I have Crocus Rose. I think it is its 4th year now. It really had a bunch of flowers this year. It has taken at least 3 years to get going. This rose is mostly a cream color with some yellow in it. Mine is right about 4 ft in height and about 3.5 ft wide. It needs spraying attention regularly because it will blackspot badly if you ignore it. The foliage on mine is rather small in spite of its diet. The flowers are not as big as I would like, but they do smell good despite not being strongly scented, and they do have some lasting power. This rose was one of the few in my garden that was as good as untouched by the horrendous Easter freeze we had last year. It just seemed to pick itself up and get going. It bloomed reasonably well last year and has gotten off to a better start this year. At first I thought it might be a tossable, but since it is now doing better I will keep this one. It now outblooms some of my other roses.

i have a beautifull one as a centerpiece and it gets rave reviews from everyone that see's it. it does drop leaves but it is way woth that annoyance. it is up lit at night and really shows. they do have little barbs on the edges of the leaves but i dont really have any reason to get poked by them. as far as the seeds go they are very interesting to see hanging and you can avoid the mess by cutting the whole bulb off as soon as it starts to turn yellow. if you wait for it to dump on its own its a pain picking them all up. never had one sprout. you will get constant compliments and comments on the tree.

OMG, I just now saw this! You are so thoughtful to think of us . . . thank you! Yes, DS flew home here Tuesday afternoon and our joy at having him back with us safe and sound is immeasurable. I thankfully remembered to wear waterproof mascara as I knew I would start crying the moment I saw him . . . which I did. I wish that I could show you all a pic of my sweet soldier son and I, but I can't. Be assured, though, that DH and I are spoiling the heck out of him! I made his favorite beef vegetable soup for him, which we had that first evening . . . comfort food, mom food, which he needed. He's spending a lot of time out on our front portal, sometimes with us and sometimes by himself, soaking up the peace of this place here in the mountains. It's taken a while for him to be able to really relax as he's spent the last year constantly on guard for danger, which sadly has been pretty constant especially these past three months. This past year he was awarded the Joint Service Commendation Medal, an in-field promotion and is now up for another (major) medal. Last night he was off meeting up with his birthmom and her family and spent the night there with them. As most of you already know, his birth families have become close friends of ours over the years and we share him gladly with them now. We have a few more favorite restaurants he wants to eat at, a few more of his friends he wants to see. Tomorrow morning he and his birth-uncle will scatter his birthfather's ashes at a special-to-them place somewhere in the mountains. It was his birthfather's last request before he passed from pancreatic cancer this past April. Other than that, we'll probably just spend the time relaxing together out on our front portal. Thank you for thinking about him. He's a good guy and I'm really proud of my son. Lynn

Ima, I'm not assuming that most people's silence has to do with support or no support. Please see my above post to JNM about that. KKNY and TOS also reminded me of my own Mom, even though I think we are close to the same age. When I started posting here and throughout my marriage and stepfamily issues, much of what both of these ladies posted really bothered me. I didn't want to hear about second marriage statistics or other such negative stuff, either. My own Mom had done enough to make me "miserable" throughout my courtship and marriage to what is now my ex-husband and I really didn't need to hear any more. Especially when I came to this forum for support. I married a divorced guy, and a freshly divorced one at that. He had been in a long-term marriage and had two adult daughters. My Mom didn't like the situation at all. She told me I should call his ex and find out why they really got divorced and who was really the cheater. She asked me why he was in such a hurry to get married again when he just got out of a long-term marriage. She told me that his daughters would always resent me. My Mom also said many men will tell a woman they are wooing that they had been in a loveless marriage and hadn't had sex or slept with their ex's for a long, long time before the divorce. Ouch. That is what my ex told me. And that's what KKNY and TOS said, too. But how would my Mom know anything - she's been happily married to my Dad for 53 years. I did end up on this forum because of dysfunctional step family issues that were making me miserable. And the things KKNY and TOS stated didn't help me at all. I needed support, not a bucket of cold water thrown in my face. If I wanted that, all I had to do was talk to my Mom. When I say this, I truly mean it. I still believe in love and I hope that everyone on this forum, including you, enjoys a long and successful second marriage and that their stepfamily issues get peacefully resolved. And I do think it is possible, but there are many challenges along the way. My marriage did not work out. I was able to get a legal annulment after five years of marriage, rather than a divorce. Of course there is a story behind that and it isn't pretty and I can only pray that story remains private and kept with those that I truly trust, my attorney and the judge. That is why the privacy thing is so huge to me. After the annulment, as I pondered my life and my future, I eventually came back into this forum to look back at my past and I forced myself to read my old posts. I saw one I wrote, just a few weeks before I discovered what he was up to, in which I went on and on about how much I loved him and what a wonderful husband he was. Though it was hard to read, I got through it. I went further back into some of the posts in which I had exchanges with KKNY and TOS and in which I dismissed them as being bitter trouble makers. And what I saw were two ladies who have been deeply hurt and who are devoted mothers. They say what they think, most definitely, but they speak from the reality of their lives and their experiences. I don't see them as bitter, and unable to move on, but rather that they state the ex-wives point of view and the stepchild's point of view and the reasons for those points of view. It is somewhat unpleasant to acknowledge, but I think they are probably accurate in what they say about those points of view. The points of view of the bio mom and the step child are really pretty important if there is any hope of trying to build some sort of a solid foundation as a step family with a happy future. And even if the bio mom is less than involved, she is still the mother and she will resent it if you try to "replace" her. Tough as it is, I think it is the truth. And I know your situation may at times seem impossible, but I think if you could somehow disengage from the anger you feel toward your SD's bio mom it might help improve the situation over time. I do think that is the best hope you would have for some peace with the situation because no one will win if you continue to fight one another. I also hope that there is some way that you, TOS and KKNY can start over again. Best wishes, June