Hurrrrayyyyy! I have been stalking and if you can imagine instead of a tireless Energizer bunny beating his drum and substitute hand-wringing wailing and pacing, that's me! waiting for you to get back! and no! I wasn't patiently waiting AT ALL, haha! if you read back with how much I've been bragging about you and Boxofrox to Jim in my Eluane post, you'll know what I mean. tee-hee!

Here is just one! of the several JeffAurora brags I was doing--
"As for JeffAurora, I am having major "withdrawal symptoms". He's still! on vacation in Mexico (supposed to be for a couple of weeks)... I first started stalking Jeff in May 21, 2009ÂI had great difficulty photographing the reds of my Lincolns and asked advice on the regular rose forum ThatÂs when he sent me this absolutely gorgeous photograph and told me that all his photos were in the Rose Gallery and that highlighted the day I "discovered the glories" of this separate forum... "

When it comes to waiting for you to get back from Mexico, patience is the direct opposite of what I was doing...

Again, absolutely gorgeous pics and your Gemini again so beautiful! I am so glad you've encouraged me with my Gemini... It's first flush was only 5 blossoms at the time of your encouragement(2 being snatched away by birds), and the 2nd flush was 29 plus 3 more extra buds getting ready to bloom, but unlike your Julia Child it spreads its blossoms steady and slow...It's actually just finishing its 2nd flush, but those 3 buds have yet to bloom...and I am hoping by then the 3rd flush will be starting...

Hopefully if you have any bumblebees or honeybees amongst your roses you can get them for me with your closeups. Had a very sad situation with my Dad's honeybees and have been clipping like mad for them...They are my absolute favorite besides roses....

You are the red rose genius here! everything red is so luscious and beautiful...And Julia Child is amazing! I love her! My closeups with Fragrant Cloud are much blurrier, but for I too love my Fragrant Cloud tree rose, it is such a continual bloomer, it's always blooming, never a bloomless moment...

Now that you're back those stupid beetles will hopefully be taught a lesson with soapy water drownings and tulle to get them to go away...

Lilies are gorgeous too! Jeff I tried to grow them myself, but the light colored ones were destroyed by thrips and I had to transplant one to the non-thrips area...But get this!!!! the ones with the intense reds (the stargazer)was completely untouched in thrips territory...They sure don't like the deep reds do they or the hot colors of Fragrant Cloud and Lincoln, LOL!

And now for Stalking JeffAurora Part 23....heeheeheehee!

Wow, I'm glad I didn't stay an extra week as I had originally planned. I try very hard to get the best pics possible for the forum and your kind words certainly do make it worth it.

So, 29+ buds on Gemini? That's absolutely fantastic!!! How great you must feel to have a bush that had a horrific beginning turn into something incredibly beautiful.

Very interesting about thrips and lilies. Here in NJ I've been fortunate that they are gone by the time Oriental lilies bloom. I've been growing Casa Blanca, the pièce de résistance of OL, for 10 years now. I just wish they lasted longer! My co-workers love when a cut a couple stems and bring them into the office.

I saw half a dozen huge bumblebees buzzing about Julia Child this morning. Here's a two-for-oner!

yaaaaay! a Two for One, they look so cute! I am clipping, clipping, clipping! and if you have probably noticed, they COLOR-MATCH your Julia Child! this is another very cute adorable detail!!! Be sure to send as many bee pics as you can! I can't wait to see more...I'm doing my bumblebee dance right now...! I can't wait to see the fuzzy-wuzzy PJ-striped flying teddy bears as I call them...

Now thrips don't ever go away in my garden! They have now attacked and destroyed one of my beautiful soft pink Tiffany bloms because I didn't hot pepper spray soon enough... I would put up sticky traps but don't want to accidentally catch a beneficial insect...I found out that you have to spray even the buds to beat them... But strangely the thrips seem to detect dark colored lilies right away, even from the get-go! To my eyes the sealed Asiatic lily buds are completely covered in green and are identical, but always! the red Asiatic lilies are left alone. This is so bizarre. Pepper spray has minimal effects for lilies, I found out...Roses are much more protected...

The thrips in my garden just love those pale colored Tom Pouce lilies...

So how was your trip to Mexico? any special highlights? did you get to enjoy the ocean?

And yes, I am so happy that I get to do Aurora stalking again! I just love, love, love your roses...

My vacation was wonderful! I stayed at a place 90 miles south of Cancun called Akumal. I love to snorkel and it's one of the best spots in the Yucatan to see green sea turtles in their natural environment. It's absolutely horrible what man has done to these beautiful creatures.

The weather was perfect and the ocean like bath water. If I had to list a special highlight it would be spending an afternoon swimming with dolphins. They are such gentle, sociable mammals -- and very loving too!!

oh, my goodness the beautiful, gorgeous and! very rare green sea turtles...what an amazing sight that must have been! And you got to swim with the dolphins too???? wow!

I'm absolutely crazy about the ocean, even though I can't even swim; so for swimmers, they should all run out and snorkel...and catch these amazing sights before pollution ruins all the coral reefs and wonderful sealife...

Did you get to see the turtles make their way to the land, or did you have to ride by an underwater subvessel to see the turtles?

You'll have to post some photos if you had the chance to take some... I hear that even down south you can see whales too, but I think this is past the season...?