Life has been a flurry lately. I'm behind on emails, acknowledging BEAPs received and getting BEAPs packaged to go back out, as well as Thank Yous. No excuses or good reason...just life has gotten in the way of GW fun and business. I'll try and get things caught up here in the next few days. If you don't hear from me soon, feel free to drop me an email and ask "What's up" , or "Did you get what I sent you?" Sorry...going forward I will try to be more organized and be more timely with transactions and emails. Sue

Sherry, I'm not sure what my pleased rate really will be until maybe next year or later...! Though I must miserly-ly admit that I have my eye on one that's bloomed once and looked a bit toasty the rest of the year while ALL the others have attempted to bloom more and are lovely and green. (*cough* Mortimer Sackler *cough*) Masha, but you can see all those roses, so that is an excuse because it -must- tempt you to add them to your garden! The ones that I really really want are not at Descanso or Huntington (which are kinda-sorta near me). I saw a very sad almost-dead stick of Archduke Charles. It was almost comical because the one I wanted at the top of my list, they denied me seeing in action! "and one must support the nurseries, etc. etc......." Ingrid, hehe. :) I know what you're saying about finding more suitable varieties, though. I feel like I don't really know yet which ones will be winners. This summer (except for this past week) has been unseasonably NOT HOT, so... my roses are doing really well, mostly, but I feel like it's not really a good test. Next summer I bet will have a whole month or two of 100+ temps. rosefolly- I'd love to see more pictures of "whole gardens" with roses of members. :) Renee- you can almost always find a spot for an iris, though, right? and maybe one of them will rot. ;) OK THEN... I appreciate all the thoughtful advice, you guys. I'll get my Bermuda's Kathleen and I'll keep my up and growing pot ghetto with a feeling of slightly less guilt. ;) I actually think my pots look kinda cute. I have alyssum growing around the base of the pots like crazy. They love the little bit of extra water that seeps out of the rose pots.

Oh yay!! I have a small version of the anacampseros. Now, I know what it is! I'm running out right now to plant a label with name in it's pot. :] Chicagardens, that is a nice specimen. So full and plumpy. This post was edited by aztcqn on Sun, May 18, 14 at 15:50

I cut out pattern for wings & tail using her mat with the 1 in. marking on it to get the right size. The tail is 3 1/2 in long way & wide part at top is 2 7/8 in. part that goes on bulb is 1 7/8 in wide. Each wing is 4 3/8 in long & 1 5/8 in. wide. So all you have to do is shape it like she did.LOL I think A red bird would be perfect for Valentine's day also so I have to paint that bulb. The feet should be about 1 5/8 in. long. I'm using pink for white bird & red for red bird. Won't look like Cardinal(my favorite bird) but think it will be cute. Haven't decided on eyes for white 1 but thinking I'll just try several things, beads,pompoms or? WIP Jan