Yes yes and yes! I was celebrating it on the CA forum as well. I got some perfect Honor blooms the other day. I thought the only thing missing is fragrance. I cut them and put them in a vase with some huge Papa Ms. A day later they all had strong fragrance. I don't remember Honor having such a good fragrance. I should cut them more often. Rouge Royale and Souv. M are loking good too. Everything has a good size and color and the flowers open slowly and last for days. Can't we have another month of this fine weather please? I think of it as a compensation for the hell wind that devastated my spring flush earlier.

Pam they are outdoors. I only took it in for the picture. Was to lazy to get the camera and go back outside right away lol Shirley I KNOW. I will see which ones will make it through the winter and next summer. Then I can let you know or even share a cutting?! Lucy

Jay, I was in a really cranky mood by late afternoon yesterday because our high temperature once again over-achieved. Our forecast was for 98 and we hit 106. This constant over-achieving on the part of our high temps is driving me up a wall. However, rainfall finally arrived accompanied by much lightning, wind, thunder, etc. and we had several little showers run through one after another. We ended up with a tiny bit less than 0.7"....maybe 0.65 or 0.68". It was wonderful to have rainfall again, and the temperature plunged from 106 to 79 before dark. I know that the less than 7/10s of an inch is only a drop in the bucket compared to what we need, but eventually all those drops in the bucket will add up. Today is supposed to be cooler--only the low to mid 90s, and then 98 again tomorrow (wonder if I should expect 106 again?) before another cool-down arrives. This morning has remained cloudy and cool, so the house is quiet, quiet, quiet because the AC hasn't been running. The clouds are burning off now, so I guess the AC will kick on in a little while. Were it not for the near-epidemic levels of West Nile Virus around me, I'd have spent the cool, cloudy morning outside working in the garden. Since the mosquitoes that transmit it are most active in the early morning and early evening hours, I guess I'll go outside at midafternoon and work when the mosquitoes are less likely to be out. I haven't seen many mosquitoes, but I sure don't want to be bitten by one carrying WNV. The news stories of the horrible West Nile Virus aftereffects occurring even to some young people in their teens through their 30s make me wary of taking a chance on being bitten by one of those skeeters. Normally the older you are, the harder the WNV hits you. In recent tests of mosquitoes trapped in the Dallas area, 50% of the mosquitoes tested were carriers of WNV and I don't like those odds. If we hadn't had rain, the prospect of having mosquitoes around wouldn't bother me as much. But then, if we hadn't had rain, I wouldn't feel like I should be out doing anything in the garden. The rains, skimpy though they may be, are reviving some plants, but others are just too far gone and I might as well yank them and clear those areas for fall planting. Dawn

You've got a really great collection of plants!!! From what I can tell the plants in the first three photos are either hardy (will not freeze back), or root hardy (freeze back to the roots in winter, but come back in spring) in your area. The palm in the 4th photo is more of a house plant, and not hardy, and I'm not sure what the last plant is. It looks like they've been doing very nicely in their pots, but I'd give them a little protection by throwing a blanket over them when it freezes and then plant them in larger pots (so you won't have to water so often, or where possible, in the ground in the spring. Hopefully, a gardening neighbor, or someone on this forum, can give you more advice on specific plants. We were all new at one time ... :-) Happy gardening.