An afterthought... "frangea pangea" is, of course, a misspelling--a wrong guess--or I'd have found it by now. I put the letter "e" in there to soften the "g" sound, not to add another syllable. The name the gardener called out to me might have been one word or two words. At any rate, it had the sound of fran-juh-pan-juh (4 syllables in all) I don't know whether the gardener might have been a native Spanish speaker or not and if so, whether that would have influenced his pronunciation. I vaguely recall thinking that he might be from Cuba. The pronunciation seemed a bit slurred to my ears. I just assumed he could understand my question. (I don't think fran-juh-pan-juh is Spanish for "No speak English!") If you have any notion as to what the proper spelling/name of this ornamental tree is, I'd appreciate knowing. I don't have a real need to know, of course--I'm just curious. The flowers, as best I can recall, were on the small side but produced in large prolific bunches close together that you could easily notice and admire from the street. The ones I saw were a rosy dark pink. I think the foliage was thicker and shinier, different from a Mimosa and the flowers had more substance. The form of the plant as a whole was more like a Mimosa than a camellia. It didn't grow straight upwards an it had substantial limbs curving around the corner of the house. I only saw the tree from the car in the street, a good distance away from the actual plant, so I could be wrong on some of this. Anyway, if this ornamental grows in your area, you might consider it. It's lovely, lovely. Best wishes, Mary

Hay there, this is an old post are you still looking? I'm in Sierra Vista. I could give you a list of what I have that rootone will work on.

No, do not wait for them to freeze: Harvest them when they are starting to turn red. Patricia Holloway of the Alaska Rose Society, and Professor of Horticulture explains the method: Alaska Rose Society Seed Germination of Wild and Cultivated Roses by Patricia S. Holloway, Associate Professor of Horticulture Rose species vary in their seed germination requirements. Nearly all species germinate best with a period of cold stratification, while others benefit from a warm stratification period followed by cold stratification. Below is a general outline of some methods for germinating rose seeds. Keep in mind that each batch of seeds will vary in germinability based on growing conditions during seed maturation, seed ripeness, seed storage time and presence of disease or insect pests. Harvest rose hips that have just begun to turn red or orange and before the pulp becomes soft. Seeds from just a few hips can be extracted by hand by cutting into each hip and digging out the seeds. Larger quantities require maceration and floatation. Soften the hips in a container of water for 12 days at room temperature. Macerate the hips by rubbing them against a metal screen or soil sieve or mixing in a blender with water. (Caution: blenders can injure seeds if run too long.) Wash the pulp thoroughly, and most seeds will float to the top where they can be separated from the heavier hips. The cleaner the seeds, the less contamination you will get during germination. Dry the seeds on absorbent paper for 1Â2 days. For most cultivated species and varieties of roses, mix the seeds into a plastic bag containing moistened, clean, washed quartz sand or vermiculite. Very clean sand or vermiculite are essential to avoid disease. It is important that the seeds never dry out once they are put in the bag, but avoid standing water. Seal the bag and place in a refrigerator at approximately 4° C (40° F) for 4 months of cold stratification. After stratification, remove the seeds from the sand or vermiculite by hand or by sieving through a screen. DO NOT ALLOW SEEDS TO DRY OUT. Sow immediately in a good potting soil or into prepared field soils. For wild rose, Rosa acicularis, seeds require a two-month period of warm stratification followed by three months of cold stratification for complete germination. The extracted, dried seeds can be mixed with sand or vermiculite as outlined above or sown into flats of sterilized potting soil. Keep the flats or bags at room temperature (approx. 21° C, 70° F) for two months of warm stratification. NEVER ALLOW THE SEEDS TO DRY OUT! Move the flats or bags to a cold root cellar or refrigerator (4° C, 40° F) for 3 months of cold stratification. Return the flats to warm temperatures or remove the seeds from the sand or vermiculite and sow in flats of potting soil. Seeds begin to germinate within 2 weeks. If not enough seeds have germinated after 30 days, try repeating the cold stratification for 30 days, and return to warm temperatures. Repeat the cold/warm cycle until most seeds germinate. This article was originally published in the Georgeson Botanical Notes If you wait for them to freeze, then the pulp will turn soft, and Patricia specifically says to harvest BEFORE the pulp goes soft. Cheers, Sativa.

I figure, of all the clutter in my life, books are the least of my worries. They usually look tidy and don't take up much space. YMMV. I buy new copies of the generic guidebooks whenever I make a major trip, and only keep the latest if I have multiples. They're a good start to the obsessive planning of the next trip - "oh, I wanted to see this museum but it was closed for renovation," or, "I wonder if this restaurant is still there". I lend them out freely to friends without worrying about getting them back. On the other hand, I'll keep older books that have something interesting to them - The Jane Austen Guide to Bath, for example, or Literary Walks in Rome. The last time I got ruthless about a travel book, I was on the ferry to Corsica for a 3-week hiking trip. As I was tearing out the section on Corsica from the *huge* general Italy book and throwing the rest away, an Italian gentleman looked at me, horrified. "Americans, so wasteful!" Sigh...