You might ask the folks at the Antique Rose Emporium, with their experience with roses in the south. They offer a lot of Hybrid Musks. This information probably isn't very directly useful to you, since a rose's performance depends so much on climate BUT I wish to put it on the record that a happy mature plant of 'Cornelia' is one of the most flawlessly beautiful sights in the entire rose kingdom. Like any work of art it's greater than the sum of its parts. About the habit of the Hybrid Musks, some have a shrubby self-supporting habit, for example 'Felicia', while others are like pocket ramblers, with flexible canes that are easy to trellis: 'Cornelia' falls into this class. You can grow it without support, but it will lounge, like 'Buff Beauty' in the photo above. Melissa

Back to the topic... Sir Hans...Thanks for that info. You are right(as always). I have seen a pic of hippeastrums(for cut flower) with scapes and almost no leaves. I think it is in Ludwig's website. "defoliated for hygienical reasons"...How is this so? During winter time, I do not have enough growing area inside that can give my amaryllises enough sunlight. I wish I did. I do not have a greenhouse or indoor grow lights. Again, I wish I did. As much as I want my amaryllises to continously grow all year long, I can not do so. Putting them to dormancy is a MUST for me. This is my plan for this winter. Since the unheated garage is dark, I will have to let the leaves dry out and then cut them. Give them maybe a week or so to dry out a bit and then unpot, dip in fungicide, repot in fresh soil. Water a little bit and mulch to keep moisture in the roots. I have fed them well and given them as much right caring as I know this spring/summer. I think I will be getting a very good performance from them next spring.

Hi everyone, Well after 4 years and making my DH read this I am happy to say I now have a clothes line and am enjoying it! I found this the other day on the web, can't remember where... but it was so timly. So if this is yours, I hope you don't mind me using it. The clothes line....a dead give away. Do the kids today even know what a clothesline is? I am sure a lot of you are too young to remember the clothesline, but for all of us who are older, this will bring back the memories. ... . at least it did for me. THE BASIC RULES 1. You had to wash the clothesline before hanging any clothes. Walk the length of each line with a damp cloth around the line. 2. You had to hang the clothes in a certain order and always hang whites with whites and hang them first. 3. you never hung a shirt by the shoulders, always by the tail--what would the neighbors think? 4. Wash day on a Monday...........never hang clothes on the weekend or Sunday for heaven's sake! 5. Hang the sheets and towels on the out side lines so you could hide your 'unmentionables' in the middle. 6. It didn't matter if it was sub zero weather.....clothes would freeze dry.' 7. Always gather the clothespins when taking down dry clothes. Pins left on the line was "tacky". 8. If you were efficient, you would line the clothes up so that each item did not need two clothes pins, but shared one of the clothes pins with the next washed item. 9. Clothes off of the line before dinner time neatly folded in the clothesbasket and ready to be ironed. 10. IRONED?????????? Well, that's a whole other subject. A POEM A clothes line was a news forecast To neighbors passing by. There were no secrets you could keep When clothes were hung o dry. It also was a friendly link For neighbors always knew If company had stopped on by To spend a night or two. For then you'd see the 'fancy sheets' And towels upon the line; You'd see the 'company table cloths' With intricate design. The line announced a baby's birth To folks who lived inside As brand new infant clothes were hung So carefully with pride. The ages of the children could So readily be known By watching how the sizes changed You'd know how much they'd grown. It also told when illness struck, As extra sheets were hung; Then nightclothes, and a bathrobe, too, Haphazardly were strung. It said, 'Gone on vacation now' When lines hung limp and bare. It told, 'We're back!' when full lines sagged With not an inch to spare. New folks in town were scorned upon If wash was dingy gray, As neighbors carefully raised their brows, And looked the other way... But clotheslines now are of the past For dryers make work less. Now what goes on inside a home Is anybody's guess. I really miss that way of life. It was a friendly sign When neighbors knew each other best By what hung on the line! Thanks again everyone. Karyn

True_blue, 'John Davis' will bloom again on new wood, though the second "flush" generally isn't very significant. In order to climb, this rose NEEDS deeply dug fertile soil and feeding, otherwise you'll just end up with a shrub, but an attractive one at that. 'JD' can take zone 3 cold, but the biggest challenge is dealing with winter desiccation drying up the stems. Alberta (central Alberta included) will at times experience amazingly BALMY winter temps and the reflected heat from buildings will only further intensify and desiccate this rose. So, I water deeply prior to freeze up and attempt to lean 'JD' away from the house ... it's a challenge to get almost any rose to climb in our cold prairie climate. 'Olds Collage Rose' looks especially nice, thanks for posting vstapes :)