I use aNikon D-80. I do edit my shots in iPhoto. great very intuitive program for most of what I need. I am a perfectionist about color balance and working the highlights and shadows. I am in a fix right now because my old 10 yr. old photoshop will not work on my new iMAC. I am livid. I need to get that credit card out and I am not a happy camper. I have been asked this year to be the stills gal on a movie set and boy was that an education in covering my @ss when my ignorance abounds. Tom, here are some shots of what I have in this weird not of confused ID's. Mine haven't flowered either. My opuntia Microdaisys grow very nicely. I think there are many variations in this species. Some have smaller pads and in a white a yellow and a rust brown glochid version. My small white and yellow ones grow very quickly for me. The larger padded ones grow slower. The one that is identified as O rufida (in a trade) grows very slowly . I repotted it and found that the sandy soil had compacted. I think I had peat moss in it. I am learning and the growth has been better at the end of the summer. O. rufida (left) and O macrodasys Ruffida (left) The O. microdasy monstrosa does look a bit like this O. rufida, but it is different. Don't ask me how. Opuntia microdasys albaspina AKA O microdasys albaspina or 'albata' also. And any mixture of all those names that one can mix together with Var. and spp stuck as conjoiners that one can imagine. Opuntia macrodasys. These plants were borderline hardy in my 12 degree snap and then flew into our horrid drought. I think they have been splashed on once this summer. They have seen better days. Also these are showing that the coried bug loves to suck on these. Lots if good hiding places. Here is a link that might be useful: proof that O microdasy does bloom

Gorgeous photos, Sherry! Your Hosta are amazingly huge and healthy, every one of them. LOVE your Sunpower! Just want to point out your photo of Earth Angel isn't actually Earth Angel. Looks more like Dream Queen or Thunderbolt.

Yes vesfl, my Mary rose is nice and saturated deep pink. I believe this is because it only receives morning sun. I really like the nonstop blooming. The fragrance is actually pretty good, needmore. I just never cut any anymore, because they only last about a day or so cut. That's a real bummer, because cutting is a at least half the fun for me. I like to enjoy my blooms indoors, especially when it's too hot to be out much. My Mary Rose is VERY heavily virused, but still blooms really well. I am LOVING this cooler weather! I cannot remember it ever being like this in midAugust. I sure hope we don't get a furnace blast of heat after this, but it's likely. We are supposed to have a week of mild temps. Then September will probably bring our Santa Ana winds, heat, and fire. I dread that, but at least my water and electricity will get a break this week. Ingrid, I know what you mean. It really is always something, isn't it? Goodness, I think if everything was ever all perfect at once, I'd invite everyone I knew over for a look! I'd also make a utube video and post it here:) I don't have any raidiating heat, like you do. I know makes a big difference, plus the temp difference is substantial considering how few miles we are apart. I'm no fan of those LONG MRI's either. I've been putting it off, and it needed to be done. Yesterday I was worthless afterwards, as they had given me Valium in the IV. I've had lots of muscle spasms lately,(always worse in the summer heat) and they needed me to be still for two hours. When I came home, I was still dopey and dumb. Best not to garden like that. I'm thankful it was such a cool day, and not even the pots required water. I just watched some TV with Sebastian. Interestingly, I have found he will lay on the bed with me if I remove the comforter. Following the advice of someone here,(sorry name escapes me atm) removing the scent of Millie seems to help. He does however, continue to lose weight. I'm going to have to send him back in with my son soon. It's just so hard. In order to get the 75% discount,(which I need) he has to go to work with my son all day. Sebastian gets squeezed in for his tests or exams whenever they have time. He hates it there, and I feel terrible sending him all day long, adding to his stress. One day, he even came home without being seen at all, because they were so busy. I can't complain though, this would already have cost me thousands instead of hundreds, and I'm so grateful. The scary/confusing thing is that he has lost nearly 5lbs in 2 months. He is VERY sensitive to my health and emotions, plus Millie is bothering him. The head vet there says that amount of weight cannot be emotional. Yet, they are not finding anything. It's very troubling, and just adds to my stress, which in turn, probably adds to his. He really does stress out when I do. Sorry guys, I probably should have emailed that to Ingrid. I didn't intend to go into all that when I began. Cassandra, I'm not 100% about what I'm going to use. I know I need to do it fast, before my whole garden is affected. I don't spray or use chemicals either, but I'm going to in this barrel. I was just in no shape to have my dad stop somewhere yesterday so I could look over my options. I'll research and update it here. I know exactly what you mean about a bell going off on n your head. I have all sorts of bugs, and I complain about them, but most of the time I don't even identify them because I'm not going to do anything to them. When Jim posted pictures, I heard that same dingdong:) That's why it's never bloomed! When I looked, sure enough, the ends looked burnt and they crumbled off when I touched them. The midge can get into your whole garden and all your roses. You could have no blooms, and no new growth. Whatever we do, we need to do it fast. It's something like every 14 days the larvae hatch out of the soil and start eating and multiplying again. They can devastate an entire rose garden. Let me know what you do, too. I'm going to research and do something today. Lisa

Carol, I used to live in a house with about 50 rose bushes. It had about 25 when we moved in, and I planted the rest. We once had a man stop by to ask for a clipping of one of the bushes, saying it was grown from a rose given by his Argentinian father to his mother when he proposed! I tried to plant more drought tolerant flowers in this house, but there's nothing like roses for sheer beauty and long term flowering, is there? Thanks for the responses, everyone, that was very helpful! I'm still not convinced about the red and yellow one. The coloring is like glowing embers, it really looks like the rose is lit from within. Anyone else think of a scarlet rose with a flame yellow heart, please let me know! KC