Teresa, So sorry to hear of your pups passing. I know it will leave a void. I lost my dachshund a year ago November 1 and have struggled with the loss because he was so young. I was surprised by my parents at Christmas with a puppy (waiting for me back here in Washington on my return). He is a baby Shih Tzu named Jigs and has certainly brought some excitement into my life!! I will never ever forget my Weezer though, and I know you won't forget your little one. I sowed Chinese forget-me-nots last spring over his little grave and they bloomed beautifully this fall. Someone on the Gardenweb sent the seeds with another trade after learning of my loss. I will see if they come up from seed this coming year. If not I will plant something more permanent in his honor as well. Definitely many of the sasanquas will be blooming, although I don't have a specific recommendation. There were some beautifully fragrant ones blooming back in Louisiana when I was there over Christmas. We visited a garden near the Tabasco plant that has one of the largest collections of Camellias in the world. They weren't labelled though darn it! On a side note, I have been thinking of you in the past few days since they are constantly talking on the radio about your little mountain there and the rains. Hope all is well for you and that the road closure is not too much of an inconvenience. Susan

You can manage the height of Syringa vulgaris cultivars by cutting too tall stems down to about 18 in. during winter. After this treatment it may take a few seasons for the stems that were cut to get big enough to bloom again, but you don't necessarily have to cut every cane on the bush all together, the same year. If you keep a succession of new canes coming up from the base this results in a shorter, more vertical specimen that is always blooming well (except on the canes that were cut down recently) - it is not necessary for the shrub to be as big, bulging, tree-like and twiggy as many examples here are.

Those of you who are afraid of canning shouldn't be afraid. As long as you always follow all the safety rules and do not deviate from official canning recipes (no changing of any ingredient unless the safety-approved recipe lists allowable changes), the food you can will be safe. People who get into trouble with home-canned foods generally have used canning recipes that were not official safety-approved and safety-tested recipes, or they made the error of using a boiling water bath canner instead of a pressure canner or they decided to freelance and add additional items to safety-approved recipes, which then compromises the safety. Certain foods can be canned in a boiling water bath but others MUST always be canned in a pressure canner. Safety-approved, safety-tested recipes are available on the website of the National Center for Home Food Preservation, and also are available on the websites of the companies that make canning supplies. The standard canning book, available at Wal-Mart stores on the canning aisle, is the Ball Blue Book (always use the most up-to-date edition of the BBB because the rules change over time as research indicates changes should be made). Avoid random recipes posted on cooking websites or blogs or even in some magazines unless the recipe can be verified to have come from one of the safe sources. I have seen random canning recipes in some magazine articles that blatantly disobey canning rules. I'm always appalled when I see those and always ask myself "What were they thinking. Inevitably, a correction eventually runs once food preservers see the recipe and contact the magazine to express their displeasure with the publication of an unsafe canning recipe. Once you know and understand all the rules of safe canning, you can tell at a glance if a random canning recipe is safe or not because it will violate the canning rules that you learned. If it isn't a safe recipe, then don't use it. I can around 600-800 jars a year, sharing hundreds of those jars of canned goods with friends and no one (as far as I know) has ever become ill from anything I've canned. I've canned food on my own since the 1980s and canned with my parents as a child in the 1960s and 1970s. The rules we follow when canning foods now are sometimes different than the way our parents or grandparents canned, but that is because more advanced research has shown us how to can more safely. Some practices that were common decades ago no longer are safety-approved in the USA, and you have to change with the times. If you cannot make it to one of Johnny's classes, there are classes offered periodically---often through the Ag Extension Service or sometimes as non-credit continuing ed type classes at colleges and other places. Or, you can learn by watching the videos at the website of the NCHFP. When you have questions you need answered, you can ask the canning experts here at Houzz/Garden Web over on the Harvest Forum. There are many well-experienced food preservers at the Harvest Forum and some of them are Master Food Preservers or are Home Food Preservation instructors who teach canning classes themselves. Canning is a great way to preserve food, but remember that you must have a place to store your home-canned goods and equipment. That can be a big challenge at times. My stuff takes over the pantry and overflows into other rooms of the house. At peak canning time when I am putting up far more food than we can eat on a weekly basis, every bed in our house has plastic storage totes with lids underneath the bed filled with dozens of jars of canned goods. As time goes on, the storage totes are emptied of stored food and then refilled with empty jars awaiting the next canning season.) If there's anything I'd change about our house, I would want a root cellar and a canning pantry solely for all the food that can be root cellared and for all the jars of canned foods. As it is, I have become adept at squeezing home canned foods into every nook and cranny of our house. No closet, cabinet or large drawer is safe when I am tucking jars of canned foods away for storage.

Yes, my account on Instagram is "webcoolz". I recommend it because I can view more rose pics from people around the world, and Instagram has a translation option so I can understand some of the texts. If you remember Judy, she has beautiful rose garden with pink and peach colors. She no longer posts here but she updates her Instagram so I continue to enjoy the pics of her garden. Here are some good rose Instagram profiles: Michael Marriott: https://www.instagram.com/michaelrosarian/ https://www.instagram.com/gracerosefarm/ https://www.instagram.com/rosemary_0226/ https://www.instagram.com/nobuko_rose/ https://www.instagram.com/albert_sun3/ Helen