I just saw a cute one where talking animals drive in a rented Prius through a wilderness. I liked the superbowl commercial of the cowboys herding cats across the range. This is still on YouTube Another great one on YouTube is the BBC's april fools day flying penguins. Look it up under BBC Penguins. Great fool the eye computer work and feels just like a british nature documentary. I also am a big fan of the Budweiser Clydesdale ads and the photography/cinematography is always near perfection.

Glad you enjoyed the pics, Joe. Frances, no, I don't spray. But compared to Tennessee, NorthCentral Texas has less humidity than you, based upon my visits to Memphis & Nashville. Reine des Violettes has loads and loads of great, strong "old-rose" fragrance. In comparison, Nur Mahal has a pleasant very unusual scent, but it's a light scent to my nose. Even with its light scent though, Nur Mahal is one of my favorite roses. I have a second one that I rooted that is espaliered against a fence and it is especially nice looking in that position. Both are completely thornless in my garden and have never produced a single thorn so far. I love Gilbert Nabonnand too (although he's less "thorness" than the other roses mentioned here). And I know what you are talking about, when you mentioned support / pruning needs / etc for it. We had a violent storm hit our part of town earlier this summer and it torn a portion of my roof off. Unfortunately, it also broke some major canes on my Gilbert Nabonnand. The same thing happened to that rose about two years ago. So, I now think you are correct, that I must prune him periodically from now on for his own good due to our area's propensity for strong storms. Gilbert wants to get really big, but I don't think I can allow him to do that going forward. I went ahead and removed the broken canes, rather than wait until winter. His shape is messed up, but as before, he will bounce back. Like you, I have never been able to root a cutting from Gilbert. I wish he rooted as easily as Mrs Dudley Cross, because I think I like Gilbert better. There's just something about the foliage on Gilbert that is very special. And he's a blooming maniac that is not bothered by thrips. Frances, I'm not a big fan of miniature roses, but if the rose 'Pacific Serenade' ever becomes available again, your husband would really like that one! Fragrant, ever-blooming, & smooth all over. Randy Pacific Serenade:

My apricot and the sand cherry bloomed beautifully this spring (Los Lunas)and then got froze out, yet about a flat quarter mile from me is a big apricot loaded with fruit. That one had fruit last year, too, even after the big freeze. No point in being discouraged however. At least the mulberries are loaded, and I value them healthwise much more than apricots. Actually at this point this spring the most damaging weather has been the unusual heat (an unheard of 100F twice already) and the hot windstorms. The Fritillaries flowered early so weren't affected, but almost all the buds on the Regal lilies have dried up and the flowers on the snapdragons, except for the species Antirrhinums, look like withered crepe paper. Roses pretty sad. It is interesting, however, to note which ornamentals have no problems on this score--Aquilegias, hollyhocks of course, Erodiums and the cold hardy Pelargoniums, and Salvias among others. This morning it hit 39F and all the tomato seedlings were almost flattened, but now that it's heated up they've perked up (thank heavens).

I have Sabine too, love the flowers on it & such a good plant. Pretty color on the other one too!