Denisez, you are soooo right! I have hedged, weeded, planted, planned and plotted a new space to section off and had a scrumptious day. Oh, and laid down a little fertilizer. I have plans to have a horse manure run Saturday morning, and pick up some extra stones from a site where they busted up some sidewalk to border my new spot with.

I have a Zelmot (?)and 4 Duchers to plant this weekend. I planted 2 miniatures, Sunblaze and a yellow today. Then topped it off with a Bar-B-Que dinner.

Yes, Independence day is grand!

Thanks to our military, we still have a wonderful life and freedoms that are unequaled anywhere!

We do indeed live in a great country, whose founding changed the world forever for the better, I feel certain.

I was pruning out the weak, unproductive wood from my potted 'Perle d'Or' today just a few blocks away from our nation's Capitol, listening to the fireworks in people's back yards, and reflecting on it all.

Garden_Party, your words remind me of something Thomas Jefferson once wrote, and which echo my thoughts very closely:

"The God who gave us life gave us liberty at the same time. The hand of force may destroy but cannot disjoin them."

I would like to think that we have many things to thank for the life and liberty we and other enlightened nations enjoy today, military included!

Happy Independence Day!

Did not do much for the few roses I have- did kill 2 Japanese Beetles that were munching away on my Robusta. WEnt to the roadside nursery before they close for the summer and bought purslane, portulaca, and 2 balloon flowers, and 3 unknown plants (no, they arrived unlabeled and they really did not know what they were). And I watered. Now, I am trying to figure out where to put some of my potted roses and the ones I want to order this fall... What a GREAT day! And, in between all that, I zoomed up and down the driveway in my son's go-kart- how nice to be chauffeured! (Even if he did throw me all around, like a rag doll.) Then he was in charge of the fireworks and all I had to do was watch. A great day! Brandy

I'm an ocean away from my garden (and I get nervous every time I think about it, with the Bermuda grass growing as fast as it can) but I did spend the morning working on rose orders for the fall. Two of the nurseries are in Germany and France and I've never ordered from them, so if I get up the nerve to do so, it will be a big step forward. We need to get the beds plowed beforehand, too.

In the evening fireworks, with my fingers in my ears and the thud in my chest of the bangs: very peaceful, because while it's happening you can't think about anything else.

Happy 4th of July to all of us, who give our best to make our country a good place to live, and the world too--including us expatriates! My rose knowledge, including that learned on this forum, is enriching a valley in Piacenza. Perhaps this is an odd thread to be talking about this, but maybe my job is that of U.S. rose and mulch ambassador to Italy.

Melissa

'When I first went to the United States in the 1950s, I impertinently remarked to an archetypal guru, Chief Justice Felix Frankfurter, that what with Senator McCarthy and southern segregation, and civic corruption everywhere, I was not much impressed by the condition of America. Be patient, said the sage. America is like a pendulum, swinging from good to bad, from bad to good, and before long it will swing again.

He was right, and with luck, perhaps the pendulum is almost ready to swing back once more. Whatever we may think in our moments of despair, America is still a marvellous and lovable country whose patriotism can still be touching: try restraining a tear when you listen to Irving Berlin's setting of the words on the Statue of Liberty - the ultimate American text, with music by the emblematic American immigrant. The Great Republic is great still, full still of decent clever people trying to be good. Even now, it is as free as can be expected, and its democracy is fundamentally honest and robust. It laughs at itself, criticises itself and dislikes itself just as much as we do.

All it needs is someone with a key to unlock that Idea again, and I hope it will be that next president, whoever it is, even now gearing up for the election. Please God, may it be a poetic president. Inspiration has been the true engine of American success, and all its greatest presidents have been people with a divine spark. The dullards may have been efficient, respected or influential, but the Jeffersons and the Roosevelts, the Lincolns and the Kennedys have all been, in their different ways, artists.

So may it be a president with the key of original inspiration who can release the Idea from its occlusion. All the ingredients are still there, after all - the kindness, the imagination, the merriment, the will, the talent, the energy, the goddam orneriness, the plain goodness - all there waiting to burst out once more and bring us back our America, blessed and blessing too.

"Give our regards to old Broadway", sang Cohan, "And say that I'll be there ere long." So will we, so will we, just as soon as America comes home.

· Jan Morris The Guardian Feb 2007

Best wishes
Jon - who also first went to the United States in the 1950's

Great words Jon. I felt like they could have been yours, well spoken as you are. It's very difficult to talk about such things without being polarizing, without being "for or agin". I think that's the challenge for us all to bring it all together to work together for a better world.
I spent the fourth shovel pruning and replanting.

I think it's up to every American to breathe life into democracy. I see the future of our country as being less in the hands of the leaders and more in the hands of "the people." Just recently there has been a huge wave of input from the people to their representatives and congressmen. I hope that will continue..it's what we need, participation, and standing up to be counted. Paying attention to what's going on. Refusing to be led without really taking a close look at what leadership is saying. Leaders in this country are out of touch with what people think, and the only way that'll change is if we speak up.
Linda

That's a nice quote, Jon. I don't feel particularly patriotic this year, but it's nice to have a holiday off work for any reason.

I spent the fourth weeding, and trained in one of my climbers. I was going to take out the big ladder and tackle a rambler or two, but then I got lazy and decided that I should risk breaking my neck another day.

Saw evening fireworks with a misty drizzle going, it was strangely peaceful this year. The thudding in my chest and ears and especially the explosive grand finale reminded me of drums, tom-toms.

Read this thread a bit apprehensively in the hopes that it wouldn't polarize anybody, since we are from all sorts of different places and walks of life. Jon, your quote is lovely, and a reminder that the USA is more than its current problems, and that pendulums do indeed swing, for better and for worse. Thanks for sharing it with us.

Went to a neighborhood parade yesterday, an annual event for the past 50 years. So incredibly low-key - just families and friends and dogs and bikes, all decked out in something red, white and blue, walking around the block together. We estimated about 1000 people joined in - a great way to celebrate the birthday of a great country. After a BBQ at our friends' house, we came home and huddled from the 105 degree heat. No gardening on the 4th, but hit the garden this morning while it was still relatively cool.

Irving Berlin wrote another song, of course - "God Bless America - land that I love."
Anita

AMEN------!!!

Florence

I don't feel particularly patriotic most of the time, but I do like to fly a flag on the front porch when the roses are blooming! Such a colorful combination! Okay, I guess that's pretty shallow, but I really can't help it.

My favorite local greenhouse ended its 50% sale on annuals on this week, and I picked up quite a few things, as I do every year, to plug into any empty spots . . . it's too hot to plant them right now, at over 100 degrees out (!), but they are hidden in a shady spot waiting for the weekend, and if past experience holds true, they'll survive just fine and look cheery for the rest of the summer. I did get some into the ground on Monday, and they seem to be holding up okay.

I have to say that I have been prey to some fairly intense feelings regarding the current state of affairs and felt compelled to post regarding the same. With much trepidation, though. In fact, I felt it irresponsible not to. Only to this forum, of course. One of the most thoughtful, reflective, and broad-minded forums on the GW. Thanks to all for the comments.