I grew 'Cl Devoniensis' for years. It is a monstrously big rose, but that was something I liked. I did not like the heavy, constant mildew (here in Silicon Valley), nor the particularly vicious thorns when I had to work with it. Still, it was gorgeous enough that I kept it. However, when the pine tree fell and took out our fence and the roses growing on that part of it (along with several fruit trees!), I decided not to replace it. Instead I moved a start of my 'Buff Beauty' to replace it on the fence. Still thorny, but healthier and far more manageable. It was a good call for me.

I've had sporadic internet access over the past month, since we are in the process of moving. As a result, I've spent much more time reading all the books I've been meaning to read. So, in April, I finished: Naked by David Sedaris (he always cracks me up, though, the last chapter takes place in a nudist colony and sometimes his descriptions are a bit to apt to stomach) Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe (it was on my husband's reading list for a world history class and I started reading it aloud to him during a car trip--then of course I had to finish it) When the Emperor was Divine by Julie Otsuka (I picked it up because it was short-only 144 pages-but what a beautiful book!) Middlesex by Jeffery Eugenides (Not my favorite book ever, but lots to think about long after the book is finished) Stones in Water by Donna Jo Napoli (I love her YA novels that are take-offs on fairy tales, but this was a much harsher book about an Italian boy kidnapped during WWII and forced into hard labor for the Nazis. It was okay.) The Dogs of Babel by Carolyn Parkhurst (It started gimmicky, but interesting. A man's wife falls from a tree in there back yard with only their dog as a witness, so he decides to teach the dog to talk. The story became really far-fetched with a weird society that surgically mangles dogs so they can talk etc. And it didn't even have a good ending.) Breathing Lessons by Anne Tyler (I loved this book. The entire novel takes place in one day as Maggie and Ira are going to a funeral for her friend's husband. Only drawback was that I had "Love is a Many Splendored Thing" running through my head for three days after reading it.)

Yes, Ginny, I've read all five of the Brittany mysteries by Bannalec published so far in English. They were recommended to me when I mentioned I had reached the end of Simenon's Maigret series and I was undergoing withdrawal pangs. I can see that Bannalec was probably inspired by the Maigret stories -- he even tells how Maigret visited Concarneau (pronounced Konk-kern by the Bretons) during one of Maigret's own cases. The settings and plots are a bit different, I think, and I enjoyed learning about Gauguin and his contemporaries in Pont-Aven (the first book), the tourism industry of the Glenan archipelago (second book), salt 'farming ' in the Fleur de Sel Murders, and oyster farming in The Missing Corpse. The fifth book, The Killing Tide, gets deeper into Celtic lore as Monsieur le Commissaire Dupin increases his knowledge of the Finistere (The End of the World which the Bretons also call 'The Beginning of Land' of the Eurasian continent). Ginny, I really enjoy Nolwenn, Dupin's indispensable assistant and his tutor in all things Breton. She will make Dupin a 'true' Breton yet. She's already convinced him to follow his doctor's orders to eat a few oysters every day. The stories do get a bit convoluted, but I've found this forgivable. I second your recommendation.

Cathy, yours is different but nicer. What every was the pollen parent gave this a special twist. I think it is nicer than the ones I have seen. Please post more pictures as it ages. Looks to be about 5 years old?? Did you buy it or grow it from seed? Update on my seeds I just purchased; Bought from a US seller but got crap again. Seeds looked like pepper. Cold soaked for two weeks with 0 out of 22 specks. Told seller that they were not Aloe polyphylla seeds. I reorder from a source out of Africa that was less than the ones I just purchased. I am really getting sick of getting ripped off by these Ebay and Esty sellers who do this. I took pictures of the seeds and what they should have looked like, Guess what, no reply.