shot. Thank you.

RF, what a perfect name for you. Whatever did I do without my special friends that I met on this forum.

Rozanna, oh how good to see you back. You've been missed girl.

Thanks Buford. I'm not dreaming am I? we did meet last year in SC?

Patricia, you are exactly the person I pictured. Back at you. I hope you make it out to California one of these days, lots of shopping, good wine and good friends.

Carla, I'll try and remember to send them to you. It was a grand trip.

Red, yeah, you have his number. Next he'll be asking for money! Can't wait to see you on the Left Coast, we'll show you a good time. Hey Beau, I hope they are taking good care of you!

Anita, LOL, I'm not going to tell you when I saw 40, but if you want to maintain the illusion, it's ok with me. See you at Friends of Vintage I hope.

LA, what would I do without you? I think we were sisters in another life or I was your dog (one of the two). I should only have your strength, warmth and spirit.

Jon, I would like to say that you are a true Renaissance Man, but I can't spell. I am so happy to call you my friend. Hope to make it back soon. Hopefully the dollar will rise once again.

This forum has made my world so small, but so large with the wonderful people I have met and the folks that have become my extended family and have allowed me to open up my heart and feel loved.

Thank you.

(LA, my Birthday is tomorrow, check your calendar)

Carol, we probably did, at Ashdown.

Carol in my role as power behind the throne I did tell John the 23rd, I'm afraid your son got excited but he did say it is tomorrow which is today. If it is the 24th then I will have to redo the calendar. I feel more confused than before.
Happy Birthday today???
la

Dear Carol,
I wish you the happiest of birthdays! You are a dear friend and I hope we'll meet again soon -- perhaps at Mottisfont one day. Your presence here on the forums and everywhere you visit make the world a better place.
Lori

I hope the sibes get some birthday cake too! Happy Birthday.

Love,

George & Sunny

Happy Birthday, Carol, and wishing you many more wonderful years in our world of roses. I enjoy having you on the forum and look forward to many more threads and rose pictures from you in the coming year.

Warm regards,

Ingrid

Happy Birthday, Carol! Its been a long time since Ive been in these parts but Ive really enjoyed knowing you and being enabled by you. Hope you have a very good one!

Happy Birthday, Carol. Hope to meet you one day :)
Best wishes and happy, rose filled year for you.
Olga

Dear Carol - it is an honor to know you. Much love,
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Clematis from your garden!

A

Hope your birthday is wonderful, and the year ahead all you hope it will be.

Judith

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I guess I'm late, too, but
Happy Birthday!
We haven't met, but I hope to have the honor one day. Forty is a great age. Fifty (my current tally of years) is a great age. My husband says life begins at sixty (how old he was when we got married) and improves at seventy, and seventy-three, his current age, is marvelous!

Wishing you a long and happy life,

Melissa

Ann, thanks for the thought. My mug is well over 40 and I believe should be shelved, but I think you are talking of different mug???

LA, yesterday was the day, now I'm aiming towards next year.

Lori, you are a dear. I dream one day of seeing your garden, as I know from the pictures that it is beautiful.

George, as you know the sibes are not spoiled by me, only guests that come for dinner and feed them under the table when I'm not looking. So they get no cake, chocolate or otherwise.

Ingrid, thank you. And we are all looking forward to seeing your garden grow.

Aisha, it is almost worth having a birthday, to have your good wishes. You have been missed and I hope that you will visit more often. Welcome back!

Olga, I would so like to meet you and see your garden. Perhaps one day a visit to Maryland to see the famous gardens of The Elf and Olga.

Andrea, you are a joy to know. Hope you can make it up for Dirt Day. File all the taxes on the 16th, no one cares.

Thank you Judith. How did you know that I love Sharifa of the fabulous fragrance?

Melissa, my friend John did this tongue in cheek. I was over the hill a long time ago. Thank you, Italy is on my list and I hope to see your garden sometime soon, when the dollar has some value.

Carol

Oh I am so late and yet I love you so much! Happy birthday, dear friend, both Marji and I hope it was filled with lots of love and laughter. We send very best wishes for a happy year ahead, good health and great adventures. The poos send slurpy kisses to you, too, and say they can't wait to see you again.
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Sue

Happy birthday, Carol; thanks for your kind and thoughtful postings. I hope your next year is filled with many blossoms and blessings.

Mrs. Oakley Fisher waves hello

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Sorry I'm Late!
Happy Birthday
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Ehrfurt

Happy Birthday Week dear Carol. Sorry to be so late! Dear Andrea called and said that there was a lovely birthday post for you and I didn't want to miss it. I wish you the very best Birthday Year!

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Sue, ye of the great smile. Poodles only give dignified ladylike kisses. Can't wait to see you in April!

Thank you M'Lady Duchesse and Master LaBrea. You can not be late, as this post by John is a total lie. By birthdays ended a long time ago and I am now just a young thing (that's a white lie and doesn't count).

Missy, you dear. Thank you. You are missed. And as usual your pictures are breathtaking. Hope you are well.

Carol

Happy happy belated birthday! Sorry to be so late in coming to the party but I got tripped up by some pugs who demanded treats and steered me away from the computer. I hope you and your roses and your canine pals are living it up!

Love Kate