I thought I would mention it is very very hardy . Is not bothered bye drought or flood . It will get bs and loses a few leaves but replaces them very quickly . Mostly blooms on the end of its canes in clusters . It has a light scent. And WICKED thorns . They are smallish in size but very sharp and very strong and plentiful ... it is possibly the healthiest rose in my garden ... on part with the drift roses and more resistant the my knockouts

I just planted several of those low-growing red verbenas today, MissSherry! I hope the butterflies like them. That's a gorgeous RSP! The only problem with those mimosa trees is the litter of the waning flowers on the ground. If I had an acreage, I'd plant a bunch of them! Beautiful photos, as always! You need to get a short movie of the RSP laying eggs! Susan

Irina --- Red Lady papaya plants are one of my favorite varieties too. I noticed that you have red on the leaf petioles. The first time I grew Red Ladys, that's how my plants looked. For the last several years, they have no color. No red anywhere. I can't figure out where the red is because even the fruit is not red. Like Silvia said the best source of Red Lady seeds is from ECHO in Ft. Myers. If you have no other varieties in your yard or in the close neighborhood, then you are safe to save your seeds. I would pick the darkest seeds (also like Silvia said) and get them planted right away. I planted seeds for my next year's crop over a month ago. I put purchased potting medium in a small pot and place one or two seeds in each pot. I do this outside, not in the house. When the seedlings get too big for the small pot I transplant them to pots a little larger. By winter they will be in one to two gallon pots. I keep them outside on warm days but bring them inside at night. I am fortunate to have a small hobby greenhouse which makes things easier. Your salad looks delicious. Would you share how you made it? I have lots of green papayas too and I need to learn how to eat them unripe. Freezing temps come long before all the fruits are ripe. Here is one of my Red Lady papayas that was planted in the ground in March from seeds started Sept. 2009. See, no red anywhere. Now, this is a Red Lady from 2009. I cut the plant back to about a foot and covered it with compost and a heavy blanket just before our first freeze. Then this spring I let only one of the branches remain on the plant so it would have plenty of energy to produce fruit not lots of bushy growth. You can save the plant that you have and regrow it in next spring if you make the effort. Both plants have the lowest papaya beginning to color. I will be watching them in great anticipation. Christine

Last year my Lady in Red plants got to about 3' both inground and in containers on deck. Their tags said 18" when I bought them. I grew my own from seed this year and hope they're as big as last year. Also sowed Coral Nymph since it reportedly can take more shade. Hope that also grows its little heart out to taller proportions even though seed vendor's site says 15". Maybe it makes a difference that I fed them and will do so again this year.