Thanks, greenhaven. That's what was thought last year when I asked for help on it - cottonwood seeds or similar, but I saw no sign of those, was out a lot, you'd kind of notice. This year there have been a lot, so it is a logical supposition. They wouldn't cause buds to be deformed and blooms odd as well, so I lean to aphids for the damage. The first two pictures are one bush, and if there were aphids on there, I got them, several on other roses in that area, seem to have gotten most of them. The last picture is the same kind of rose, just in a different spot. I'm sure there are those cottonwood seeds on there, too, but am also sure now that york_rose was right. I think I see both cottony seeds and leavings from aphids in my photo. I know for sure aphids were on the other one because I saw them, and I did blast them as best I could for a couple days, the hose is awkward to pull around there, guess I need to pick up a couple more guides, often miss them, but they help.

Glo - Thanks for reassuring me! I hope your move is awesome! My husband has wanted to move us to Colorado for years and hasn't managed to quite convince me yet, although I think it's absolutely wonderful there. LOL So, Winter Solstice is the same everywhere? (LOL)... I guess you're seeing how little I know... Nancy - Thanks for the tip! I am gonna have to watch the lead hand myself as I way oversowed my cantaloupes this fall. The poor babies are fighting each other and giving me 2 to 5 inches fruits that don't look like they're EVER going to full ripen. I will be much more careful in the future. I'll try to not get TOO excited when I go to plant. LOL Carrie - Wow! That's some really good info. That's exactly the kind of thing I was worried about. I'm grateful for the heads up. Liz - LIZ!!! Hey, girl! Fancy meeting you here and there and now here! hee hee... The whole last paragraph of what you wrote is exactly what is concerning me. I know that I personally wear shorts through-out almost the whole winter except for those few crazy days that we see. 50's or what have you is not cold to me... We do get the occasional freeze, but then a week or two later at most you could have a 70+ degree high! All this in the same few days / weeks / months... it's SO crazy! Oh, and if they're having a plantswap around the 8th of December as well, I sure want to know as I'll be out that way. :-) Blessings, Angela

Glad I came back up here to look for replies! Yay! I got the good dirt! :D I had no idea what I was doing. The guy at the co-op recommended this. I knew we were anti-Hyponex and pro co-op mix, but that's all I knew. :) Uh oh...no styrofoam? Bummer. I just did a few, and so easy to poke holes in the bottom. I tried poking holes in the yogurt cup first and split it. Oops. I think a plastic container sounds like a good idea to house everything, drilling holes in the top. Do I also have to make drainage holes in the bottom? I do have a paint pen. It's one of those Deco-Color from Michael's craft store.

Well, a rainy day and time to get back to the forum. Thanks for the encouragement, all. Hi Mabel. West Paris is a pretty friendly place, judging from all the folk who stop by to talk gardening or strangers who see me in the General Store and comment on the garden. (I do spend a lot of time out there and the garden is right on the road so the "new guy with the garden that moved in over at Mrs. L's house" has become a topic of conversation around town, I'm told.) Thought I'd take a couple of minutes and post some pictures that I posted earlier on another forum I participate in. The garden is progressing pretty well and I'm generally happy with what got done this first year thought there is a whole lot of room for improvement and better planning. (I do tend to be overly critical of my own work, although too forgiving of other's. A bad trait for an engineering manager, I suppose, but that's me, I guess.) I did manage to get most of the weeds in check these past couple of weeks, so that's something to crow about. I centered the garden between two Red Maples and around the enormous lilac that falls dead center between them. Here's some views taken a few weeks ago: The west side: Finished the fence and only a little of that soil is still unplanted. Fall crops like kale and late snap peas will go there. One of the broccoli beds: (harvesting every day now!) And the east side: Following is a picture of the lilac that is at the core of the garden, taken earlier in the season. As I worked on the east side of the garden, the first half I focused on, the breeze from the west made the scent a constant fixture. I'd like to eventually cut it back to about 2/3rds its current size to make it a little less overwhelming and a little less shade-casting. This is where the main gate on the road-side will be. I still haven't gotten around to building a proper garden gate, but that is on top of my (ever-growing) wish-list. Wayne