Thank you, Mike and Mom! Your words are appreciated very much! Honestly, I don't think too much about color when planting... it just worked out nicely, I think. I'm more concerned with height and size, to be honest. I always seem to be in such a hurry to get everything planted that I really don't have time to coordinate, but I much prefer a wilder look, anyway... like that's the way things just grew! The Knock Out series can't be beat for ease of growing. I highly recommend roses from this series for those gardeners just beginning to grow roses. They require very little care... a little shaping or removal of dead wood in early spring, some fertilizer, and enough moisture and sunlight will keep them happy and blooming all summer. All they require for winter is a good layer of mulch, and I let the leaves that fall and other debris stay on the garden until spring, just as a little added insulation. I have a couple of the Sunny Yellow Knock Outs growing among the other roses and perennials, and I love the double reds and the pinks! The yellow fades a bit as the blooms age, but they're still very nice. Mike, yours looks lovely! And there isn't a weed in sight! Our gardens are loaded with weeds at the moment! We did have a girl helping part time, but she quit. I guess weed pulling wasn't as glamorous as she thought it might be. I don't know why, but there seems to be a lot lacking these days when it comes to work ethic. Everyone wants to get paid, but very few are prepared, or equipped, to earn that pay. Jude the Obscure is an English rose, from David Austin. It's a lovely and very full bloom, fragrant, with a very subtle color. I love the English roses, though they seem not to be as hardy as some other types. We have several Austin roses, though we mulch them a little heavier, and try to plant them where they are afforded a bit more protection. So far, though, it has survived our brutal winters like a champ. It's funny... when researching roses for cold hardiness, different sources seem to assign different zones to each one. We're zone 5, and growing own-root roses affords us a little more cold hardiness than growing grafted varieties, but we still have to dig to find out which sources are being truthful and which aren't. We're able to grow a few roses that are listed as only being hardy to zone 6, but those are the ones that we give a little protection to, and the ones we are prepared to lose in the event of an exceedingly cold winter, different from the norm. I don't have the time or energy to baby any plants, rose or otherwise, so if a plant can't tolerate our climate and environment, it can't be here as part of the landscape. We've lost a few roses along the way, but it's a good learning experience. We replace the lost varieties with different ones, always keeping to our goal of growing own-root, very hardy roses that are preferably scented and continual blooming. Some of the Old Garden roses aren't continual bloomers, but they put on a heck of a nice full flush in spring or summer. It's sometimes a sacrifice we're willing to make, just because the rose variety will be very heavily scented, or because it has a unique color or shape, or some other wonderful quality. The Clematis is almost a blue, leaning toward purple. I think it's a common variety, having large flowers. It probably looks more blue due to my camera, and the fact that it's in the shade in the photo. It's not really that blue. I think it might be Jackmanii, or another of the more commonly sold types. To successfully grow Clematis, it helps a lot to plant companion plants that will shade the roots of the vine. Clematis love to have their "heads" in the sun, but they like their "feet" kept cool. If no shade or thick mulch is offered to help cool the roots, Clematis will often wilt or sulk. Ours are planted on the west side of a tall fence, and they all have other perennials growing to help keep the root/soil temperature cool. Once established, they bloom very reliably. There are several other types I'd love to grow, and now that we have the new fencing up for the rose gardens, I have more space to add a few! Believe it or not, we grow everything in the gardens organically. I've used no sprays, no chemicals, no insecticides or herbicides. We rely very heavily on the good predators in the gardens, such as toads, tree frogs, snakes, birds, spiders, and we have cultivated a rather nice population of praying mantises. We've been really lucky not to have any infestations of aphids or other pests. The only bad bugs that we occasionally battle are the Asian Beetles, which can strip a garden bare if you let them! For those, we might be forced to use a chemical, but we haven't had to so far. I just came in a little while ago. I filled and emptied my large wheelbarrow twice with weeds, and that's about all my body will allow for one afternoon. I'm tired, sweaty, and my back is sore! I feel dehydrated, so I'm sipping some cold water. I might go back out and try to get one more wheelbarrow filled with weeds for the day... it depends on how revived this cold water make me feel! :-) The pictures would look a lot more professional if there weren't any visible weeds in them! But, I'm only one person... and good help is hard to find! I'm glad you enjoyed the rose tour... there will be a lot more as the different roses bloom. New Dawn is loaded with buds as I write this... only one is partially open. It should look amazing when the whole plant is in full flush! There's a miniature climber full of buds, also... they should open into loads of small pink blossoms! And my favorite, Autumn Damask, is soon to bloom, too! The Lilies, Daylilies, Gaillardia, Echinacea, Rudbeckia, Monarda, and other perennials have yet to bloom... This is why I love it all so much... it's a constantly changing palate of color and shape and texture and scent... a feast for the senses! It's often overwhelming... I just love taking the camera outside, and wandering the yard in search of the latest blooms! Well... there's more to come... stay tuned! :-)

Oh boy. My irises have come and mostly gone. My gorgeous dark pink dianthus is just about faded, but I'll shear it in a few days and hope for more. The salvia and coreopsis nana have been in bloom for a week or two and look great. The asiatic lilies are just starting to open and look GREAT. Of course, my roses (3 red floribundas and 3 [one coral/2 white] grandifloras are looking GORGEOUS. I still have some pansies, but they'll probably burn up soon. This is not to mention my hostas, ferns, herbs, veggies and containers, which are all doing well. Sigh. I love this time of year.

Zands - and that be would be cool if i had the Carabao, Phillipine SUPER mango, but mine look smaller don't you think? Not as elongated as in your picture... Ashley - maybe I'll call it Wilddog - my new mango hybrid! Anyone have contact info for the Federal Patent office ! (lol). But do let me know, with comments and pictures, how your Manila looks as it fruits - I'm super curious to see your results - maybe this summer???? Mango K - Manila is the ONLY mango Lowes/HD offers at their stores here in So Cal, so there's no chance for a mislabeling unless it happened at LaVerne's before it was shipped, cuz you can special order other varietals from them (but through Lowes), which I did (I think a Glenn and something else) but they were just crappy sticks so I got my money back.....but yeah anything's possible - I suppose I could look at the other varieties LaVerne offers (like 7-8 others) and go to the PIN viewer and see maybe if one of those mangos comes up looking close to mine.....hmmmm..... Oh...and thanks Harry for the steady faith in the Edwards Mango, which I just spent $160 on to get a big tree and plant. As you say the consensus is it is a fabulous tasting mango......can't wait for one this year....oh, just can't wait...... MangoDogDroolingInTheDesert

Zéphirine Drouhin Burgundian Rose Sophie's Perpetual Anne-Marie de Montravel And now, to say goodbye to a friend. I've had Applejack four years, but it has gotten as big and healthy as it can in a container. Last year it repeatedly sent out roots from the bottom of the pot. So, yesterday it was off the the annual plant exchange we have here in Lawrence, I think he got a good home where he can truly stretch out and grow. and yes, I'll probably get another band of it fairly soon--the fragrance is pretty unique, and fragrance is my biggest priority with roses. And now, some of the new bands that have arrived this spring. This first one I posted a few pics of in another thread, but here it is all fully blown, blued and quilled. Remember, with Catalonia, bluing and quilling are _features_, not flaws. Mountain Music, another rose I had ordered several times previously and always got the wrong one until now...