I love the gallery though I never post photos there. I would not dare. Those who post photos in the gallery are real artists with their camera while I post photos in the discussion forum only if someone asks a question and my answer, I feel, warrants, as part of the response or explanation, a picture or two. Lack of comments on photos posted in the gallery? It may sound rude. But sometimes one feels silly to repeat after x many WOWS to add again a new WOW. It does not mean lack of appreciation, it just mean lack of time or momentary laziness; I for one hate to repeat truisms very often (sometimes I do). Still, the art of those photos are just as much appreciated as arts in the museums but what would you say if Vermeer's paintings were over-scratched with stupid exclamations of WOWS?

Maryl our generation has always been the computer. All our exhaustive research from the computer. That is why I'm so grateful to Connie's site! she puts up the HMF links, the dates of the roses of when they were bred, the colors, in that wonderful site of hers. That site allows me to springboard on other roses to get the information through Google. Likewise Krista has targeted at least 4 roses that I will be so excited to get and hers come from real-life roses and stories of how they do in her garden. But regardless there is no excuse for my stupidity in completely ruining this thread. What I do need to apologize to is to Krista, Connie, Wes, Chuck Billie and the antiques people. It is because of my stupidity and lack of wisdom in choosing my words that this thread is doing the direct opposite of what it intended, and that is to celebrate rare-and-hard-to-find-roses.No I can't visit the antiques forum anymore because I have angered too many people with my stupidity. Neither do I deserve any help from them either. Wes, you are fantastic. Had you done this thread we would not have the nightmare this thread has become, NO THANKS TO ME. I am disgusted and frustrated with my stupidity. As my friend Boxofrox says we have Typingis in which words are quickly typed and people hone in only sections and parts and then what we have is an entire embroilment of emotions and misunderstandings. It is a very sad time for me because Krista, Chuck Billie and Wes have sent such beautiful photos for everyone to enjoy. Chuck Billie, the coloration of your rose is like a lovely sunset and a perfect celebration of your wife. It is a jewel to remind that a rose brings beauty and memories. It reminds me too of my friend Boxofrox and his lovely roses for his mother, Grandmother and memory garden. Wes, for Kings and queens and historical figures, here are the links. These are supposed to be repeat bloomers. Rose du Roi à Fleurs Pourpres (this translates as King's Purple Crimson Rose) Wes, you will actually need to find a rose that was bred before 1783 when the painting was made (Marie Antoinette a la Rose). From my internet research, it could be the lovely Blush Damask which is a once-bloomer because it was bred in 1759 and it has that same delicate pink. However, my concern is that it doesn't have quite that cupped shape that we need. There are so few roses before 1783 and this was all I could find so far. the rose in the painting possibility

Great pics! I love Euphorbia mammilaris too. I've not tried E. resinifera, although I do have a LOT of euphorbias too (very anti-rabbit as you mentioned). Happy Birthday by the way. :) I pretty much follow JoJo's regime. I water most of my cacti and succulents once a week in summer whether they're in the ground or in pots, and it's good to emphasize what JoJo said that plants in the ground will stay more moist than those in pots. Your plan of reading up on the specific plants is good. It's always good to find out if a cacti or succulent is a winter or a summer grower. Winter growers like most Aeoniums and some others like, say, Aloe variegata (partridge breast aloe) are winter growers so enter semi-dormancy in the heat of summer and will easily rot if given too much water in summer (though you can water them several times a week in active winter growth and they'll thank you for it). I always keep a close eye on Crassulas and their relatives in summer as they have CAM which means they generally keep their pores/stomata closed during the day to avoid excessive water loss, however they have a backup threshold of also keeping the pores closed above certain temperatures at night in order to save water, but in Phoenix especially some of our summer nights are above that threshold so the poor things hold their breath day and night and eventually croak. As an example, I grow jades either indoors year round, or outdoors autumn through spring but then bring them inside in summer. Same for Christmas cacti and most echeverias which often melt in our summers (though not all do). I have a five foot tall Aloe 'Hercules' and he wants water once a week or so autumn through spring, but not a drop from the hose all summer long. It almost kills me to not water for those long hot months, but he thanks me by staying alive and growing quickly during the cool months, when my friends or corporate landscapes water them in summer and they rot fast (and I killed a ton of partridge aloes before I toughened up and stopped watering them in summer, LOL). Anyway, succulents and cacti are fun aren't they? Their biggest enemy if overwatering at any time of year so like you've both said, when it doubt, don't water. Keep us posted! What books did you get? Take care, Grant

Great thread! I now have DSL but remember being on dial-up and it was frustrating waiting for huge pictures to download. I said this in the other discussion we had on this subject awhile back that when I first came to GW and read the rules about posting pictures, they had to be no larger than 60kbs. I use PSP 7 and when I save pictures for uploading to my website, I compress those pictures. I just went to my PSP program and went through the process, and the normal picture was 921,640 kbs, compressed it was 54,464. Big difference. My DH gave me that little tidbit for sharing pics online. It's much faster. This is a wonderful forum, my favorite on GW. I check the conversations and the gallery every time I come in here to the discussions side. It's easy to do and not very time consuming and right now, the lists are short to check on so easier to see what might interest you. Part of dealing with humanity in any area is 'communication' and that's what is being done here. Communication keeps things flowing, helps friendships get started and be strengthened, as well as gives us ideas to help our gardens grow. We are a family of sorts and I love checking in here to see how all of you are doing and how your gardens are doing also. Everyone's pictures are inspiring and I appreciate the time everyone takes in sharing their pictures. Sincerely ~ FlowerLady