Nigella, does yours rebloom to a fair degree?? 'Jekyll' throws out a few blooms for much of the season after the initial Spring flush. I had Jekyll at my previous home and don't recall it having that reddish-pink coloration. More orangey. I know there is a red form that is sometimes available here called 'Shalimar Red.' Also, a couple of days ago, I saw a really nice form at Lowe's called 'Dragon Lady.' I had never seen this one before. It resembled your pic, but the thing I really noted was the strong fragrance. As I recall, 'Jekyll' is not fragrant.

When your pet suffers from stress or anxiety, try a combination of the extracts of Oats, Valerian, and Chamomile. (Check with your vet for correct dosage.) Rub a little Lavender oil near the animal's muzzle, or place some on a cotton pad in the pet's bed or in his sleeping area. And remember that if you are stressed, the animal will be too, so sniff a little of that calming Lavender for yourself as well. Plenty of info on Bloody (red-veined) dock on the Web. See link. http://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/cgi-bin/arr_html?Rumex+sanguineus Here is a link that might be useful: bloody dock

The one at the clinic blooms late, so there isn't a whole summer of flowers. Driving by it looks to be about 2ft high right now, with no flowers yet. Think last year it was more than double that height at flowering time. Located on south side of exposed building, next to weedy grass that may not get watered much, if at all, so location is probably just about as hot as could be - would only be warmer if lawn was pavement and location was a corner that didn't get as much air movement. Brickell/Zuk, A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants list 'Lord Baltimore' under Hibiscus moscheutos but it has the cut leaves of H. coccineus; similarity to that species in petal shape can also be readily seen in the book as picture of the flowers of both are placed next to one another on page 522: "'Lord Baltimore' bears many brilliant red flowers, 10in (25cm) across, with ruffled, overlapping petals, from midsummer to autumn; 4ft (1.2m)" Photo of 'Lord Baltimore' used shows petals free above the middle, if not starting lower, while picture on same page of H. moscheutos 'Southern Belle' shows flowers that have petals overlapping nearly to the ends. Those of H. coccineus can be seen to be completely separate, perhaps all the way to the base. Would seem 'Lord Baltimore' is form a crossing of the two species.

Hi Monarda -- You got me wondering about St. George and when St. George Day is. So, here's some useless (but interesting info about it.) With Valentine's Day coming up maybe we should adopt this system...... Taken from the net of course, St. George's Day - April 23rd St. George's day is celebrated in and around Catalonia. St. George's Day has been celebrated since 1436. St. George is the patron Saint of Catalonia Catalonia : In Catalonia St. George's day coincides with the Fair of the Book and the Rose. On this day every man offers a rose to his loved one (wife or fiancée), and in return she gives him a book. The book is in memory of Cervantes. This custom was started in 1926, to commemorate Cervantes death (authour of "Don Quiote"). Barcelona : Book and Rose Fair. The St. James Square and main streets are lined with stalls selling books of all shapes and sizes. There is also an exhibition of roses in the patio of the Palace of the Autonomous Government as a symbol of the arrival of Spring Sant Climent Sescebes : Procession to the magic rock According to a local legend there is a magic rock near the village that leads to a huge treasure and the spell may only be broken on the night of St. Georges day. The people from the village form a procession and bless twelve loaves of bread, then they share them out among the crowd. The Legend. The 23rd April is a date that has always been linked, either directly or indirectly, to literature and popular traditions. The Catalan knights that set off towards the Orient could never have guessed the repercussions that their tales would have with relation to a local saint: St. George. Later the tale would be changed to fit in with the mediaeval traditional Knight in shining armor fighting evil. The legend that was born is infamous: St. George fighting the wicked dragon that held the princess captive. Finally St. George kills the dragon and on the spot where the dragons blood was spilled a rose grew as a symbol of love and friendship. But what has really given importance to this date is that it is now considered to be the "World Book Day". The role played by the "Renaixença" in the resurrection of the "Jocs Florals" Thanks to the insistence of Antoni de Bofarull among others, the literary competitions were revived in Catalonia in 1859. It was from then on that there began to appear new authors and ideologists and there was an important increase in the number of newspapers published as well as political and ideological works. After the interruption of the "Jocs Florals" because of the Civil War they began to become very popular again from 1978. The idea of these annual literary competitions was basically to stimulate young people to cultivate and take a delight in the Catalan literature and language. Ever since then this tradition has been celebrated and is actually one of the most important in Catalonia, it has gradually spread to the Spanish language and also to the English language. In 1996 this Catalan tradition became an International one, taking one step more towards the unification of peoples all over the world, even the mythical rose was given in the United States, Japan and France as well as other countries when a book was bought. Why this date? April 23rd was not only famous because of the legend of St. George, but also because it is the anniversary of the death of two great writers:: CERVANTES and SHAKESPEARE. These grand writers have passed into history for their great works, becoming an important symbol in their respective countries. One way of acknowledging the work of these genii was to name this date as being the Book Day, and so it happened like that. On 23rd April books are sold in the streets on long stalls prepared specially for the grand occasion. Many people take advantage of this day, even though they may not normally be regular readers, to buy and enjoy a book. It is one way of encouraging people to read. This is also a popular date to launch new novels onto the market and many authors take advantage of the fact in order to promote their latest book. Last, but not least, there is nothing nicer than lovers exchanging a book and a rose. Carlos Estrada St. Paul's School, Barcelona ------Fascinating!