Thanks so much for the well wishes. I feel like I'm something resembling a rosarian again :) Lavender Lass, I know there's a lot here to see; I'm looking forward to it. Melissa, I hope you have a wonderful spring. Jeff, I left my heart and most of my roses in Alabama, but there's something to love everywhere, right? Keep posting about your Georgia roses so we can share in them! Krista, so glad to see you posting; I was afraid the snow had swallowed you up. Spring is surely coming soon. Florence, I hope your recovery goes quickly and you're up and around very soon. thank you for your kind words.

Well, Don got some trimming and the Dr had thrown 2 more big fast growing canes and I could find the source of the Dr, so hopefully I cut back enough to stop the doc for now and can look for more suckers later. I had to pull up the calendula and trim the CA poppies, we had a gopher having a party under those plants and the neighbors kitty is welcome to have a gopher home coming party there now. The kitty is a good hunter and is enjoying visiting with Mom.

I am still learning about gardening in the Mediterranean. Some things have disappointed me, some have frustrated me, and some have delighted far beyond expectation. Fuchsias and nemesias, have been a mixed bag. Some have grown and flowered beautifully, whilst others have kicked the bucket for no discernible reason. All the dahlias had powdery mildew, and none of them flowered much at all. Two of the alstromerias, died in just a few days in August. Mind you, they had been flowering without pause for two years. I can only assume, that they were exhausted. BUT, Nepeta Walkers Low has flowered since early May and is still flowering. It has spread itself out into a completely weed suppressing mat. It looks lovely next to a silvery Artemisia which shimmers non stop and Gaura Siskiyou Pink, which has also been flowering since early May. In the same bed, is a magenta pelargonium and Celosia Caracas, which is a plant that I thought a bit crass and over the top in England, but which works well in the stronger light here. The only trouble is, having only seen it as a summer patio plant before, I underestimated it's mature size. It is going to have to move. Behind these is New Dawn climbing up the apricot tree with Blush Noisette beside it. Lovely. Other big successes have been; Aster x frikartii Monch, another one that has been flowering since May. Felicia amelloides has made a rounded fat cushion, studded with it's blue daisy flowers all summer. Clematis Perle d'azur, still flowering in November, and too many more to mention. The apricots, black plums and golden gages, were so profuse we didn't know what to do with them all. Every day for weeks on end we would lug carrier bags full around to all the neighbours. They always "seemed" delighted with them. We received a lot of them back though as jars of home made jam. I think we now have enough jam to last ten years! The roses. Oh! the roses have mostly been wonderful. It was very hot here in August, and most of them did the sensible thing and stopped flowering for a while. However, Archduke Charles, Abraham Darby, Archduc Joseph, Blush Noisette, Duchess de Brabant, Sombreuil and Colombian Climber, took no notice of the intense heat, and continued to flower all through it. They are all still flowering, and have been joined by all the others. Marechal Neil, although young, has so many buds and flowers on now, that I gave up trying to count them this afternoon. The only big catastrophe has been the loss of my big, beautiful, Astelia Silver Spear. It was one of the plants that travelled across Europe with me from Cornwall. I had planted it on the end of the first flower bed I made, where it looked just right. Oh well, I have bought a packet of seeds and will try again. Daisy

More photos might help. It isn't Dublin Bay. I had that and both the color and form are wrong. It looks a lot like my Uncle Joe looked and even though not classed as a climber it can get that big easily!