Mike, "I don't give a kumquat whether we are warming or cooling..." I am offended by your implication that there is anything negative about kumquats. They are great. I grew up with a tree that bore way more fruit than I could ever eat, and the extras served as excellent ammunition for throwing at my friends--especially the green ones b/c they are much harder. :) It is pretty funny with this current cold weather how much people on both sides of the debate cite it as evidence in their direction. As if one piece of datum out of context can lead to any kind of significant conclusion. Whenever winter rolls around gardenweb seems to slow down, which I find annoying considering I live NorCal where we don't have much of a winter. So I appreciate discussion topics that I find interesting regardless of how "on topic" they are for the various forums. I do find it interesting all the people that chime in about how this isn't a worthwhile discussion. In a free society, isn't any any all discussion worthwhile? You are free to discuss and free not to. Cousin floyd, do you not think that colony collapse disorder exists, or are you just saying you don't think it is a new thing? I didn't realize that was even a controversial topic. ryan

Yes, I agree - we'll be doing some serious summer pruning after the spring flush. Even so, I think I'll have to do a second round of pruning now before the flush starts for roses like Queen of Sweden that are already 6 feet tall - I can't imagine that one 10 feet tall and still only a foot wide. As for the welcome to California gardening,kittymoonbeam, we'll wait till you also welcome us to California winters! Even with this incredibly mild winter, we still had a few snows of over a foot, and we had to protect the roses (Grinch-like) against the possibility of a real Midwestern winter. It's the extremes that get us! As for where in Nebraska I am, mori1, I'm in Lincoln. I teamed up with Mindy in Omaha (gardenerzone4/5) when she posted on GW last year wanting someone to split a bulk order from Roses Unlimited. I just drove up there yesterday to pick up my share of our second joint bulk order and talk roses for a while (her yard is lovely and her roses are waaaay more organized and tidy than mine!!). We'll probably do the same for another year or two, so let one of us know if you're in driving distance of Omaha and want to join in the order. Where in Kansas are you?

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Its hard to find a quote among so many good ones. After a couple of hours of watching the news, I like a quote by Ella Wheeler Wilcox: " So many gods, so many creeds, so many path that wind and wind while just the art of being kind is all the sad world needs". What is wrong with this world.