I was also looking for SUMMER SONG last year. I was surprised that it was not in the Austin catalogue given its release date in the UK and was only available in North America through Pickering and Palantine. Pickering and Palantine had both sold out early. I tried to ordred this rose from Pickering on the first day they were taking orders and was told that they could not sell it to those in the US. I called the Austin headquarters in Tyler, TX and was told that this rose does NOT perform well in the US and that they had made the business decision NOT to introduce it here. I found this very odd and disppointing. I am aware that a few decades ago, they almost discarded some of the earlier Austin varieties (Tamora comes to mind) because they did not perform well in the UK and perhaps other European trial locations. Fortunately, they were planted at the Huntington Library gardens in southern CA, where they performed very well and these varieties are now available to us to grow. I was able to obtain a SUMMER SONG plant from someone in the midwest who had ordered it from one of the Canadian suppliers. It is now planted in my garden and it is already starting to show signs of growth. I am glad to hear that it is doing well for you, Beth. I am very much looking forward to seeing how it does well in central CA.

Dr Edward Jenner: The Man Who saved the World from Smallpox - George Smith (leel, from where I am now sitting I can see across the fields and the distant River Severn to the small town of Berkeley where Jenner lived and carried out his experiments) Here is a link that might be useful: Edward Jenner

I just can't do it. I can't stop at two. It's like the Lays commercial, no one can eat just one *L* Perhaps my tastes are more pedestrian, but I can't help but think about Watership Down, Treasure Island, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The Secret Garden, and tho' it was mentioned before, Lord of the Rings. There just are too many good books to shorten down to two.

At Swm Two Boys, It may be a bit of a challenge, because it is so Irish lol. Very lyrical. It took me a bit t get into it but it is one of my most favorite books. And of course, Angela's Ashes. I read that one in a day. Completely enveloped me. That was my father and mothers Ireland. My dad says he could never read it, that McCourt should never have written it, it was a very "disrespectful" book. I said well at least he waited till after his mother had died. My dad said, doesn't matter. Us irish are good at being totally in denial lol. Roddy Doyle is another writer that my sister and I enjoy.